Tanzania: Ticket to Ride; on board with She Devil

This was hands-down the most memorable bus ride we’ve had to date. Like many public buses, this one had ‘Praise the Lord’ flamboyantly painted across the front windshield. And while that probably wouldn’t fly on a Greyhound bus at home, here religious affirmations are fairly frequent in public and even government-run institutions. And as if on cue, the minute we took our seats, the top-volume gospel music started. The next nine hours consisted of the most comfortable bus we’ve been on (clean! free soda and candy!) with a rather aggressive religious campaign. Following the music, a three-part Nigerian movie series She Devil was popped into the on-board VCR. Handily, we had time to watch all three segments in their entirety and get the catchy repeating soundtrack (she devil, she will destroy your life, she wants to take your love) caught in our heads for the next two weeks. The film revolved around a woman whose body was invaded by Satan at an early age, and now she gallivanted around stealing other people’s husbands. The six-hour saga ended when a priest was able to exorcize the demon in a dramatic hand-laying ceremony complete with flashing eyes, speaking in tongues, and frantic writhing, but this was not before the entire bus (men, women and children) got to witness graphic sex scenes between the She Devil and her victims. All of this played at top-volume while we trundled through the lush and gorgeous landscape of the foothills of the Usambara mountains, past hills swathed in green, fields, and rural villages. She Devil, she will destroy your bus ride. (We tried to find the movie poster to link here, but alas, it doesn´t seem to be quite the international hit that we´d hoped.)