TAN: With the Voigts

We saw Julia out of the house at 7 a.m. Basta and Julius had worked on the food for the train trip until 3 a.m. We moved our gear over to Maina’s house in anticipation of Hanif arriving back in Tanzania before we returned from Mikumi. As we were coming back by the house, Fadhil arrived with Alex’s Land Cruiser and a taxi in tow. The Land Cruiser was left at Hanif’s and we all piled into the taxi. We were the second group to arrive at the station. Two photographers from Conde Nast had arrived before us. Along with two other guests and the Marketing Manager for A Tent with a View, they were to depart the train in the Selous.
We waited another half hour for the larger group of 13 people to arrive. The larger group was a last pilgrimage to Tanzania by Helga Voigt, the 95 year old widow of Werner Voigt, a German settler who had come to Bagamoyo in 1926 and stayed in East Africa for the next 60 years. The family still holds the lease to Ras Roale, the peninsula that the Foxes’ Lazy Lagoon camp is situated on. Along with Helga were her two daughters, Evelyn and Veronika, along with their husbands and assorted family friends.
A pair of Maasai had been arranged to provide some extra local color. Their put on dance on the platform was well received by the others, but seemed a little contrived and hollow to us. We have been spoiled by seeing the real thing in a more natural setting.

Julia talking with Helga Voigt, who at 95 is making a last pilgrimage to Tanzania where she lived for 56 years.

The Maasai warriors were quite a spectacle.

We got aboard the train and were off on our 10 hour journey to Mikumi. This trip was far more pleasant than our last experience on the locomotive with Else. We flitted amongst the other guests. I spent a while chatting with John, an audio engineer form Ottawa. He was very curious about what we were doing and vice versa. Soon I had my Titanium hooked up to his iBook and files were flying back and forth. I also chatted with Gordon, the gentleman who had arranged the trip for the group. He had been a travel agent before retiring and was currently working as a conflict resolution consultant. He has worked at all sorts of levels, from couple to small and large businesses and was interested in working with countries in the future. Sandrine was particularly interested in the work he had done in Kosovo.
I also enjoyed listening to a chemical engineer who lived outside Basel, Germany. He was in charge of safety procedures for a large producer of pigments and anti-bacterial agents. He had travelled widely in South America, the Far East and India to help implement safety programs in all of the companies plants around the world.
Had a delicious vegetable curry for lunch. Basta brought out an extra plate which I enjoyed a great deal. We hit a spot of rain in the early afternoon. Chantal was not pleased, but I am sure all of the living things in the parched Selous were quite happy.

Enjoying the ride on the Foxes Safari Express.

As we neared the Udzungwa Mountains we passed through mile after mile of sugar cane fields. It was a welcome change to see so much green. We pulled into the station, such as it was, just before sunset. Metta from Vuma Hills was there to greet us with a mini bus and truck.

Most of the hour-long drive to Vuma was completed in the dark. The three of us were in the truck with an excellent driver. We arrived just after the mini bus. I got settled in the same room I had had when we came through with Julie and Gabriel in October. We had a delicious dinner of vegetable curry and tucked in soon thereafter.

The voracious termites eating the grasses in the camp. The sounds of their nocturnal munching had intrigued me in July. This time I was prepared with a flashlight.