SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
KLMNO
EZ EE
F5 Chugging at the heartstrings of Tanzania tanzania from F1
heart of Tanzania. For travelers with time to kill
anda penchant for confined spac- es, the Central Line's thrice-week- ly cross-country passage is one of Africa's great rail journeys. Tak- ing in about 600 miles of East African bush at its own unhur- ried pace, the train’s ponderous slog to Kigoma — a scruffy, Ger- man-built port on the shores of Lake Tanganyika — is like a gentle rebuke to the harried world of the modern-day safari. No pre-dawn wake-up calls, no eagle-eyed seniors keen on spot- ting the Big Five before brunch. In a vast country where twin- prop Cessnas can whisk you to your remote safari camp in less than an hour, the two- or three- day trip is a safari — a “journey” —in the true Swahili sense of the word.
For the architects of the great
colonial enterprise of the 19th century, the arguments for the railway were far more prosaic. Most of the interior was waiting to be opened up for European commerce; in German East Afri- ca, the construction of a railway would link the great inland lakes — Nyasa (Malawi), Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza — with the ports of the East African coast. It would also be a boon to the territory's burgeoning agricultur- al economy: German settlers had already seized upon the great potential for growing sisal, coffee, tea and, most importantly, cotton on sprawling plantations across the interior. What they needed was an efficient way to transport their crops to the coast for export to foreign markets. No less important was the
matter of political prestige.Bythe turn of the century, the colonial powers had already begun to lay tracks across their recent acquisi- tions. The Italians were busy surveying the rugged terrain be- tween their possessions in Abys- sinia and Eritrea; the Portuguese had begun ambitious projects in Angola and Mozambique; the Belgians were linking the lower Congo to ports on the Atlantic coast. In British East Africa, rail- way planners were pondering how best to skirt the vertiginous walls of the Great Rift Valley. According to the mad logic of the colonial scramble, there was no way to justify sitting idly by while the riches of the continent — riches that, in most of Africa, would never quite pan out — were toted away in locomotives bound for foreign ports. Today the Central Line is still a
vital lifeline for much of the country. Onboard were traders and market women carrying goods from Dar es Salaam deep into the interior—some continu- ing on to landlocked Burundi and the eastern Congo. Countless lives in countless
villages rely on the train’s pas- sage. Earlier this year, when flooding washed out large por- tions of the track, the venerable train was put out of commission. It took six months for railworkers to get the Central Line back on track — six months of struggling and fretting for many Tanzani- ans.
During my trip, there were no
such worries. In the villages we passed, the train was cause for celebration.Mothers held waving infants up to the sky, as if in offering. Men wagged their hats. Farmers and footballers and el- ders wobbling along on their bicycles stopped and looked up and smiled thinly, squinting at our dust. Aboard the train, heads poked from the windows in twos and threes, enjoying the easy camaraderie of a long journey that’s just begun. An old Muslim man beside me whipped off his prayer cap and stuck his head far out the window, like a Labrador. Perhaps he was thinking of other train rides, of journeys in his youth, of the feeling of the wind beating against the temples of a boy with his whole life ahead of him.
My cabin-mate was Godfrey
Chatta, an avuncular, moon-faced septuagenarian with large, mild eyes and a complexion like but- terscotch. A former employee of the Tanzanian Railways Corp., he had done the end-to-end journey from Dar es Salaam to his home in Kigoma more times than he could remember. But, he sighed, no, it was not the same. “Railway employees would al-
ways ride for free,” he said of the time when the railroad was run by Africans. Today, it’s operated by an Indiancompany. “Whenthe Indians took over, they said, ‘No, no. You didn’t work for us.’ ” Now Godfrey, shrugging with resigna- tion, had to pay like the rest of us.
