Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Ken spent two days sick with a mysterious illness (Malaria? Cholera? Lyme’s disease? Or the dreaded Traveler’s Diarrhea?). We are carrying a mini-pharmacy (thanks Tanya for reviewing our medical kit selections!) so he recovered fairly quickly. While he was under the weather, Everett and I had the opportunity to meet up with his Uncle Sam from Uganda, who just happened to be working in Lusaka, Zambia. Sometimes the world conspires to make an unexpected chance meeting arise.

Barely recovered from Ken’s affliction, we boarded a 5-hour bus ride north to a train station – the Tazara Railway connection that would take us to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania over three days. A true gem and local experience, we will remember forever.

Highlights:
1. Two German ladies (the only other non-Africans) were our companions: laughing at the absurdities, sweating in the 95-degree non-AC train carriage, and conversing about life on the road (shout out: several of the pictures on this post are from Nina).
2. Everyone speaking Zambian to Everett. In frustration, he secretly escapes back to his room, returning wearing his Ugandan jersey. Proudly announcing to the dining car occupants, “Now they will know where I’m from.”
3. Squatting toilets, err, holes in the floor of the train: where you poop into a hole and it sprays onto the train tracks below you at 40 miles per hour. They lock the toilets at every stop so you can only use the toilets while the train is in motion.
4. Catching up on school. Deep into long division, fractions, African geography, spelling words, and Big Nate on Kindle.
5. Tanzanian immigration. Queuing in the dark with an immigration official at an unmarked desk, checking documents with his cell phone.
6. Arriving a mere 18 hours late after our scheduled arrival, for a total of 62 hours.
7. Negotiating for mangos: 6 for $0.40.
8. The sweltering heat on Day 3. Day 1-2 was a pleasant, breezy 85. However, Day 3 was 100+ degrees in our room, when at one point we sat at a station for 3 hours while the locomotive was broken.
9. Tanzanian landscapes. Seriously epic. Ok, the $100 visa might be worth it.Read more