TAZARA

This is Michelle in lovely light, settling into her bunk on the TAZARA train, which we finally boarded at around sunset in Dar es Salaam. We’d spent all afternoon waiting at the station but accepted that a five-hour delay was reasonable based on reviews.

We’d amused ourselves during the delay by reading the tales of other TAZARA travellers posted online. One person writing in Portuguese complained about feeling like frango grelhado (grilled chicken), ‘hot and sticky in the cabin’. We realised this was probably a reference to one of the three dishes on offer when some chicken was served to our cabin by the attendant.

There was a full moon shining brightly, which we enjoyed as we leant out of the window, and enjoyed an evening chugging slowly westwards, away from Dar es Salaam. The bed was comfortable, the train juddery and the pace glacial. A very memorable way to close out one’s 30s.