Our gang of 13 intrepid travelers departed the lovely Upepo
Gardens overlooking the Indian Ocean and crawled our way through morning
traffic to the train station in the center of town.
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| Thanks Karianne for all your hospitality. |
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| The Gang of Travelers |
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| All Aboard |
Day one: We departed
shortly after 1300 local time and traveled south away from the hot and dusty
coast down the TAZARA railway line. Construction
of the line was started in 1968 by the People’s Republic of China. Seems they were looking for a way to show
their leadership of the non-alignment movement and solidarity with the third
world. The line was completed in 1975 at
a cost of 240 million US$. At Kapiri
Mposhi, it was connected to the Old Colonial Line. The day passed with spectacular scenery running
down both sides of the train. After
dinner, we retired to our cabin and slept deeply with the rocking motion of the
train.
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| The Train is nearly half a kilometre long. |
Day 2: At 0700 we stop for a visit to the Selous Game
Reserve located just southwest of Dar es Salaam. The reserve is the largest in Africa spanning
55,000 square kilometres. We loaded up
in topless Land Rovers with local drivers and headed out into the bush. The roads were surprisingly good considering
the terrain and after a 15 kilometre ride we came upon some of our first wild
life. It started with a few scattered
giraffes and a zebra here and there until we approached a large lake. This beautiful watering hole was where the
action began. There were dozens of
wildebeest, zebras, impalas, and as we got closer to the lake we spotted many crocodiles,
hippos, water birds, and a large bird that resembled a Bald Eagle. Our driver saw a fresh print in the road and
about 100 yards away we saw a pride of lions resting in the shade of a tree. There were 6 younger lions sleeping
together under the tree and 50 yards away the mother lion was dozing by
herself. It was extraordinary.
As we left the lake and headed farther up the trail, we came
upon a small group of monkeys who were busy grooming one another. They were not very keen on us stopping so
close to them and they made their disapproval clear. After another few kilometres were came to our
late morning destination, a gigantic Baobab tree. For
folks that have never been on the Safari Ride at Animal Kingdom, the Baobab
tree is referred to as the “Upside down” tree.
It looks like the roots are sticking up in the air and it only has
leaves a few times a year. This tree was
rumored to be about 1000 years old.
There is no way to tell the age because the trees are fibrous, so they
do not have rings in the middle you could count.
The folks from Rovos had set out a spread of snacks and cold
drinks. After all, what would a game reserve visit be without a nice gin and
tonic or sparkling wine and some pretzels.
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| Kookie Monkey. |
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| 1000+ year old Baobab tree. |
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| Nice Spread for lunch. |
We made the trek back to the train and traveled further south for the rest of the day. After Dinner and a little socializing in the observation car we headed off to bed. A great day in Africa.
We didn't see any signs of Elvis today but one of the guides did know all the words to Viva Las Vegas.
Cheers,
James and Pat
