The Tazara Christmas Express

Christmas had an entirely different feel this year. Not least of which was the temperature – I've never before worn shorts, t-shirt and sandals on Christmas Day. That was definitely a treat!

On December 24^th, I embarked on an enchanting and relaxing 51-hour train trip from Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania with a small group of friends. The TAZARA (TAnzania-ZAmbia Railway Authority) train runs twice weekly between the two destinations, stopping in several towns and villages on its picturesque meander though the countryside. Our ultimate destination was to be the idyllic island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean; however the journey was almost as fascinating and alluring in its own right.

Home for 51 hours

Since we were travelling over Christmas, we couldn't ignore the need to celebrate. Friends Ben and Evelyn brought a gourmet spread of finger foods, along with battery-operated mini-lights and Christmas decorations, so that we could have grand little party in their compartment on Christmas Eve. After dinner, we broke out the iPods and battery-operated speakers so that we could belt out the Christmas tunes. I had “jokingly” been pre-appointed as Santa Claus, but I took the job seriously and brought a few highly appreciated presents for everyone. Christiane broke out her reindeer antlers so that she could partake in all the reindeer games, unlike poor Rudolph! At the train station in Kapiri Mposhi, we also met and “adopted” Amanda into our little family celebration. It was a Christmas celebration that I'll remember forever.

Christmas Eve celebration!

Christiane and Ben grooving to the music.

Evelyn displaying her Christmas castanets.  "Feliz Navidad" ala Jose Feliciano simply needed more percussion in our view.

The rest of the ride was interesting and relaxing. The countryside changed a fair bit as we moved northeast from the highlands of Zambia toward the tropical coastline at Dar Es Salaam. I was really impressed with the farms in Tanzania, which seemed to be either neater or just more intensive than those in Zambia. As we passed through the various stops, the produce offered up to us at the windows also changed. At some point, coconuts and divinely delicious pineapples became available alongside the mangoes and bananas. Yum!

Traveling through the Kilombero Valley of Tanzania.

Border town of Tunduma, Tanzania

Fresh fruit?  Five mangoes for the equivalent of 20 cents?  Yes please! 

The border crossing was a bit of an event too. At the last station in Zambia, the border agents came on to put exit stamps in the passports. After the border agents came through, the money changers boarded the train to frenziedly exchange US dollars and Zambian kwacha for Tanzanian shillings. Fortunately Ben had checked the exchange rates before getting on so that we could negotiate better rates. The conversions took a bit of getting used to at about $1 for every 1350 shillings. Then came the cell phone agents to sell Tanzanian telephone numbers and air time – all part of the process.

The menu was not extensive, but the train food was surprisingly tasty and inexpensive.

Within a few hours of reaching Dar Es Salaam, we passed through the Selous Game Reserve (a World Heritage Site), and saw wildebeest, warthogs and a few graceful giraffes from the train windows. Very cool!

As soon as the train made its last lurching halt at the terminal in Dar Es Salaam, the porters and taxi drivers were immediately (and somewhat alarmingly) knocking at our compartment doors, trying earnestly to make deals to transport our bags and bodies to our hotel. We negotiated what we thought was a fair price but later discovered that we'd paid about four times as much as we should have to get downtown: 50,000 shillings equals about $35. Welcome to Tanzania!

Anyways, the rip-off was almost forgotten by the time Christiane and I tucked in to the excellent Indian food from the restaurant at our hotel. This was just the beginning of the great food adventure that awaited us in Zanzibar!