My journey on board the MV Liemba was a highlight. For over 80 years, the old German steamship (formally known as the Graf von Goetzen) has
been travelling along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika between Kigoma in Tanzania and Mpulungu in Zambia. It is the last vessel of the Kaiserliche Marine
(German Imperial Navy) still actively sailing anywhere in the world and launched
in 1915 as one of three vessels the German Empire used to control Lake
Tanganyika during the early part of the First World War. After being scuttled
in 1916 she was raised by a British Royal Navy salvage team in 1924 and
returned to service. These days she transports passengers and cargo but in days
gone by she repatriated more than 75,000 refugees back to Zaire during the
First Congo War and still takes Congolese and Burundi refugees back to their
respective countries if needed.
Thankfully this time I managed to get a compact and bijou first class cabin complete
with 2 small bunk beds, a sink, wardrobe and fan. On the deck below were the
second class cabins and third class seats where the wall of heat and smell from
the masses and the engine room hit you as soon as you descended the ladders. Unlike the decks above it was dark and
dank with men selling biscuits, juice, and fruit to the passengers that
couldn't afford the restaurant meals. The gateway to "down below" was kept closed
and manned by a member of staff. Whilst we waited to depart, the boat was loaded
with sacks of fish, flour, bananas and pineapples to be traded along the way or
sold in Zambia. Relaxed Tanzanian passengers dawdled on board hours after the
boat should have departed whilst we Europeans had made sure we arrived hours early.
Unsurprisingly, many of the third class passengers preferred to
stay outside on the upper decks where they filled every corridor, bench and gangway
with mattresses, suitcases, and small children so that by the evening it was
impossible to open the door to the cabin for people outside. The restaurant
sold good food although it was unaffordable for many of the passengers, and the huge
rat that ran up the wall next to Alex the barman was even more off-putting than the
cockroaches coming out of the sink behind him.
The Liemba stopped many times over the next 48 hours always signalled
by loud blasts on the horn regardless of the time of day or night. Only three
stops had docks; at the others passengers travelled between ship and shore by
means of smaller boats. This period of frantic activity was cause for everyone
to flock to the sides of the ship to watch the spectacle unfold below. All sizes of rickety
wooden boat (usually containing a boy emptying out water with a
bucket) approached the sides of the Liemba, bringing new passengers, collecting those
disembarking or containing traders gesticulating wildly and plying their wares. Men climbed aboard selling pineapples or melons while huge tuna and catfish were held aloft for display. Some boats appeared to come along just for
the entertainment, seeming neither to sell anything or bring passengers of any
kind. As the MV Liemba passes only once every 2 weeks, the 45 minutes of distraction is probably too much to ignore.
One of the most enjoyable experiences was being able to have
conversations with the other passengers. The second night on board I gave an English
lesson to Deo, a Burundian business man who was headed to Zambia to open his
own shop. Consequently, our lesson focused on items he would sell like sugar,
flour, tea, and then for some reason transgressed into clothing. Maybe he hoped
to branch out at some point. He'd left his wife and six children behind in
Burundi. Another time, I met two boys (they looked 13 years old although they
said they were 24) who were travelling to the town of Kapili to find work. Even
though they had no belongings other than a blanket and probably no schooling
they asked very interesting questions; did I consider Barack Obama black or
white? What did I think of David Cameron's decision to legalise gay marriage?
Did I think I would go to mbiguni? I said I didn't know where mbiguni was and
they laughed before pointing to the stars so I think they meant heaven.
In the evenings I escaped the hustle to watch the sunset
over the Congo. The lifeboat deck seemed to be out of bounds to
most passengers other than staff, friends of the captain and wazungu, who of
course could go anywhere they wanted to, so it was the most peaceful place to be. The lifeboats looked well-built too although there were only two of them for the 600 passengers on board.
By dawn on the third day there were noticeably fewer people
on board, many having departed overnight. Nobody knew for sure what time we would
arrive at Kasanga; depending
on who you asked it could be any time in the next 6 hours. There was no chance of missing it though, as being the last stop in Tanzania the border officials would come aboard to stamp passports and all cargo not going on to Zambia would be offloaded. There's always a bit more time to enjoy doing nothing aboard the MV Liemba.
