Coming back to Tanzania was a bit of a misadventure, but at least an entertaining one. After having traveled all around East Africa and down into the South by road, I was sick and tired of buses, and decided to give the train a try. Due to a combination of having to get a visa in the morning and having to wait until the bus to the town where you catch the train (Kapiri Mposhi) became full so that it could leave, I managed to miss the train by mere minutes. But T.I.A., as they say -- this is Africa. Anything that can go wrong likely will, but there's always a way around it. With the help of a strange, snuff-sniffing woman who spoke very little English, I managed to get myself onto a matatu that was roughly following the train route for the next few towns. A three-hour chase ensued, in which all the matatu passengers eventually became involved. At one point, everyone started to shout and point out the window excitedly, scaring the hell out of me until I glimpsed it myself: the train! We passed the train and branched off the highway onto a dirt road, all the passengers being thrown around the vehicle as we went over rocks and potholes at high speed. When we stopped, the tout grabbed my bag, held it over his head and ran off into the high grass. I followed as quickly as my cramping legs would allow, just in time to see the matatu driver whistling and waving at the oncoming train. Before I knew it, my luggage had been dumped on board and hands hauled me up. I had made it with only seconds to spare.
After that madness, the train itself was positively tranquil. I shared a sleeping cabin with two Zambian ladies. The train moved exceedingly slowly, and made very long, frequent stops during which hawkers would surround the cars, calling out their wares. I entertained myself by reading, but after finishing my books on the first day, I mostly sat in the dining car, staring out the window and chatting with a lawyer from Zanzibar. He was an interesting guy; he wanted to go into politics and lead Zanzibar back into independence (or at least, as he put it, "gain equality in the union"). He also delighted in getting me to teach him English words and sayings -- his favourite new saying was "every cloud has a silver lining".
The journey took an astounding 55 hours in total -- more than two full days! The arrival in Dar es Salaam was pretty frightening. We came in at 9:30pm, and for some reason the open-air train station had no lights. Of course it was full of people, many of whom were sure to be thieves, and I was worried as I tried desperately to navigate my way out of the crush of people. Luckily my friend Jacob and another friend of his were there to pick me up -- if I'd had to get a taxi myself, it could have been a bad scene.
The following day I went back with Jacob to Morogoro, the small town where I'd spent almost two weeks working in November. Since I only had a day and a half, much of it was spent saying hello and goodbye to people, who would invariably remark on how I'd "gotten fat" over the past few months (thanks, guys!). When it comes to Maasai, you really can't afford to be sensitive; they're incredibly blunt people. I laughed about it, and assured them that it's simply because I've been traveling and eating well lately, with not too much time for exercise, but I'll likely lose a bit when I'm back home. Though opinion was divided on whether I should lose the weight or not! Again, I was totally blown away by the beauty of the Ulguru mountains, which overshadow the town. It was a fun visit, if short, and I've promised to return next time I'm in Tanzania. Jacob might also have the opportunity to come to the States this year, which would be fantastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment