I went down to Victoria Falls in southern Zambia. The trip took 11 days, but only 3.5 of those were spent in Livingstone. The commute was a bit insane. Despite the insanity it was an absolutely amazing trip. Usually when I travel I think I'll never return to that place, there are so many other places to go and things to see. But Livingstone was different, I know I'm going back there someday.
Jumatatu
Monday started at 7:30 with an 8 hour bus ride from Moshi to Dar es Salaam. I was pretty daunted with the length of the ride, little did I know what would occur later on in the trip. There was one stop the whole way, and my chair seat wasn't actually attached to the bus. The music videos ranged from Michael Jackson to MC Hammer, Sly and the Family Stone, and to 90s boy bands. I arrived in Dar and was proposed to the second I got off the bus, by a guy from Uganda (the first of many, pretty much every 10ft). Then was met by a friend (I've heard pretty bad things about Dar so it was nice to feel safe) who escorted me to my hotel, he left and I wandered across the road to have dinner and ended up chatting over dinner with a nice guy from Nairobi. It was amazing to have salad that included lettuce (most "salad" is just cut up vegetables) and to have real cheese. I watched a bit of football (soccer) and had an otherwise uneventful night.
Jumanne
I checked out of the hotel around 10am on Tuesday and spent most of the day just sitting waiting for some friends. I didn't really have time to wander around and don't know the city at all. I did see a blind man walking down the road and that was absolutely amazing and a bit horrifying. It's hard enough walking there when you can see. The "road" was dirt and may have been wide enough at one point for two lanes of traffic, but with cars parked on either side it was just wide enough for one, so both directions had to kind of play chicken with each other. The man did walk into a parked car at one point, but was otherwise unscathed. I met up with some friends who I live with in Moshi, but were coming from Zanzibar at the time. We had lunch and got onto the TAZARA train, an overnight train where we had our own cabin with beds and a table. And of course the Harry Potter references began almost immediately. We fell asleep before figuring out how to close then window and the night was absolutely freezing. In the morning you could see your breath. I haven't been that cold in half a year.
Jumatano
The train was great while it lasted, the scenery was gorgeous, we stopped in villages and could buy fruit out the windows from the locals, and all of the children ran after the train waving. We even arrived in Mbeya almost on time which is great for Tanzanian standards. And then it began. We sat for awhile and eventually got to wondering what was going on. First they said there was an accident in front of us and we'd have to wait there a couple hours. As it turned out a train had derailed (I think it was the same train as ours but the opposite direction) and it would take two days to clear up. So we decided we'd spend the night in the parked train and start off by bus the next day. At first there were rumors of the train company supplying the bus, then rumors of us getting a bit of money back but being on our own. We met a street kid who was selling food in the station, and I'd heard there was good kitimoto (pork) in Mbeya so I asked him where we could find some. He ended up becoming "Commander Victor" and leading us to the middle of freakin nowhere to this little cement room with a dirt floor where some guys were cooking some of the best kitimoto I've ever had. It was a bit sketchy, and a group of white people being led around by a little street kid attracts a bit of attention. There were some guys in the room as well that were clearly talking about us, so to make it less creepy I decided to go over and talk to them. There were a bit shy but really nice (they spoke about as much English as I do Swahili). One of them was in school but had been a street kid. The other was wearing an amazing Christmas sweater (which of course I complimented). Back at the station, there was another train stranded there, their engine had to go assist after the accident. So the people were pretty angry and there was a heck of a lot of yelling. So our conductor went around making sure all of the windows and doors were locked and we fell asleep to the sound of riots.
Alhamisi
By this point we'd realized that pretty much our entire car was headed to Livingstone, so we ended up being quite a large travel group. Two guys were actually going to the same exact hostel that we were. In the morning we (eventually) got a bit of a refund, then we took a short daladala (minibus) ride to the bus stand, where we got on a bus that would take about two hours to get to the border of Tanzania and Zambia. The bus conductor was a nut job and tried to charge us for our luggage (only tried to charge the white people, as usual) and then wanted to sit five people in four seats, which he did manage to do, and then when we were stopped for a police check he got fined for it. He still insisted on us paying for luggage but we intercepted someone else's fare and a couple of us didn't pay, so in the end the group of us only lost about 1500Tsh (about one dollar). So we got to the border, got through the craziness of immigration then you just walk in right down the middle of the road, trying not to get hit by a car. We stopped for some food and got on a bus to Lusaka, which would be overnight, about 17 hours.
