Back to Africa Travelogues

INTRODUCTION
For as long as I can remember, I've always dreamt of making six Transcontinental journeys, and when I write journeys I do not mean jumping from one spot to another by aeroplane - I mean travelling. The first one was to go by the TransSiberian Railway to Vladivostok and from there to Japan. The second one was to take a steamer to North America and go by the "Canadian" from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The third one was to go to Beijing, through Mongolia one way and Manchuria the other. The fourth one was to go all the way through Africa down to Cape Town, including riding the famous "Blue Train". The fifth one was to go to Alaska and the sixth one was to go to Singapore overland.

Like Cecil Rhodes I had the dream of going by rail, or at least overland, from Cairo to the Cape. That has never been possible in my lifetime; border crossings between African countries has always been tricky, with several ones closed at any time and there has never been public transport across the Sudanese/Ugandan border. The Sudanese Civil War makes it less advisable to travel through the country. But with the help of freight ships, my fourth dream journey became my sixth and last to fulfil (counting my South America trip in 1999 as a substitute for an Alaska journey). As in 2001 I went by a freighter from Lisbon to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, by train around in South Africa, to Maputo and all the way from Cape Town to Dar-es-Salaam and the Victoria Lake, by boat to Zanzibar and Mombasa, by train again to Nairobi and then by freighter from Mombasa to Fos-sur-Mer in France.

Just like when going to South America in 1999 the ships agent, Kapitän Peter Zylmann, nearly ruined my journey, as he booked me on a ship leaving Lisbon 18th April and scheduled to arrive Cape Town approximately at 3rd or 4th May, and not telling me until very late, although I one year in advance had told him I absolutely had to be in Cape Town not later than 5th May. Luckily enough the passenger (owner's) cabin on the ship ahead was free and I could board the m.v. "Grey Fox" in Lisbon 4th April. The ship I originally was booked on, the "Amber Lagoon", was late and did not arrive to Cape Town before I left by "The Blue Train" 7th May!!

THE BEGINNING
My train trip from Oslo to Lisbon was my first journey ever from the Scandinavian peninsular to the Continent of Europe without using a ferry on any part. Ten years earlier I could have travelled by train from Oslo to Lisbon only changing trains in Copenhagen and Paris. But that journey would have lasted four nights and three days. Now I had to change at seven stations; Hallsberg, Mjölby, Malmö, Copenhagen, Cologne, Paris and Irun, but was able to make the trip in 52 hours.

The journey on "Grey Fox" was the most enjoyable freight ship journey I have made so far; the cabin being the biggest and nicest I've ever met on a ship and the Polish captain and crew extremely nice and friendly. On board we celebrated Polish Easter, which is nearly as special as Scandinavian Yule. The weather on the Canary Islands, which we passed between, was surprisingly bad in April.

FIRST STEP ONTO THE SHORES OF AFRICA
Cape Town and Table Mountain	The ship called into Walvis Bay in Namibia, where I went off and strolled around and wouldn't have needed the visa I had got in advance. Wednesday 18th April the ship got an order to call into Port Elizabeth after Cape Town, to take some empty containers to Richardsbay. I thought it could be fun to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope and asked if I could prolong my journey. The immigration authorities in South Africa didn't mind that, however stamped my entrance in Cape Town and regarded the Cape Town - Port Elizabeth journey as a domestic one, and the ships company macs let me continue without extra costs.
However we arrived in Cape Town Thursday 19th and I went off with my main luggage and stayed one night at Breakwater Lodge, where I also kept my main luggage during my two weeks round trip in South Africa. I had a lovely Friday visiting Table Mountain - which was impossible to do when I came back to Cape Town two weeks later. Friday night I went to town together with some of the crew members, and Saturday we left Cape Town for Port Elizabeth, docking Sunday evening. Next day I took the train to Johannesburg, the commuter train to Pretoria, where I found a lovely hotel, in which I pre-booked a room for my visit two weeks later and then went by the night train to Komatipoort.

