When I take public transportation in a country like Tanzania, I usually don’t think about who owns and operates it. If the plane has wings, wheels and seatbelts, the boat looks as if it won’t take on water and has lifejackets, and the bus has relatively few dents, that’s good enough for me. I certainly don’t ask questions about vertical business integration and other abstract concepts.
My ferry trips to and from Zanzibar made me think differently. The fast catamarans—the 50-mile trip takes about 90 minutes or a bit longer if the sea is rough—are operated by Azam Marine. It’s a division of a conglomerate, the Bakhresa Group. Its founder started his business career modestly enough in 1975 with a single restaurant in Dar. Since then, the group has expanded beyond Tanzania to nine countries in southern and eastern Africa. It has interests in agriculture, industry, consumer goods, media, petroleum, shipping, hospitality and leisure, real estate, sports, and other sectors. It operates the Kilimanjaro passenger catamarans to Zanzibar, the Azam Sealink ferries carrying small trucks and passenger cars, and a ferry designed for large trucks, some carrying hazardous loads such as petroleum and compressed natural gas.
The Kilimanjaro offers three classes of service—economy, VIP and Royal. I knew that upgrading would make no difference to travel time or the swell of the sea, so I settled for economy for $35. I was pleasantly surprised to have an airline-style seat (though non-reclining) in a clean, air-conditioned cabin.
It’s impossible to get away from the Azam brand on the trip. In the waiting room, Azam staff sell Azam snacks and drinks. Uniformed Azam Marine staff mitigate the usual chaos by instructing everyone to take a seat, and then instructing passengers to board row by row. On board, the snack bar sells, well, you know what. Staff distribute Azam-branded seasickness bags.
The only TV channel on the monitors is Azam TV. In the early afternoon, it was showing foreign soaps with English subtitles but no black characters. This is not my normal viewing, so I had to do some research:
The Turkish soap Sadakatsiz (Unfaithful) is an adaptation of Doctor Foster, a popular British show. Sadakatsiz follows the story of a well-respected doctor, who begins to suspect, correctly, that her husband is having an affair. Please don’t ask me about characters or plots.
The blurb for I’ve Known You All My Life from Mexico’s Televisa goes like this: Pedro and Vera meet and fall deeply in love. Yet, both are unaware that their parents' crimes, past crimes of which they are neither part nor guilty, will jeopardize their happiness together. Please don’t ask me …
On the mid-morning return trip from Zanzibar, it was the glitzy Turkish epic The Ottoman, featuring warlords on horseback inspiring their troops with brave words before battles, the storming of castles with battering rams, and intense hand-to-hand combat. Most of the men have beards, and almost everyone wears armor. The battle scenes are interspersed with interior scenes where the main characters plot, scheme, double-cross and fix each other with intense, scrutinizing facial gestures.
OK, I know you want to watch, so here’s the blurb:
Following the life of Osman Bey as he struggles to found and control the Ottoman Empire. Osman must defeat the powerful Mongol and Byzantine Empires, as well as internal enemies, if he is to successfully defend his new empire.
It’s now in its fourth series, and the empire is still in peril. Of course, it is. If it wasn’t we could not have season five.
Like other TV series, The Ottoman tries to portray strong female characters who can wield a sword or hatch a plot as well as their male companions or foes. It’s a pity they aren’t given better lines in the script. I wrote down a couple:
From an Amazon-like, armored warrior chief: “Praise be, I gave birth to the heroine.”
From a character who appears to be a nun: “Please don’t die Cardugay. Be strong, I’ll cook for you.”
Presumably she will be using the full range of Azam food products to revive Cardugay’s strength. Yes, I fully expect vertical integration by the Bakhresa Group to be represented in product placement in season five.