Ijumaa
The bus was by far the worst I've ever been on. There were little metal things sticking into your leg, I was sat on about half the seat and every time someone walked down the aisle (which was about every 5 seconds) I got hit in the head. It was completely overpacked, people had brought the most ridiculous items with them. A bundle of bicycle tires, loads of string, two boxes of juice, a box of aloe vera, a bucket containing god knows what (I swear I heard it move). It was strewn all about the aisles, and in a lumped in a huge pile in the back. Every time we got to a weigh station nearly the entire bus had to get off, the bus got through, and then went back to get the people. It has nothing to do with safely, it's all about the money. But we got to Lusaka, and immediately got a bus to Livingstone, which I think was about 7hrs. The backpackers was within walking distance and we finally made it sometime in the afternoon on Friday. We all needed showers desperately and called it an early night.
Jumamosi
Saturday started with white water rafting on the Zambezi River! I'd never done it before and these went up to class 5 rapids. I fell out on the first one. I was the last one to be pulled into the boat and at one point the water sucked me under the boat, I managed to hold on but everything except my arm from the elbow up was submerged. I was just being dragged alongside the boat like a toy, wondering to myself when it would end. It felt like ages but I'm sure it was only seconds. Out boat capsized at least twice and I fell out maybe five times. At one point the guide said "We can go this way where there's a 99% chance we'll capsize, or we can go the safe way." By this time I was sick of being in the water and wanted to go the safe way, but of course the boys chose the other and I had no say in the matter. We accidently hit the wave backwards and went over like a piece of toast butter side down. I was underneath the raft and heard our guide laughing maniacally, apparently he was having a great time! It was terrifying, and awesome! We then went up out of the gorge in a cable car and went back to have lunch. After that we got on a sunset cruise on the upper river, with unlimited drinks. We stayed at a great backpackers and a bunch of people went out that night, but I was just too exhausted.
Jumapili
Sunday we went to see Victoria Falls from the bridge, myself, the two people I started out with who I live with in Moshi, and two guys we met on the train. All three boys did the zipline, bungee jump, and gorge swing. I only did the zipline, the rest looked absolutely terrifying! I had seriously debated doing it before, but once I saw it there was no freakin way. So most of Sunday was spent sitting around waiting for them to finish. Later we went into town to some curio shops. There was this rasta guy called Boyd selling drums and I asked if he could teach me something, but he said he charges 20,000 Kwache (about $4). So we talked a bit and I told him I'm also a music teacher, but I teach for free! I said this as I walked away and while I was in the next shop he started playing his djembe. So of course I listened, walked back over, sat down with another drum and played it back to him. As Boyd was talking to a friend of mine I started playing, and of course we ended up playing together for a bit, gathered a bit of an audience, and had people dancing down the sidewalk. And he showed me a new kind of stroke I'd never seen. I really wanted to go back and play with him and maybe buy a drum (he makes them himself) but I never had time. Then we went out to dinner with a bunch of people from the backpackers. For my main I had bream, a fish from the Zambezi (yes, complete with eyes, spikes and teeth on the plate). And for starters we shared caterpillars and crocodile. The caterpillar wasn't great, but the crocodile was amazing! It was kind of a mix of pork and fish, great with some chili sauce.
