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Published: February 10th 2009
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Ready to Roll
Happy to make the train, with a whole 10 minutes or so to spare, we were ready to roll.
This was me doing the holiday style 'goodbye to my sweetheart' wave of the hat as the train gets ready to depart. We had been told there was a train from just outside Lusaka (Kapiri Mposhi) to Dar Es Salam in Tanzania that went through a few game parks and some other nice countryside. We decided, although it would take 48 hours, it would be a nice way to see some more of the countryside in these parts of Africa.
Trip started in true Africa style. We arrived to catch our bus at 7.50am (it was due to leave at 8.45am but they told us to get there at 8am). As we arrived the early bus (7.30am departure) was just leaving... the guy we met the day before said 'oh you just missed the bus' and we said 'no we are on the 8.45am, you told us to get here at 8am', he said yes that was to catch the early bus?!?!
Strange we thought, but we had plenty of time as the trip was about 3 hours, the bus leaves at 8.45am and our train left at 2pm, although we had to be there at 1pm to collect our tickets. After sitting for ages we finally got going at around 10.30am. We go over the usual pot hole riddened roads, with various random stops to tiolet stops, snack stops, stops to chat with other drivers and various friends of the staff and passengers. We arrive at the trasin station at 1pm on the dot..... right on schedule and I don't know why we bothered raising our stress levels so much.... it's africa (as the girl at the bus station kept telling us as the hours rolled by sitting on a bus in the bus station!!!!!
So we had a painfully slow process of collecting tickets and getting passport details recorded, then jumped on the train and it basically rolled off a little while later.... roughly on schedule in africa time.
To sit together we had bought a cabin to ourselves in second class as first was all full. It was basic and nice and roomy... as usually sleeps 6 people. We had some nice Zambian neighbours who were going to visit friends and family in Dar Es Salam.... nice quiet blokes until one night they were discussing African politics.... we thought there was going to be a war next door (in the morning they were back to their nice quiet, gentle selves and trying to teach me some Swahili).
We went through so many villages and stopped at every one of them (hence the journey was a grand total of 51 hours). Sarita had a full time job of waving to all the kiddies in the villages we passed. They went nuts, waving and dancing and pointing at me and yelling 'white man' in Swahili (only found that out when I had my lesson with our neighbours).
The train had an interesting speed control sysatem. When ever the engine slowed down or sped up it would send a jolt through the various cabins. Our cabin was towards the back and when the jolt got to us it would virtually send you flying out of your seat/bed. This made simple tasks a game of skill, involving lighting reflexes and and a cat-like ability to adjust your body to the twists and turns of the train....... such tasks as eating, drinking, sitting on a seat, sleeping on a bed and best of all going to the toilet was an interesting to say the least (we feel like we have been through some sort of ninja training routine..... we could probably now sneek up behind anyone and kill them in the still of the night without being detected by even the most trained combat eye).
We were a bit worried after 36 hours by the fact that the day before we had met some English lad who had caught the train and said that he had seen no animals. We arrived in the Selous Park, reassured by our friendly train barman that we would see planty of animals ...... I'm not sure though if that was only after consuming the high alcohol local beer he was trying to sell me!?! Sure enough though we saw stacks of zebras, antelopes, impalas, warthogs, bushpigs and some giraffes (we even saw some vultures feeding on a giraffe carcass). I guess young Blind Willy (our English friend.... I don't know how he got that name?) was maybe looking the wrong way (like at the floor) or had consumed one local brew too many.
Overall it was a great trip and we saw some amazing countryside and had plenty of time to chillax on our little cabin and wander along the train, I even had a few cold water showers on the train..... again made interesting by the random carriage jolts that would almost send you flying out the window. The only drawback was slight sleep deprivation, as it was difficult to truly relax with the threat of being catapulkted onto the floor at any moment.... again I think this is where the consumption of the local brew may have come in handy (not to stop the possiblity of falling out of bed, but just to make you not care about it).
Anyway in Dar Es Salam and enjoying the cheap simple style of the YMCA.... come on everybody sing "you can stay at the.....Y...M...C.A"
Sorry again no photos yet. There seems to be a small rodent on a running wheel that powers the internet connection and power here, and he is not looking very well either.
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matt lomax
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White Man
Adam - surely you have a tan by now ! keep the stories coming !