Welcome To The Eastern Highlands

A train ride is an amazing if not daunting experience, and Jojo is pretty much aware of this.

While,he had paid for some rides to his rural home,he had equally stolen others taking advantage of the chaos that usually characterize the economy class compartment.

And although today,he has money enough to pay,he decides to play the hide and seek game with the train conductor once again.

After all the economy class is overly packed with standing passengers pushing, shoving and breathing heavily down each other's neck all for this cheap ride to the picturesque Eastern Highlands.

Some with considerable nerve are even flouting the non-smoking rule triggering howls and protests from whoever cares to shout in the process.

The scenario takes him back to the day, when old wise uncle Isaac had pointed the price train riders paid for the cheap rides.

He had mockingly likened them to the growing number of social welfare cases in the impoverished nation, considering the discomfort associated with the journey,let alone the amount of time it took to complete the 200 mile journey to the picturesque Eastern Highlands for example.

Bus travel was faster needless to mention the luxuries of music and videos that goes with it.

However the fare was almost double that of a similar ride in the train's economy class,where each standing passenger had to contend with the pushes,the shoves and the foil breaths like sardines in a can, each time the train approaches a railroad crossing or stop.

Old wise uncle Isaac now late prided himself in opting for the bus ride each month end he comes to collect his dues from the tenants who occupied his apartment in the ghetto.

He even argued that there was nothing economic in a train ride;as besides the discomfort,one was bound to spend more on snacks thus more than making up for the difference in the fares,due to the long hours you were to endure along the rough ride.

A 200 mile journey while standing in a crowded train was no mean feat for the likes of Jojo who has to watch out for the conductor doing his rounds along the corridors, while at the same time trying to secure his small luggage between his legs in case a thief decides to try their luck.

But from his precarious position notwithstanding,he can clearly capture the beautiful scenery outside.Of different trees, flowers, savanna plains,streams and rivulets, snaking through the vast expanse of forests in the midday sun.

It is a fascinating spectacle, and takes him back to to his childhood days when he used to think that the receding trees were infact speeding in the opposite direction.

At each stop, the amount of passengers disembarking would be replaced by an equal number of passengers getting aboard the snacking machine, making it difficult for Jojo to get a seat.

Besides,a seat on this day was not ideal, considering the risk of being flushed out by the conductor on his routine checks.

"For anyone,who think poverty is cheap, should try this",a guy standing next to him remarks".lt is incredible how one can endure such a travelling while standing".

"You can say that again,my brother",Jojo agrees"We have seen better days".

"The powers that be , have messed up the economy and we are now being made to pay the price".

"Thank goodness at least we still have robust forests like those outside.They are fast becoming rare as diamond, nowadays"

"They got spared only because they belong to those who control the levers of power - the corrupt Kleptocrats",he continues"Otherwise, they would have been at the mercy of those rowdy malcontents calling themselves war-veterans,who have done the same to our once viable commercial farms".

"It's the same story across Africa, where liberation movements have ascended to power through the barrel of a gun" he adds"They have now turned those guns on their own, holding them hostages in the process".

Then the guy offers his bottle of liquor and Jojo is amused."Hope you are not one of Kenny Roger's gamblers"

"Not really brother, thanks"

"Never mind,"he adds"But how much about trees do you know?"

"A little not much"

"Sure, what is that one outside"

"That must be msasa"

"Not really, that is mnondo"

"How do you tell them apart?"

"Thank you",he takes another swallow and pauses,"before continuing."A lot of people can hardly distinguish the difference between the two.Its true they hail from the same family,and one needs to study closely the leaves,the position of the seed pods of the two to spot the difference".

"It is always good to discover knowledge, even in this filthy train eh!"

"Moreover, you shall learn with time, that while the leaves are similar,on the msasa the longest and largest are at the end of the twig on the mnondo they are in the middle"

"But what do you think God had in mind when he created these vast bountiful forests,we see, the bird life and animals?".

"Of course he had you and me in mind.Do you know something about those blossoming muhacha trees,there?".

"In Zezuru culture, that tree is sacrosanct.It is under that tree, that traditional rites are performed to appease the spirits and gods of the land".

"Exactly"he continues"But from where l come , they use the marula species instead.It is even possible to ask for food when stranded under that tree and the gods would promptly answer with platefuls of food and water".

"But how often does that still occur today?"

"Not much really,as we have embraced foreign customs at the expense of our own"

Then,a flock of birds takes off from one big tree,at the sound of the siren,as the train approaches the half way station.

"These quelea species you know them?"Jojo feeling tipsy asks 

"They are by their nature a menace ,a pest to all wheat farmers.

However they are a delicacy when properly roasted as a snack.Some enterprising farmers have found business selling roasted birds to travellers along highways".

"Now you see,why l say God ,Providence had His people in mind when he created the Earth and its vast endowments,yet we are at the fore front of ruining the same"

"You can say that again, brother,we certainly deserve all this poverty in our midst"

And before they know it,the train sounds its siren and pulls up at the last stop, facing a sign that reads Welcome to the Eastern Highlands.