A Train Ride Through the Green Heart of Africa

A trip with no expectations and lots of great memories

In 2015 I traveled by myself from Tanzania to Cape Town, South Africa. I had no flights booked. No accommodation. And no plan how to get from A to B. I just went with the flow. I lived from one day to another. Followed locals into minibusses and booked train rides like this one last minute.

And I still remember. It was one of the best times of my life. The train ride. The trip. My time in Africa.

I grew. As a person. A lot.

And I learned a lot.

The preparation

When I decided that I had enough of Tanzania I went to the train station to book a ticket to get to Zambia. I thought I was kind of organized. I went to the train station three days prior to the departure of the train ride. This train leaves only once a week. And I was not organized enough.

The lady told me that the first class is fully booked. They only had first and third class. And third class means sitting for two days or longer cramped between locals and kids. Guess what? I didn’t have an option. But the lady said

„But it is not good for you to have only a seat, maybe the conductor can give you later a bed.“

Guess what. If the locals can travel in the third class, so can I. However, I did book my ticket. Third class. And came back three days later. On the day of the departure.

I got called to the booking office and the lady said I am lucky today. She got a bed for me. First-class seats are small rooms with four beds. I managed in the end to book one of them.

Later during the trip, I understood why the first class was fully booked. A lot of westerners booked the whole compartment for themselves. So that they don’t have to share their room with somebody else. That way a lot of beds stayed empty. While the rest only got seats for the trip. I didn’t even know you could do that or would have ever contemplated doing it.

The departure

Having now a ticket in my hand I was walking to the platform. Being prepared to wait for hours because the TAZARA train is known to be late. Not German-style late. I’ve read stories about this train where people had to wait for 12 up to 24 hours for the train to arrive.

And once again it was my lucky day. Even though I was prepared for a long waiting time. I had lots of food with me. I had all the time in the world. Yet the train arrived and left on time. As scheduled at 15:50 h.

Very confusing to me. After five months in Africa, I’ve learned a lot. Especially to relax. I learned to wait for hours. Yet I have not experienced a transportation vehicle leaving on time. Since most of them don’t even have scheduled departure times. I haven’t ever seen a clock in an African train or bus station. There is no clock. Can you believe it?

Because there are more important things in life than being on time. Like smiling at your neighbor. Sharing kindness. Being happy.

However. We are rolling. Slowly leaving the city of Dar es Salaam behind us.

Life in a cabin

My new home was this tiny cabin. I didn’t actually know how long this train ride was going to be. It would bring me from one country to another. And I would arrive when I’m there.

There were three women with me in the cabin. One of them, a woman from Zambia, did travel with me all the way. When the other two climbed up to their beds I only realized that there was no ladder to get up. But these two elegantly swung themselves into their bed. Despite wearing a dress.

I chose one of the beds at the bottom. A woman walked into the compartment and sat down on my bed. With her one-year-old son. I do share my seat. You’re welcome. She was chatting with the other women. Until the conductor came and complained that we were only allowed to have four people in a cabin.

I’m stretching my legs on the bed. The sun is burning through the window. A window which is not a window because the glass is missing. I can smell the fresh air. Feel the sun on my skin. Green landscapes are flowing past the window. Kids are waving at us.

The scenery

It was green. Like really green. Lush green fields and forests. For hours. That was all I got to see through the window. Now and then we passed some small villages.

Workers on the fields stopped whatever they were doing and waved at us. Kids were running towards the train. Hoping for people to throw gifts out of the windows.

Stops along the way

The train stopped every few hours at some bigger train stations. Then all of a sudden lots of locals were racing to the train. Carrying food and other items on their head. Trying to sell them to the people on the train.

I actually didn’t need food. I got three meals a day delivered into my room. Maybe not the best meals you would like. But it was food. I still bought some snacks and bananas now and then. Through the window. Because I loved this type of selling and buying.

Collecting trash

The lady traveling with me in the compartment was a Zambian woman and she was selling African fabrics to other travelers. If I wouldn’t have been traveling with a backpack and wasn’t limited to the space I had I would have bought one too. She had some very beautiful colors.

I did chat a lot with her. The two beds on top were empty again. The women left the train. Others will join again at the next stop. But this lady stayed my travel companion for the entire trip. She also took the train to the final destination.

We looked after each other’s belongings when one went to the bathroom. We never left the compartment empty. One of us always stayed inside of it. We also did share our food and drinks. And the trash. This is my least favorite thing in Africa. Trash. Throwing trash away. Throwing trash into nature.

So did she. Empty glass bottles. Plastic bags. Anything she didn’t need anymore she threw out of the window. Just like that. I couldn’t believe it. Or I could. Since I’ve been for so many months already surrounded by this kind of behavior.

The biggest problem they have is that you don’t find anywhere trash bins. So I did end up carrying plastic bags filled with trash around me all the time. I always had empty plastic bags with me. For this reason.

And now I was holding the plastic bag into her face. So that the next empty plastic bottle wouldn’t end up in nature but instead in my bag. And then finally somewhere in a recycling place. (My very naive and optimistic thinking.) But I can’t resist. I have to collect the trash. I cannot just throw it out of the window. I can’t.

And a few hours later the lady traveling with me reached over to put a piece of trash into my trash bin. I was smiling. I can tell you that. I was smiling. Not saying anything. But this was my tiny little bit of success. I do count every small step.

Playing with the kids

At one train station we had to wait for a few hours while waiting for the train to arrive from the opposite direction.

As soon as the kids outside the train realized that there was a white woman on the train they all surrounded my window. They were asking for soap, pens, and books. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything to give away. I was traveling already with so little luggage. But I could share a smile. Or two.

I did make faces. The kids laughed. They made funny moves. I laughed. They handed me a baseball cap and I put it on my head. Lot’s of laughing. A lady out of the neighboring cabin came over to check what I was doing because she saw the kids laughing out loud in front of my window.

I was just having fun.

One of the boys came with a very old soccer ball. He threw it at me. I threw it back. To a different child. I received the ball again. And the game started. We were playing handball. With a dirty, tattered ball. So what.

About 50 children were in the meantime around my window. And I was trying to involve everyone. They all smiled. They shared happiness. So did I.

Until the train started to move again. They began to scream. I waved at them. They waved back.

Two days later

48 hours later I did arrive in Kapiri Mposhi. The town in Zambia which was the final destination of this train ride. And from where on I would travel further to get to see the magic of the Victoria Falls.

It felt like time flew by. I spent hours sitting on my bed watching out of the window. And yet it was a memorable experience. An experience I will never forget. The conversations I had. The views across the green landscapes. The things I shared with my travel companion and the laughs I shared with the children.

All in all it was an unforgettable trip.

The original documentation of this trip was written in German and published on my blog on the 13th of March 2015.

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