SUDAN UGANDA RWANDA BUR. Kigoma Lake Tanganyika ZAMBIA 0 MILES 150
Lake Nyasa
MOZAMBIQUE M.K. CANNISTRA/THE WASHINGTON POST Victoria Lake Nairobi KENYA Mt. Kilimanjaro TANZANIA Dodoma
Central Line
Dar es Salaam
Atlantic Ocean
Africa Eu rope
TANZANIA
Indian Ocean
Asia
DETAILS
GETTING THERE KLM Royal Dutch Airways offers connecting flights from Washington Dulles to Dar es Salaam, with fares starting at about $1,300 round trip.
GETTING AROUND A taxi from the center of town to the posh enclaves of Msasani and Oyster Bay—where you’ll find most of the best dining and night life—runs about $10. Dar es Salaam’s bustling and atmospheric Asian Quarter, in the center of town, is a colorful swirl of mosques, Hindu temples and art deco buildings from the colonial era. Exploring on foot is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. The Village Museum and the adjacent Mwenge Carvers’ Market, with its excellent curio selection, is also worth a visit. A taxi from the center costs about $68.
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER VOURLIAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
At stops along the Central Line, Godfrey Chatta picks up goods for friends back in Kigoma.
After years on the Central Line,
he was accustomed to the jour- ney’s rhythms. During the night, stopped in a dimly lit station serenaded by the eager cries of villagers, I would wake to the sight of Godfrey engaged in some brisk commerce, passing out a few rumpled bills and lifting some heavy plastic bags inside. In the morning, oranges and coco- nuts spilled from beneath the bed. Godfrey seemed pleased with the night’s business. Button- ing his shirt, checking the timeon his wristwatch, he stuck his head out the window, no doubt looking for more goods to add to his growing haul. Commerce has always played a
central role on this east-west axis. When the Germans began laying tracks in 1904, construction fol- lowed along the centuries-old caravan route cleared by Arab traders. Unlike the Europeans, with their perfunctory, pith-hel- meted explorations of the interi- or, the Arabs sought to establish a lasting trade presence in the re- gion. Along the way they built supply posts, allowing them- selves all the comforts of home. Wealthy merchants had harems to provide them with succor in a foreign land; imported luxuries — Arabian spices, butter, soap — eased the burden of African life. Weary traders, arriving in the town of Tabora after weeks of tramping through an unforgiving landscape, would find an oasis surrounded by fruit orchards and vast fields of wheat. Even Living- stone, the greatest of the antislav- ery crusaders, would avail him- self of the famous Arab hospitali- ty, forced to turn a blind eye to the onerous slave tradewhenhis very survival depended on Arab sup- plies. More than a century later, busi-
ness is still brisk along the road to Lake Tanganyika. In small mar- ket towns, we were surrounded by women hugging great bags of cassava or balancing bundles of sugar cane on their heads. Across the arid central plateau, where soil conditions are poor and agri- culture scarce, villagers ap- proached the train wagging brooms and walking sticks, wo- ven-palm baskets, viscous honey trapped inside old water bottles like prehistoric amber. In Saranda, a dusty settlement
miles from nowhere, the train’s lunch-hour arrival stirred the listless town to life. Makeshift restaurants sprang from the earth, grills piled with chicken legs and wings, vats of rice and ugali porridge. Village women rushed to join the throng in the hopes of pulling in a fewshillings, tables balanced on their heads. Young boys in plastic sandals
WHERE TO STAY Kilimanjaro Kempinski Kivukoni Street, Dar es Salaam 011-255-764-704-704
www.kempinski.com Dar’s choicest digs, with stylish rooms and highly regarded restaurants overlooking the harbor. Doubles from $295.
Kigoma Hilltop Hotel Kaya Road, Kigoma 011-255-28-280-4435 Kigoma’s most comfortable option, on an escarpment about a mile from the center of town. Doubles from $80.
WHERE TO EAT Chef’s Pride Chagga Street, Dar es Salaam Offers a wide selection of Tanzanian andWestern dishes in a bustling atmosphere that’s popular with tourists. Dinner for two around $15.
