I have been watching videos of rail journeys especially
the 8 000kms Siberian train journey from Moscow to Beijing that one is on my
bucket list. The other train ride on my bucket list is on the Tazara railway
from Zambia to Dar es Salaam. Here is one of my unforgettable train journeys
that I embarked on in 1989. In the 80s when I was in primary school in
Zimbabwe, it was a tradition that grade 7 class would go for a long trip.
Previous classes had gone to Kariba Dam or Victoria Falls.
I had started grade 7 at Amaveni Primary School in
January 1989. Around February 1989 my father was transferred from Amaveni
Police Station to Mbizo Police Station in Mbizo township also in the town of
Kwekwe about 8kms away on the other side of the town Centre. Myself and my two
younger sisters we transferred to Ruvimbo Primary School not far from our new
home. At that time in Kwekwe there were Primary schools offering Shona or
Ndebele laungages, I only went to Shona speaking schools which turned to be a
disadvantage in my adult life when I worked in Bulawayo and when I relocated to
South Africa.
In 1989, the school decided on something new, a trip to
Gaborone. When the school trip was announced, I asked my mum and she spoke to
my dad and they agreed that I would go for the trip. Normally if you apply for
a passport in Zimbabwe you have to go to the provincial capital in our case it
was the city of Gweru. Because of the large number of pupils involved our
passport applications were done right there in Kwekwe.
I got my first passport and it was valid for 10 years.
Then our passports had a black and white photograph. We also had to apply for
forex to use in Botswana. My group was allocated to Grindlays Bank. I went to
the bank to apply for travelers cheque worth 200 Pula (That was a lot of money
then). We were going by train to and from Gaborone. In the 80s Zimbabwe
government had constructed an electric railway line from Harare to Dabuka just
after the city of Gweru.
I had a keen interest in trains as my uncle Mr Dunira was
a station Master working for National Railways of Zimbabwe. We were transported
by buses to Kwekwe Railway Station. The area was familiar for me as my father
had been guarding at the nearby Kwekwe Aerodrome. I would cycle from Mbizo
police Station to the aerodrome to bring him food. I would marvel from a
distance at the light aircrafts that would land and takeoff whenever I visited
him.
The train from would arrive in Kwekwe around midnight.
Kwekwe is about halfway between cities of Harare and Bulawayo. The train had
coaches reserved for our school for that journey, our coaches were not
accessible to the rest of the train passengers we had class 2 modern semi
sleeper coaches. I remember the buffet car fondly in the train. On that journey
it was the second time I came face to face with corruption. The first time I
came across corruption was around 1983-1984 when my sister Rosemary and I would
help ourselves to the Cerelac and Pronutro porridge then meant for our infant
brother Tendai Kanyoka🙈 I wonder why Pronutro
no longer taste that good 🤔.
On this trip family members of our teachers as well as
officials from the ministry of education and their families had tagged along
which meant our coaches were crowded you struggled to get a place to sit. I am
convinced all these people had not paid for the trip. After we had been placed
in our coach, I saw that I would be facing a girl in the other grade 7 class
whom I had a crash on. I was also scared I would do something stupid, she knew
I had a crash on her because every time we came face to face I would literally
freeze. I knew I would not be able to enjoy my journey so I moved away from
that coach. I spent a lot of my time moving up and down the train looking out
of the windows on the train passage.
At Dabuka we got a diesel locomotive for the rest of the
journey to Bulawayo. I have written about my first time in Bulawayo in a
previous blog. Bulawayo remains my favorite city in Zimbabwe. We arrived in
Bulawayo early in the morning, I remember the huge industrial buildings. Then
Bulawayo was the manufacturing hub for Zimbabwe.
We spent hours at Bulawayo Railway Station and our
coaches were connected to the steam engine destined for Plumtree. A steam
engine is a feat of engineering. I will never forget the sound of the steam
locomotive and the bell. Coal is fed into the engine and on a curve sprays of
water from the locomotive can land on your face. After getting into Botswana
the train was now being pulled by the Botswana Railways diesel locomotive. We
waited in Francistown for the night train to Gaborone.
From what I remember our coaches were joined to the train
to Gaborone. Botswana is a sparsely populated country. The only name I
recognized was a place called Mahalype. At Amaveni Police Station we had shared
a house with Mr Musharu also known as Baba Paida, he had remarried and his new
wife was a Mo Tswana lady. She had told me she came from Mahalype, Botswana.
On the third day we arrived in Gaborone. Then in 1989
Gaborone was not very much developed. We stayed at a school not far from the
city center. I was told the boarder with then Apartheid South Africa was not
far away. One thing I enjoyed was the canned Sparletta drinks which cost a few
Thebes then. Reading the cans they were written Kgalagadi Bottlers. Then in
Zimbabwe we drank our soft drinks in bottles, every payday and Christmas
holidays we would drink soft drink. There were lot of varieties of drinks to
choose from in Botswana 😋 👌🏿.
We went to the bank to change our travellers’ Cheque.
Even at young age then I was very responsible I bought a
Trident Radio one cassette player that was the first radio we ever had at home.
I also bought my then cute 🙈youngest brother Brian
Kanyoka a toy a Mercedes SE model car (I loved Mercedes Benz even back then).
We spent about 3 days in Gaborone before going back. Gaborone was a very hot
place. We then caught a train for the return trip to Kwekwe. I didn’t not enjoy
the rice and the pap I bought as it had a lot of spices, then we never used to
eat food with too much spices.
In 1990-1990 I travelled from Marondera with a neighbour
to Francistown to buy stuff for sale to supermarkets, I remember cartons of TV
bar chocolates. After I joined Zimnat Lion in 2004 as an Underwriting Manager,
Mr Chiswo our Managing Director then called me to his office and asked me if I
believed in prayer and I told him yes, he told me that I should pray as I was
being considered to be seconded to Botswana Insurance Company a sister company
within TA Holdings. The position was given to my peer Betty who deserved it
more as she was more experienced and more qualified than me.
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