TO MOZAMBIQUE AND AROUND IN SOUTH AFRICA
South African trains are not very comfortable but have mostly excellent dining cars. My train to Komatipoort was six hours late, which enabled me to see and photograph the spectacular mountainous landscape that the train normally passes through in the middle of the night. According to the Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable there was supposed to be 1st and 2nd class air-conditioned coaches to the Mozambique capital Maputo. There were only 3rd class cars. I was definitely the only non-local passenger on that train. As the train from Johannesburg was six hours late nobody really knew when the Maputo train was supposed to depart. Suddenly the Mozambique engine driver blew the horn and went off. Passengers outside the train yelled and tried to run after and on the train but he just accelerated and they never got on.	Maputo railway station
At the Mozambique border the immigration officer demanded ZAR 12 (around US$ 1.60) from everybody to stamp their passports (I had already paid US$ 65 for my Mozambique visa in Lisbon). This was enough for some passengers not to have the fare (also ZAR 12) for the train journey to Maputo. It was a fascinating journey through remote villages on an extremely bad railway track, where 40 km/h felt dangerously fast. Maputo has the most beautiful railway station in Africa, but the railyard reminded me of Sarajevo's half a year earlier. Both railyards were filled with damaged rail coaches out of use. In Maputo I stayed at the Hotel Avenida, which charged US$ 120 for a single room. You get a better room for ZAR 300 (US$ 40) in South Africa. Next day I went back the same way and by the night train from Komatipoort to Johannesburg, from where I went to East London. The drunken Boer (Afrikaner) that was in my compartment had a gun inside his trousers' waist, luckily enough he left the train the same evening. Just as Chile and Argentina in 1999 had surprised me by being much more European and much less North American than I had expected, South Africa disappointed me by being the opposite. It is nearly impossible to be a pedestrian in the country, and a lot of towns are as ugly as American towns. East London is one of them. However standard is extremely high and prices very low on lodging, food and drinks in South Africa. After having spent the weekend in East London I went to Johannesburg again - spent the day at the Johannesburg railway station, as the city is regarded one of the most dangerous in Africa and has little to offer the tourist - and then caught the night train to Durban. Durban is a fascinating city, a melting pot of different cultures, and the only South African city I really liked, besides Cape Town. From Durban I took the 36 hours through train to Cape Town. Again a drunken Boer in my compartment made the first night unpleasant, so I changed compartment the next morning. The two drunken Boers I met on South African trains were the only persons on my entire African journey that were unpleasant. Back in Cape Town Friday 4th May it rained cats and dogs. Saturday I took a tour of the city on my own and Sunday I participated on a tour to the Cape of Good Hope, also watching wild penguins, ostriches and baboons. I really liked Cape Town and had some marvellous food there, as elsewhere in South Africa, like venison, ostrich, crocodile, calamari and lobster.

LUXURY ON THE BLUE TRAIN
Monday 7th May I boarded "The Blue Train"; the world's most comfortable train, running after schedule. It lived up to it's reputation - Excellent service, comfortable sleeping compartments with bath tubs, comfortable lounge cars, excellent dining car and everything included. "Even the cigars?", I asked. "Yes." "Do you have Havana cigars?" "We have nothing less, Sir." But it is amazing how the South African railways have managed to make this train into the worldwide known and popular train it is, as it runs from Cape town to Pretoria, which is not a very exciting city although being the country's capital and through a landscape that is not nearly as spectacular as neither the North American, the Norwegian nor the West Chinese.

I arrived Pretoria 26 hours later where I stayed at the wonderful Victoria Hotel, a very cozy and fine, old hotel opposite to the railway station, where you however should not walk outside after dark (which applies to most African towns and cities). In Pretoria I took out the money for my onward journey, so from there I carried US$ 6 600 in cash on my body, as I had got the information that cards were more or less impossible to use in Zambia or Tanzania. As it is so totally unwise to run around with that amount of money in cash on yourself nobody expects you to do it, and I didn't loose a cent of it, having hidden it in three different bags under my clothes and in my wrist belt. Next day I went to Pilasenberg National Park, where I saw lions, giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, baboons and zebras.