Addis in Dar 35 Ursino St., Dar es Salaam 011-255-74-126-6299 Brings a taste of Ethiopia to the Tanzanian coast. Dinner for two around $30.
O’Willie’s IrishWhisky Tavern Chui Bay Road, Dar es Salaam 011-255-22-260-1723
www.owillies.com In the Peninsula Seaview Hotel, this seaside watering hole dishes out pizza and pub grub to an often raucous crowd. Live music on weekends. Dinner for two around $25.
KHALFAN SAID FOR THE WASHINGTON POST VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Safari, so good: From top, the Central Line’s slow progress across Tanzania is the antithesis of the fly-in safari, but you get the sunrise overUvinza and up-very-close and personal contact with the locals.
called out in high, hoarse voices, selling skewers of goat meat. As the train began to board again and the solemn sigh of the whis- tle signaled our departure, the people of Saranda had already begun to pack up their tables and grills, to empty pots of boiling water into the dust, as if the whole mirage would vanish by the time we rounded the bend.
By the end of our second day
together,Godfrey and I had fallen into the train’s easy rhythm. Over a cupof tea, he described his daily routine in Kigoma: rising early for the morning church service; gossiping with his old colleagues at the port; a light lunch at home; afternoons at the market. It was a simple life, the life of a man who had accomplished all he could hope to accomplish in his allotted time. A decade ago Godfrey had lost his wife; his seven children had scattered across Tanzania. Unbuttoning his shirt, folding his trousers into a neat pile on the sink, he gave the impression of a manwho had spent his life on the rails and was now, at 78, prepar- ing for one final departure. It was a cool, misty morning when we woke near Uvinza. God-
frey was already sorting through the bags at his feet, heavy with sighs, wondering at how a two- day passage could turn into such a shopping spree. A blood-red sun rose over the silhouettes of distant hills. Along the tracks, women were carrying buckets and nylon sacks full of the salt for which the town is known. “When I get to Kigoma,” said
Godfrey, “they will ask, ‘Did you bring salt from Uvinza?’ ” Natu- rally, he bought a sack of salt from Uvinza. We had come through the vast
dust bowl of centralTanzania and passed into the rich, fertile lands of the west. Here the soil was red and the trees were heavy with fruit; the women approaching the train at each station came bearing sugar cane and bananas and lettuce, tomatoes the color of rubies. In Kazuramimba,Godfrey bought a bag of sweet potatoes, clearing a few square inches of floor space with his bare foot. It was hard to imagine how much added weight the train had taken on since we left Dar es Salaam, or whether each of the cabins had begun, like ours, to resemble the produce section of Whole Foods. At the station in Kigoma, fami- lieshadgatheredonthe platform,
welcoming home husbands and mothers, nephews and prodigal sons. I heaved my pack onto my shoulders and wedged myself into the hall; my words with Godfrey were brief and warm in parting, and we exchanged hopes that we might cross paths that week in Kigoma. Outside I watched him passing bags and bundles out the window, direct- ing the movement of the porters like a field marshal. “You must be very generous,”
he said, handing a bunch of bananas to a well-wisher. “It is a problem with being so famous.”
travel@washpost.com
Vourlias is living in Johannesburg and working on his first book.
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RIDING THE TRAIN The Central Line train station is on the corner of Railway Street and Sokoine Drive, not far from the city center. The train is administered by the Tanzanian Railways Corp. (011-255-22-211-0600), though it’s best to book at the station. Be aware that first- and second-class tickets are often booked at least a week in advance. Until it returns to its thrice-weekly schedule, the Central Line leaves Dar for Kigoma every Friday at 5 p.m. It’s worth shelling out for a first-class ticket (around $42), which secures you a bed in a two- person cabin.
INFORMATION Tanzania Tourist Board Samora Street, Dar es Salaam 011-255-22-213-1555
www.tanzaniatouristboard.com
—C.V.
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