SS Liemba - Day 4

Mid-Lake rendezvous...
It's pissing down rain right now. Came down really hard last night as well, coupled with a pretty impressive light show. More stops for passengers and cargo. I hope this sucker doesn't sink. The ship is being buffeted by some pretty big waves.

We got word that the end is near. I've really enjoyed the voyage. The crew and fellow passengers have been really nice to me.

If it weren't for Oguda's computer, I think I would have went nuts. Just kidding.

SS Liemba - Day 3

Life, particularly in Africa, seems to hang on a thread. A delicate thread. Traveling the way I am, I can see up front sometimes the daily struggle to survive. It's probably beyond my scope of reality to fully comprehend how poor most of these folks are. But, getting back to the reality of the struggle, we got a dose of it today on the boat. The Liemba came across a partially submerged dhow (sail boat of questionable integrity). I was having lunch when the Liemba made a donut, and most of my fellow passengers piled onto the port side.

Clinging to the bottom of the dhow was a group of 3 adult men and 2 women. Floating nearby was the body of a young child. It was dead.

I made it to the deck late, but I saw quite a few rescuers floating about. News had it that they'd been in the water for 2 days before being found. A fourth adult male perished we encountered them. A sad day on the lake. Lots of people were crying.

I saw Saving Private Ryan and Platoon on Oguda's laptop today. It helps pass the time. The ship's progress is slow. The ship's hold is loaded but it's made numerous stops at tiny villages to pick up passengers and small loads. This happens at all hours of the day. The Liemba stops about 500 metres off shore and what seems like the entire village heads out to meet her in tiny boats.

I'm not in a hurry, but there's talk that we'll be arriving in Kigoma tomorrow night. That wouldn't be very good. I've adjusted to the rhythm of life on board. I've made alot of friends. I love it on board.

SS Liemba - Day 2

Spent the night with the boat docked. Finally got out of Mpulung at 1030.

First class cabins consist of a couple of bunks, loset, a table/chair, a sink and mirror, plus a couple of cockroaches here and there. Very basic... worth 50 bucks? considering the alternative (a spot on a wooden bench and/or deck), it's a damn good deal.

the night went ok. The old hags camping outside the door wouldn't shut up for the longest time [ed. note: can't believe i wrote that. but Africans are really good communicators. they love talking. i swear if mzungus didn't have TV or video games they'd be good talkers as well. wow, talking to one another. that'd be a shocker]. However, the mellow tunes played by my roomie's laptop helped sooth the situation.

D-day on the Liemba. Ironic that the Liemba was orginally a german ship. that's my pal Oguda with his wondrous Dell puter.

My roomie's name is Oguda Joshua Robert. He's Zambian [actually he turned out to be Tanzanian, my bad] on his way to Kigoma (like the rest of us). He's working on his master's degree in environmental health administration in Lusaka via correspondence with the University of Leeds. He's a really nice guy. Loves his eighties musak. I made him change rooms today for no apparent reason. according to "gopher", the ship's purser, we're in a room with better air circulation now.

Docking in Kasanga, Tanzania

whole lotta cargo. get to work boys...while i go get some toilet paper...

tough, tough, tough job...

fit for the pit...
We're in Kasanga taking on a load right now. Kasanga is the first stop in Tanzania. It's been 6 hrs so far. People are mesmerized by the loading process. Most of it are bags of corn kernels. Except for the trucks and crane, it's all done by brute force. 90 kg Bag by 90 kg bag. These "cargo handlers" are built tough, working hour after hour, building neatly stacked piles for the crane to load into the cargo hold using a net.

Life as the lone mzungu took a turn for the worse today. I've noticed that the loo doesn't provide TP. It'd been 2 days since I've gone. I asked the ticket guy, Faust, where I can get some toilet paper. I know. That's weak. In all my travels, I just cannot do the left hand assist. I dunno why. There's no shop on board. Before I knew, Faust starts asking the deck on how the mzungu can get some TP. Really embarassing... Lots o laughs at my expense later, I hopped onto a motor bike and was taken, along a bumpy dirt road, to the closest village with a TP dispensary. I bought the biker a litre of gas and called it even.

Got to go use it before I suffer some kind of toxic septic explosion.

Weak, my friends.

Mpulungu, Zambia/SS Liemba

dude on the deck of the SS Liemba
Wahoo! I'm sitting here in the mess or dining hall of the "venerable" SS Liemba, the legendary ferry (appearing in Bogie's African Queen) that cruises the length of Lake Tanganyika (from Mpulungu, in the south, to Kigoma, Tanzania). They've got a dvd player blasting a concert collection of Bob Marley. That guy's ubiquitous.

I'm the only mzungu on board... that's good.

I don't think we're going anytime soon. The Liemba got in at around noon and they're still emptying the cargo hold at the front of the boat (bag by bag). It's 7 pm now. If we're lucky we'll be outta here at midnight. not holding my breath.

Alas, it's been a long day. I'm glad to be leaving Zambia. It's the most intolerant country so far. I'm not sure where all the anger stems from. Good grief, it's suppose to be a "Christian" country. What the hell happened. Today some guy at the motel, in Mpulungu, came right up to my face and said, "mzungu, where are your from?" The restaurant lady held him off. First time I've been addressed like that... It might get better in Tanzania. Can't get worse than this.

I was thinking back to what my friend Tulya, a Finnish aid worker in Mozambique, said about the African trait of being really jealous of those who are fortunate enough to have [something]. That must have a bit to do with the behaviour I've been observing lately...

Well, I better finish up writing. Some illiterate might see me writing and break my pen in half... [ed. note: I can't believe I wrote that. I apologize.]