Anyone who knows me well will know I have a fetish for train travel. Before the civil war with the Ethiopians a narrow gauge steam train connected the capitol of Asmara with the port city of Massawa some 100km away. Asmara sits at an altitude of 2300 metres so it is quite a drop down to sea level. This line was constructed in the 1930s once again by Mussolini with the purpose of going from the port city of Massawa through Asmara and beyond into Kassala in Sudan. Most of the line is in disrepair but there is a 40 km stretch that is still intact between Asmara and Nefasit. Sadly any regular services ceased a few years ago but the train can be charted and, in one of the perks of group travel we have done so.
A steaming ancient black engine greets us before we board the whimsical little green wooden seated passenger’s cabin. I quickly find a spot on the back platform sitting on a step to the side outside the carriage legs dangling off the train. Here I savour the chugging of the steam engine, the roar through the 30 tunnels and the feel of the warm Eritrean breeze at my face. My eyes and my camera rejoice at the panoramic vistas of the highlands stretching away to the horizon.
Here’s to train travel African style!