Thursday I went on "The Blue Train" again, this time taking a two day journey to Victoria Falls. In Bulawayo we went on an excursion and picnic. When we returned we were given the news that "The Blue Train" had derailed, trying to turn at the railyard. For a short while it looked like they would substitute the rail trip for a bus journey already that night and I panicked. But we were put at the Holiday Inn Hotel, hoping that "The Blue Train" could continue the next morning. It couldn't, and the rest of the passengers were taken by bus to Victoria Falls in the morning. I spent the entire day on "The Blue Train" at Bulawayo station, being served an excellent lunch, drinks and Havana cigars when I was not photographing the "NRZ Garrat" engine, that was shifting on the railyard, until the ordinary train from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls left that evening. Boarding that train I was followed by four of "The Blue Train" staff carrying my luggage and bringing a plate with cheese and fruit, a bottle of white wine, a bottle of sect and two Havana cigars. At Bulawayo station I was asked by a local for South African newspapers; press freedom was not highly valued in Zimbabwe at the time. In the papers on the train we could read that the Western embassies had decided not to evacuate their citizens yet! At the petrol stations long queues could be seen.

BY STEAM ACROSS THE VICTORIA FALLS BRIDGE
My biggest worry about the derailment of "The Blue Train" was that I had prepaid more than US$ 700- for two nights stay at the Victoria Falls Hotel, and now I turned up 24 hours late without having cancelled the first night. It was, to my relief, no problem - I still stayed two nights without any extra costs. Neither was it a problem to postpone my steam journey from Victoria Falls to Livingstone. Through Eve Chamboko at Zambezi Safari and Travel Co. I had made an agreement that a steam train would run from Victoria Falls to Livingstone the day I intended to go, and as normally six passengers was a minimum for the tour, I guaranteed tickets, if less than five fellow passengers were on board the train.
Victoria Falls	Visiting the Victoria Falls National Park is partly like walking in a very heavy rain storm. The falls had unusually high water and it was certainly an impressive sight. Victoria Falls is one of the five most spectacular landscapes I have ever seen so far! (The other ones being the Geiranger fjord in Norway, Grand Canyon in the USA, the Three Gorges of the Chang Jiang river in China and the mountains just south of the Argentine town San Carlos de Bariloche.) Walking on the path between the hotel and the national park one was followed by an armed guard, not to protect you against criminals but against elephants and buffaloes! In the evening on the second day I participated on a boat tour on the Zambezi river. However the only wildlife we saw on the tour was one crocodile.

Tuesday 15th May I went as the only passenger by "Steam Africa Express", one Zambian steam engine and a lounge car, from Victoria Falls to Livingstone. The red carpet was rolled out from the hotel entrance of the platform, champagne and soft drinks were served, the Zimbabwean immigration was passed and then we halted at the famous bridge between the two countries, so that I could take pictures, drinking more champagne. Then came the Zambian immigration - at none of the border posts I had to turn up in person. After 10 km we arrived at Livingstone station where the engine was put in the other end and we headed for the railway museum, where I was given a guided tour, before the train went back to Livingstone station. It left for Victoria Falls without me, as this was my way of continuing my journey northwards.

The "Steam Africa Express" on the Victoria Falls Bridge

I was met in Livingstone by a man from the SAE, and he drove me around, to the money exchange, to Wild Side Tours & Safaris, where I could book my train ticket New Kapiri Mposhi - Dar-es-Salaam TAZARA, and to the Maramba River Lodge, which meant that I didn't have to go to Lusaka to do it. Next day I visited Livingstone town, a sleepy little town which is difficult to believe it had once been the country's capital, and went on a private Zambezi river tour, where I came very close to giraffes and elephants. At Maramba River Lodge, hippos were only 10 metres from the outdoors restaurant and waked you up at 4 a.m. and a sign asked you to "Beware of crocodiles". Every night the incredible sound carpet of jungle noises was turned on, a competition between birds, insects, frogs and monkeys. The African jungle is bloody noisy! Both the two following days I visited the Mosi-o-Tunya National Park; the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls, maybe even more spectacular than the Zimbabwean side. Friday I went in to Livingstone town again and visited the Livingstone museum.