Jumatatu
Monday morning we went to see the falls close up. It was just gorgeous, and we got completely soaked, it's like it's raining all the time, and there are constant rainbows everywhere. It's an experience that's hard to describe, but I recommend it to everyone. We walked around the falls for three or four hours. Afterwards myself and one of the guys from the train went to a lion walk. We literally got to interact with lions and take them for a walk. It was a bit daunting at first, there were many rules. Only approach them from the back. If they're laying you crouch, if they stand you stand. Only touch their back and upper leg. Don't touch their paws, head, or ears. Touch them firmly, if you touch too soft you'll just tickle them. If they turn around to see who it is behind them use this stick to distract them (as he shows us a stick that has clearly been chewed upon time and time again). I was the first one to go touch them, it was of course a bit scary but really cool to get up so close with such a powerful animal. We all went for a walk as if in their pride. After the lions we went into a pen to see the African linx, which is much smaller. One of them was quite friendly and rubbed up against my legs just like a house cat. Then we took three cheetahs for a walk. The cheetahs were much more personable (if that makes any sense), you could get right up close to them and give them a hug. They even purr just like house cats (of course much louder than house cats, so at first you think it's a growl). They were on leashes because they are such skittish animals and could run off at any moment, from the slightest noise. I felt more of a connection with the cheetahs, they actually returned the affection, the lions were pretty much indifferent to our presence.
Jumanne
Tuesday it was back on the road. We caught an 8:45 bus from Livingstone to Lusaka. We accidently got the business class bus, so it was a fairly comfortable seven hours. Then we got on another bus around 4pm that would go overnight to the border of Zambia and Tanzania. We started out with 5 adults, 1 baby and 2 children in the back row of the bus, but one person was able to move so we ended up with 4 adults and 2 kids. Of course then later another person came to our row. So, I ended up with a kid on my lap, which of course I was really happy about! His name was Kenan and he's 3 years old. His brother is Kevin and is 4, I had him asleep on my lap for awhile as well. But Kenan spent the entire night on my lap, I was very surprised I didn't get peed on! It was the two boys and their mother, and they were traveling from Johannesburg, South Africa to Uganda, where they had some land and were hoping to farm. Their bag with the boys papers had been stolen and the three of them had been held in prison for two weeks. Of course there's no one to help get papers, so they had to make their way up to Uganda bribing the police the whole way. At one check they paid 200,000 Kwache (about $40), and then had nothing left. The boys were really excited at the biscuits we gave them, and practically inhaled some bananas. Their mother took my email so hopefully I hear from her someday that they arrived safe.
Jumatano
We arrived in Nakonde (the Zambian side) around 8:15am. Recovered for a bit, changed, brushed our teeth etc. then went through immigration to Tunduma (the Tanzanian side). We then got on a small bus that was only supposed to be two hours but turned into at least 2, then arrived back at Mbeya. There were no buses available to Dar or Moshi that night so we ended up staying at a hotel.
Alhamisi
We got the next bus at 6am Thursday morning. We took it from Mbeya to Chalinze, ten hours. We were told that the conductor had arranged a bus to Moshi for us from there, but in reality we were just dropped on the sidewalk and left to our own devices. We eventually sorted out a bus to Moshi, and probably paid a little too much, but at this point we all just wanted to be home. The bus came, and was full. So, we sat and waited for the next, which would probably be full too, but we didn't really have any other options. It wasn't even a bus stand, just a stop. Eventually these guys who worked for the bus company found a random guy who happened to be driving to Moshi, so the three of us piled into the back of his minivan around 6pm. At one point we stopped for a stretch (and smoke on their part) and I dropped my iPod. iPod number three lost in Tanzania. I knew exactly where and we went all the way back but it was already gone.
We finally got home around 1am Friday morning, after three days of buses.
Jumatatu
Monday started at 7:30 with an 8 hour bus ride from Moshi to Dar es Salaam. I was pretty daunted with the length of the ride, little did I know what would occur later on in the trip. There was one stop the whole way, and my chair seat wasn't actually attached to the bus. The music videos ranged from Michael Jackson to MC Hammer, Sly and the Family Stone, and to 90s boy bands. I arrived in Dar and was proposed to the second I got off the bus, by a guy from Uganda (the first of many, pretty much every 10ft). Then was met by a friend (I've heard pretty bad things about Dar so it was nice to feel safe) who escorted me to my hotel, he left and I wandered across the road to have dinner and ended up chatting over dinner with a nice guy from Nairobi. It was amazing to have salad that included lettuce (most "salad" is just cut up vegetables) and to have real cheese. I watched a bit of football (soccer) and had an otherwise uneventful night.
