Lusaka, Zambia. Plot 6006, Flat 1, Sibweni Rd, Northmead. Residence of the Kalimanshi family where I am and will e hosted for the next three months as a volunteer on a GLEN project in collaboration with Breakthrough Sports Academy (BSA) Lusaka.

As I sit on the little front porch, surrounded by numerous plants in clay pots, the air is silent, very silent. Apart from the odd car that slowly makes its way along the pot-holed filled dirt road that divides the plot from the Rhodes park elementary school I front of us, the atmosphere is tranquil and very peaceful.

I have managed to catch up on the rest that was deprived from me whilst trying to make my way to Lusaka via Dubai and Dar-Es-Salaam. After an 11 hour night-over at Dubai international I met up with a couple of friends in the coastal town of Dar-Es-Salaam on Saturday 30 August whilst waiting for the Tazara train to Lusaka.

The two days spent in Dar revealed the immediate friendliness and joviality characteristic of East Africans. Chirpy, smiley and loud. No greeting may be started without the rudimentary handshake that comprises the formality of a typical British greeting and the more informal styled palm-around thumb shake used amongst old pals and celebrating sportsmen.

I also visited the project my friends Lara (from Germany) and Franja (from Slovenia) are participating in: a German-Tanzanian collaboration on health development in Tanzania, mainly focusing on HIV / AIDS prevention and education.

Whilst in Dar, I also managed a dip in the ocean which would be my last for at least another three months.

I was delighted to see the beach come to life as the day was starting to settle into the evening with kids playing volley ball and football to the foreground of the turquoise Indian Ocean and the green backdrop provided by the palm trees.

The white sand sparkling gold as the sun turned a fiery red. All the elements were embracing us as two little kids sat covered in sand grains munching on a freshly cut sweet coconut!

On Tuesday 2 September it was finally time for my journey towards Zambia. The Tazara train, built by the Japanese links Dar to Kapiri Mposhi, 200 kms outside of Lusaka and takes on average 40 hours (if you’re lucky). It has been recorded that the ordeal could last as long as 52. I was lucky!

With the option of 4 person first or 6 person second class sleeper differing by only $10, or the more populated 6 x super seater (no sleeper option offered), I went for first class.

In its former glory days, sheets, pillows, towels, bed lights, ceiling fans and porters were part of the deal. Nowadays, the sheets, pillows and towels are gone; bed lights and ceiling fans accumulate dust and the porters have disappeared.

Nonetheless soap, toilet paper and bottled water are supplied for you, as well as a fleece blanket, with which to cover yourself during the hours travelling through the stillness of the African plains that can become hair-raising cold.

Thanks to our timely on-scheduled departure we managed to catch a glimpse of some wildlife whilst traversing on of Tanzania's National parks.

As we puffed along the tracks, wildebeest and zebras ran parallel accompanying us mundanely just like my uncle’s pet dogs would do every time our car would enter or exit the driveway.

Antelopes would hop along small scrubs and bushes like little enthusiastic children would do playfully whilst waving us on our journey, whilst the elegant giraffe continued to munch away foliage, unbothered as the moon replaced the sun for its night shift and tucked us in to rest.