Elephant in Chobe National Park

I spent the weekend doing a two day Safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana. The first day we were four tourists in a small boat on the river shore, when 50-100 elephants walked straight ahead towards us and the biggest elephant stopped only five metres from our boat. Behind us we had plenty of hippos. We also saw a lot of antelopes on that tour. Next day I went both by car and boat to the same park, but did not see much I hadn't seen the first day, neither giraffes nor lions.

On my return to the Maramba River Lodge my chalet had been given to somebody else, but the owner drove me into town and got me a hotel room, for which he also paid. That was just fine to me, as I next morning was leaving Livingstone by a train, to which it had not been possible to buy tickets in advance. The train left Livingstone half an hour late, at 9.30 a.m.. I have never seen a less maintained train. The sleeping compartment door was difficult to close and just as difficult to open, the windows were partly crashed, the fans and light did not work, there was no water in the sleeping car and the toilet was a hole in the floor. We were supposed to arrive Kapiri Mposhi at 2.50 a.m. At 11 a.m. the next day I started to loose hope of reaching my train to Dar-es-Salaam, as our engine had been detached from the train to be repaired and we still were quite some distance from Kapiri Mposhi. At 14.30, 11 hours and 40 minutes late, we arrived Kapiri Mposhi and I still didn't know exactly when the TAZARA train for Tanzania was supposed to leave. Kapiri Mposhi on the ZR line is no station, just some tracks out in the field, but the train staff got me a taxi, and the taxi driver knew the TAZARA train would leave at 14.54, and it was only 2 km to New Kapiri Mposhi station, from where these trains leave.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
So what is my impression of Southern Africa? South Africa undergoes an exciting change, but all (or nearly all) parties seem to have an honest wish to build a future together. Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia seem to suffer from a post-colonial complex, where most business is run by people of European origin, however often born in one of the four countries or South Africa, not really belonging to any of them, constantly complaining about their lazy staff of African origin and the government taxes, treating the natives in a rather arrogant way and charging high prices for rather mediocre services with the words "That's Africa".

INTO TANZANIA
"Mukuba Express" in Kibulu	At the New Kapiri Mposhi station I was approached by a guy who wanted to sell a berth in a compartment which he held tickets for four, but only needed three. So I shared compartment with him and his two Congolese friends, one of them being a Chief of a land larger than Belgium. They two only spoke French and Swahili, while the first guy, who was Zambian, spoke English and Swahili only. The funny thing was that when counting high numbers they did that in French and English respectively, not understanding each other, so I had to translate the numbers without knowing anything about was the conversation was all about.
Rather ironically, the Chinese fulfilled an essential part of the dream of Cecil Rhodes by building the TAZARA railway to Dar-es-Salaam, to enable Zambia to export its copper without using South Rhodesia and South Africa. It runs through a beautiful landscape, and in Tanzania I saw a lot of antelopes, buffaloes and giraffes. Upon leaving New Kapiri Mposhi, the "Mukuba Express" (Copper in the Bemba language) was two hours late, we were due to arrive Dar-es-Salaam Thursday morning. In the afternoon the engine broke down, one station from Dar-es-Salaam. Everybody, except a young Bermudan-English couple with two small children and a lot of luggage and I, went the last 10 km or so by minibus. Finally a new engine arrived and pulled us in to Dar-es-Salaam TAZARA at 6. p.m. I took a taxi to Durban Hotel, basic but cheap. The restaurant lacked atmosphere but the food was marvellous. I stayed in Dar-es-Salaam for five days. I liked the city and to just stroll around in it lazily. East Africa gave me quite another impression than Southern Africa. The natives seem to have much more control themselves over their countries, although a lot of business are run by people of Arab and Indian origin. Both Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar and Mombasa are old cultural melting pots, partly with pretty old buildings. In Tanzania I nearly only ate seafood, which they served of all sorts, deliciously prepared, while the quality of beef was much poorer than in Southern Africa. After five days in Dar I took the train to Mwanza at the Victoria Lake, a 36 hours fascinating train ride through a spectacular landscape and picturesque villages. Just as before on the train to Maputo and from Livingstone to Kapiri Mposhi, I was the only passenger of European origin, which obviously worried the railway staff, who even commanded a fellow passenger into my compartment, so that the "Muzunga" (white man) should not have to sleep alone(!). On that train I made the mistake of taking the Malaria prophylax Lariam on empty stomach, which caused me a terrible headache the next day and even worse, my eyesight changed temporarily.