Jumanne
 |
| The "first class lounge." |
Jumatano
The train was great while it lasted, the scenery was gorgeous, we stopped in villages and could buy fruit out the windows from the locals, and all of the children ran after the train waving. We even arrived in Mbeya almost on time which is great for Tanzanian standards. And then it began. We sat for awhile and eventually got to wondering what was going on. First they said there was an accident in front of us and we'd have to wait there a couple hours. As it turned out a train had derailed (I think it was the same train as ours but the opposite direction) and it would take two days to clear up. So we decided we'd spend the night in the parked train and start off by bus the next day. At first there were rumors of the train company supplying the bus, then rumors of us getting a bit of money back but being on our own. We met a street kid who was selling food in the station, and I'd heard there was good kitimoto (pork) in Mbeya so I asked him where we could find some. He ended up becoming "Commander Victor" and leading us to the middle of freakin nowhere to this little cement room with a dirt floor where some guys were cooking some of the best kitimoto I've ever had. It was a bit sketchy, and a group of white people being led around by a little street kid attracts a bit of attention. There were some guys in the room as well that were clearly talking about us, so to make it less creepy I decided to go over and talk to them. There were a bit shy but really nice (they spoke about as much English as I do Swahili). One of them was in school but had been a street kid. The other was wearing an amazing Christmas sweater (which of course I complimented). Back at the station, there was another train stranded there, their engine had to go assist after the accident. So the people were pretty angry and there was a heck of a lot of yelling. So our conductor went around making sure all of the windows and doors were locked and we fell asleep to the sound of riots.
Alhamisi
By this point we'd realized that pretty much our entire car was headed to Livingstone, so we ended up being quite a large travel group. Two guys were actually going to the same exact hostel that we were. In the morning we (eventually) got a bit of a refund, then we took a short daladala (minibus) ride to the bus stand, where we got on a bus that would take about two hours to get to the border of Tanzania and Zambia. The bus conductor was a nut job and tried to charge us for our luggage (only tried to charge the white people, as usual) and then wanted to sit five people in four seats, which he did manage to do, and then when we were stopped for a police check he got fined for it. He still insisted on us paying for luggage but we intercepted someone else's fare and a couple of us didn't pay, so in the end the group of us only lost about 1500Tsh (about one dollar). So we got to the border, got through the craziness of immigration then you just walk in right down the middle of the road, trying not to get hit by a car. We stopped for some food and got on a bus to Lusaka, which would be overnight, about 17 hours.
Ijumaa
The bus was by far the worst I've ever been on. There were little metal things sticking into your leg, I was sat on about half the seat and every time someone walked down the aisle (which was about every 5 seconds) I got hit in the head. It was completely overpacked, people had brought the most ridiculous items with them. A bundle of bicycle tires, loads of string, two boxes of juice, a box of aloe vera, a bucket containing god knows what (I swear I heard it move). It was strewn all about the aisles, and in a lumped in a huge pile in the back. Every time we got to a weigh station nearly the entire bus had to get off, the bus got through, and then went back to get the people. It has nothing to do with safely, it's all about the money. But we got to Lusaka, and immediately got a bus to Livingstone, which I think was about 7hrs. The backpackers was within walking distance and we finally made it sometime in the afternoon on Friday. We all needed showers desperately and called it an early night.
Jumamosi
Saturday started with white water rafting on the Zambezi River! I'd never done it before and these went up to class 5 rapids. I fell out on the first one. I was the last one to be pulled into the boat and at one point the water sucked me under the boat, I managed to hold on but everything except my arm from the elbow up was submerged. I was just being dragged alongside the boat like a toy, wondering to myself when it would end. It felt like ages but I'm sure it was only seconds. Out boat capsized at least twice and I fell out maybe five times. At one point the guide said "We can go this way where there's a 99% chance we'll capsize, or we can go the safe way." By this time I was sick of being in the water and wanted to go the safe way, but of course the boys chose the other and I had no say in the matter. We accidently hit the wave backwards and went over like a piece of toast butter side down. I was underneath the raft and heard our guide laughing maniacally, apparently he was having a great time! It was terrifying, and awesome! We then went up out of the gorge in a cable car and went back to have lunch. After that we got on a sunset cruise on the upper river, with unlimited drinks. We stayed at a great backpackers and a bunch of people went out that night, but I was just too exhausted.
