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And I thought a 30 hour train ride was long... (Zambia and Tanzania)

7/1/2014

9 Comments

 

By Jed

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After our 30 hour train ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg went relatively smoothly, Caitlin didn't have much trouble trying to convince me to try another long African train ride, this time an alleged 40 hour ride from Zambia to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.  We took a bus from Lusaka, Zambia to the train station that was supposed to arrive at the train statino 3 hours before the train left, to ensure that we didn't have any troubles getting on the train (we still hadn't purchased our tickets).   After a 30 minute pre-departure sermon, broken tail-light (which caused everyone to have to switch buses), a car randomly pulling the bus over and one of the passengers having a seizure on the bus, we pulled into the train station at 3:58pm for the 4pm train.  As literally nothing has ever left on time in Africa, and we had read stories of the train leaving up to 19 hours late, we weren't that panicked.  However, people were yelling at us to get moving, but we assumed they were just randoms trying to hassle us, so we took our time.   But not later than 30 seconds after we got on the train, it was moving (we still hadn't even had time to buy our tickets yet!) As the train only leaves twice a week, we were 30 seconds away from a long, uncomfortable stay in the middle of nowhere.

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Compared to the South African train, this train definitely was in rough shape: there were holes in the floor, most of the cars did not have running water and the electricity could only produce a flicker of a light in our rooms.  The train was also very, very bumpy. All through the night, I would be awoken by extremely violent shaking, screeching and large jolts which caused me to panic that we had just falling off a cliff.  Not surprisingly, the train arrived late...the whole journey ended up being over 52 hours.  Despite the long, arduous ride, it was actually a pretty enjoyable experience.  The scenery was beautiful (lovely mountains, villages and the train even went through a game park).  The food was surprisingly good; I ate the $2 roasted chicken for all 3 dinners!  We also made a couple of American friends on the train. Sipping down some beers with some friends helps make 52 hours feel like 48. 

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Watching one of the many villages go by out our window, which had to be propped up by a stick.
At each of the stops, all the villagers would come around to the windows and sell food. It was vital to sustaining us for the trip.  Green bananas were a popular item at this stop.
Often there would be de-railed train cars on the side of the track,  Not a reassuring sight  
This was our light "switch", i.e. two wires you need to twist together.
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The scenery was quite pretty
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Here's a brief look at how our nights went on the train (our first "Vlog", i.e. video blog)!
9 Comments
Brad
7/1/2014 04:44:07 am

OMG, I am cracking up at the vlog, you guys look in dire straits. I also laughed out loud at my desk at the light "switch." Glad you made it!! Love the pics (so many bananas!!)

Reply
Jed
7/1/2014 06:57:56 am

Ha, good! Caitlin and I had a little debate about whether or not the video was funny :) Stay tuned for more vlogs of us looking miserable!

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Jamie
7/1/2014 07:03:44 am

LOL'd at this quote:
Sipping down some beers with some friends helps make 52 hours feel like 48.
Dying

Reply
Matt
7/8/2014 03:05:14 am

Haha - well summarized. Best 50 hr train ride of my life for sure! I was hoping the vlog would have captured one of the 2am jolts throwing the camera across the cabin at the end though... Haha. Hope you guys are still doing well. Zanzibar was awesome, think I just missed you guys post my nightmare killimanjaro climb (you guys were smart to pass on that!)

Reply
Caitlin
7/9/2014 06:18:21 am

Yikes, what happened at Kili? Did you make it to the top? We want to hear details. Glad you had a good time in Zanzibar. Where did you end up going in Zanzibar?

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Lindsay
7/11/2014 05:36:20 am

What kind of sermon???

Reply
Jed
7/20/2014 05:27:42 am

Pretty standard praise Jesus-type sermon, including some audience participation!

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Dan G. link
8/15/2014 02:27:38 pm

OMG, I have so much catching up to do on your blog! I'm reading this on a Megabus to Ann Arbor with Rachel, and I just cracked up twice: first at the thought of you eating the same $2 chicken three dinners in a row (classic Jed!), and then at the looks on Caitlin's face during that amazing "vlog."

So excited for the next entry! Prepare yourselves... More comments to come. ;)

Reply
Jed
8/15/2014 07:58:36 pm

Woh, you are indeed quite a bit behind! You are making me miss my $2 train chicken right now =)

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