In Mwanza the streets were such that you cannot even talk about pot holes, as pot holes have to be in something, which didn't exist here. I stayed at a fairly good hotel; The New Mwanza Hotel, not as overpriced to foreigners as most accommodation and transport are in Tanzania. The landscape at the lake is really beautiful. Several passenger ships and train ferries run to Uganda but none to Kenya. According to the Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable there was supposed to be a passenger service from Mwanza to Kenyan Kisumu, which I planned to use as I booked my freight ship journey home, from Mombasa to Europe. It didn't exist (which I knew by the time I left Europe - what I didn't know was that no trains had run from Kisumu to Nairobi since December 2000, due to a lot of train accidents!)

Mwanza

I went back to Dar-es-Salaam, again by train, and stayed another two nights, this time at Peacock Hotel, at US$ 70 (55 for residents). The reception was fancy, but the room hardly better than at the much cheaper Durban Hotel and the restaurant a catastrophe. Both nights some Muslim gathering performed in the park opposite the hotel, yelling non-musically prayers in loudspeakers, making it totally impossible to sleep.

BOAT TO AND FROM ZANZIBAR
I boarded a passenger boat to Zanzibar, to which I arrived Tuesday evening 5th June, and moved in at Mazsons Hotel in the Stone Town, a most charming hotel. One thing I discovered about Zanzibar was that everybody (or should I rather write every male) on the island constantly was lying and misinforming about absolutely everything. The taxi driver who told you the hotel you wanted to go to was closed, the guys in the street who wanted to show you where to go to to get this and this, and then wanted money for it; although they unnecessarily had taken you through the entire town and still you hadn't got what you wanted, the price of a tour, the tour company who claimed it was not allowed for foreigners to go by "dhow" to Mombasa etc. etc. I liked the Stone Town in Zanzibar very much, and spent a week there. Though it was annoying to have the same conversation five times a day, where you first were asked about everything concerning yourself and your trip, then told that the person in question had no education and no job but a family to support and finally asked to pay him 1000 TSh or buy him a drink or a cigarette. On Zanzibar I went on a "Spice tour" and visited the National Museum. My main problem was how to get to Mombasa. I had hoped there would be passenger boats. There weren't, not even to Tanga, which is far closer to Mombasa than Dar-es-Salaam. At some time I was fooled to believe I could not go by "dhow". There are no more passenger trains from Tanzania to Kenya. I had seen the buses from Dar-es-Salaam to Mombasa and could not imagine going 470 km by anyone of those. I knew there was a bus company called "Scandinavian Express", with fairly decent buses the 900 km from Dar-es-Salaam to Nairobi, but I didn't fancy going 900 km by any bus and wanted to avoid Nairobi - at least arriving Nairobi with all my luggage at 9 p.m.
mv. "Al Husein", the dhow that took me to Mombasa	I was nearly considering taking the flight from Zanzibar to Mombasa! Then suddenly I met somebody who knew of a "dhow" (a small wooden cargo boat) that was going to Mombasa, and I could leave Zanzibar by that Tuesday 12th - I hardly dared to believe it! So off we went at 5 p.m. The sea wasn't too bad, but as the small boat was empty I experienced the worst rolling ever, and a couple of hours west of the sound between Zanzibar and Pemba I really had to use force to keep myself at one place on the boat. What I did not know then was that several of these "dhows" never reach their destination in the winter months of June and July. But thankfully we arrived Mombasa at 9. a.m. Wednesday.

