Winding along remote narrow valleys and beneath escarpments "thick with wild forests", the Tazara Railway takes you halfway across southern Africa – a 1,100 mile journey that is "spectacular in every regard", said Matthew Parris in The Times. Dreamed of by Cecil Rhodes, but only built in the 1970s with Chinese help, the line runs from the Zambian town of Kapiri Mposhi, in the heart of the continent, to Dar es Salaam, not far from Zanzibar's dazzling white beaches. You could do the journey on a luxury Rovos Rail train, as part of a 15-night trip from Cape Town – but my partner and I hopped straight onto the state-run Mukuba Express, and secured a "clean and comfortable" first-class sleeping cabin for £105, all in.
The service runs once a week, and it takes about 43 hours one way – but you should be prepared for last-minute cancellations (there's much else to do in Zambia, if need be) and delays. This is a "cross-continental lifeline linking villages that never see a bus", and the duration of each stop is hard to predict, as hundreds of people may cluster around the train, meeting or waving off relatives, and loading and unloading furniture, machinery, sacks of grain, and so on. But the journey never drags. We chatted to our fellow travellers (mostly local people), bought lovely snacks from platform hawkers (mangoes, fresh paratha breads with salt and lime, hot omelettes "cooked over coals"), admired the stations (some of which are models of "1970s Maoist concrete chic"), and enjoyed simply lying in the heat, listening to voices outside our cabin and soaking up the endlessly varied views.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Are complaints about wokeness in comedy valid or just the usual 'the olds don't get it' issue?In the Spotlight Jerry Seinfeld has been in the news for his recent remarks, but political correctness has long been criticized for interfering with jokes
-
If comedy gives lessons, you're doing it wrongOpinion Jerry Seinfeld wonders if his show would have made it in our moralistic era
-
6 unique homes with an A-frame designFeature Featuring a smart home in Vermont and a wall of windows in Wisconsin
-
Cynthia Carr's 6 favorite books that explore social issuesFeature The former culture writer recommends works by Ling Ma, Olga Tokarczuk, and more
-
The worst fast food restaurants in Americafeature American Customer Satisfaction Index's most recent ranking of our nation's fast food restaurants
-
The Idea of You review: 'impossible escapism' starring Anne HathawayThe Week Recommends Steamy romcom about a 40-year-old who falls for a boy band singer
-
Expressionists: a 'rousing' exhibition at the Tate ModernThe Week Recommends Show mixes 'ferociously glowing masterpieces' from Kandinsky with less well-known artwork
-
The Buddha of Suburbia: an 'orgiastic odyssey'The Week Recommends Emma Rice brings Hanif Kureishi's 1990 novel to the stage