Jumapili
Sunday we went to see Victoria Falls from the bridge, myself, the two people I started out with who I live with in Moshi, and two guys we met on the train. All three boys did the zipline, bungee jump, and gorge swing. I only did the zipline, the rest looked absolutely terrifying! I had seriously debated doing it before, but once I saw it there was no freakin way. So most of Sunday was spent sitting around waiting for them to finish. Later we went into town to some curio shops. There was this rasta guy called Boyd selling drums and I asked if he could teach me something, but he said he charges 20,000 Kwache (about $4). So we talked a bit and I told him I'm also a music teacher, but I teach for free! I said this as I walked away and while I was in the next shop he started playing his djembe. So of course I listened, walked back over, sat down with another drum and played it back to him. As Boyd was talking to a friend of mine I started playing, and of course we ended up playing together for a bit, gathered a bit of an audience, and had people dancing down the sidewalk. And he showed me a new kind of stroke I'd never seen. I really wanted to go back and play with him and maybe buy a drum (he makes them himself) but I never had time. Then we went out to dinner with a bunch of people from the backpackers. For my main I had bream, a fish from the Zambezi (yes, complete with eyes, spikes and teeth on the plate). And for starters we shared caterpillars and crocodile. The caterpillar wasn't great, but the crocodile was amazing! It was kind of a mix of pork and fish, great with some chili sauce.
Jumatatu
 |
| Joost, who we met on the train, myself, Patrick, and Jessica (who I live with in Moshi). |
Jumanne
Tuesday it was back on the road. We caught an 8:45 bus from Livingstone to Lusaka. We accidently got the business class bus, so it was a fairly comfortable seven hours. Then we got on another bus around 4pm that would go overnight to the border of Zambia and Tanzania. We started out with 5 adults, 1 baby and 2 children in the back row of the bus, but one person was able to move so we ended up with 4 adults and 2 kids. Of course then later another person came to our row. So, I ended up with a kid on my lap, which of course I was really happy about! His name was Kenan and he's 3 years old. His brother is Kevin and is 4, I had him asleep on my lap for awhile as well. But Kenan spent the entire night on my lap, I was very surprised I didn't get peed on! It was the two boys and their mother, and they were traveling from Johannesburg, South Africa to Uganda, where they had some land and were hoping to farm. Their bag with the boys papers had been stolen and the three of them had been held in prison for two weeks. Of course there's no one to help get papers, so they had to make their way up to Uganda bribing the police the whole way. At one check they paid 200,000 Kwache (about $40), and then had nothing left. The boys were really excited at the biscuits we gave them, and practically inhaled some bananas. Their mother took my email so hopefully I hear from her someday that they arrived safe.
Jumatano
We arrived in Nakonde (the Zambian side) around 8:15am. Recovered for a bit, changed, brushed our teeth etc. then went through immigration to Tunduma (the Tanzanian side). We then got on a small bus that was only supposed to be two hours but turned into at least 2, then arrived back at Mbeya. There were no buses available to Dar or Moshi that night so we ended up staying at a hotel.
Alhamisi
We got the next bus at 6am Thursday morning. We took it from Mbeya to Chalinze, ten hours. We were told that the conductor had arranged a bus to Moshi for us from there, but in reality we were just dropped on the sidewalk and left to our own devices. We eventually sorted out a bus to Moshi, and probably paid a little too much, but at this point we all just wanted to be home. The bus came, and was full. So, we sat and waited for the next, which would probably be full too, but we didn't really have any other options. It wasn't even a bus stand, just a stop. Eventually these guys who worked for the bus company found a random guy who happened to be driving to Moshi, so the three of us piled into the back of his minivan around 6pm. At one point we stopped for a stretch (and smoke on their part) and I dropped my iPod. iPod number three lost in Tanzania. I knew exactly where and we went all the way back but it was already gone.
We finally got home around 1am Friday morning, after three days of buses.
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