MOMBASA AND NAIROBI

As the Norwegian embassy in Nairobi had sent me an e-mail just before I left Europe that I now would need a visa at US$ 50 to enter Kenya I had tried to apply for one at the Kenyan embassy in Dar-es-Salaam. There they claimed I didn't need one as a Norwegian citizen. And that seemed to be correct - the immigration officer stamped my passport, giving me one month permit to stay with the words "I assume you have the necessary funds to support yourself" In Mombasa I stayed at the Oceanic Hotel, once a very fancy hotel with several restaurants, now rather declining, but it still had decent rooms with balconies, overlooking the sea and the port entrance, and very cheap. Saturday I took a guided old town tour, pretty overpriced as most tours are on the East African mainland and Sunday I boarded the night train to Nairobi. Of ordinary trains in Southern and East Africa it was the most comfortable but also most expensive, still very good value for money; Ksh 3500 for a berth in a 1st class 2-berth compartment, including three course dinner and breakfast. Everything in the compartment was working, there was even drinking water in addition to washing water and the compartments were guarded during meal times.

Mombasa old town

Giraffe in Nairobi National Park

Nairobi had a nice railway museum and a good restaurant; "Travellers' Café" at Hilton Hotel, but was otherwise the worst city I have ever visited; air-polluted, noisy, ugly, crowded, unfriendly and dangerous. I visited the Nairobi National Park but did not see any lions, and rhinos and zebras (all three animals I would see "for sure" according to the tour company) - I saw at such far a distance there was no point in trying to take pictures of them. I did however get some really close shots of giraffes and marabou storks.

Wednesday I went back by the train to Mombasa, just to get a message from my ships agent that my freighter to Europe now was, not three, but six days delayed. So I had another week at the Oceanic Hotel. I took a very nice picture of the ship from my balcony as it entered the port.

LEAVING AFRICA BEHIND - TAKING GOOD MEMORIES WITH ME
Fortunately I had two very nice German fellow passengers on the ship, unfortunately, the German officers tried to pretend there were no passengers on board the "CMA CGM La Bourdonnais". The first time the captain spoke to me, was after six days when he needed my passport and health declaration for the Egyptian authorities! We left Mombasa Friday 29th June, passed the Gulf of Aden, where we heard other ships talking to each other about being attacked by pirates, and reached El Suweis Friday 6th July. Saturday we went through the Canal - two bridges had been or was being built since I passed through four years earlier - and in the evening we were put to anchor in the port of Bur Sa'id. Next morning we docked, and the captain was furious about all the Marlboro cigarettes he had to bribe everybody with, just to dock. He got even more furious when we left. At least my fellow passengers and I could spend a lovely Sunday in Bur Sa'id.

Wednesday morning we got the message that there was a strike in the port of Marseille, our destination, so we had to go to Fos-sur-Mer, 50 km west of Marseille. But the ships company paid my taxi from there to Marseille (FF 900) and I boarded a high speed train from Marseille to Brussels, travelling in up to 350 km/h(!) on a brand new railway line and only using 5¼ hours on the distance. Unfortunately the high speed train from Brussels to Cologne enabling me to reach the night train for Copenhagen was fully booked, so I had to take the night train to Hamburg. Now, there are worse places than Brussels to spend a Friday evening with all the restaurants in the city! From Hamburg I went to Travemünde to try to catch the morning ferry to Trelleborg, but on Saturdays it of course suddenly had left at 8 a.m. instead of normally 10 a.m., so I just made it back to Lübeck to reach the Copenhagen train. After a short visit at my parents in Scania I went home to Oslo by trains from Malmö via Gothenburg Sunday evening, and came home after 107 days, full of impressions!