Our final port of call on our African adventure would be by the Indian Ocean. We chose the train as our way of getting there.
Nairobi to Mombasa Train
As part of their belt & road policy, the Chinese have built a wonderful railway line from capital to coast. It features three passenger trains a day in either direction from one terminus to the other, with freight trains continuing on to the Chinese built port.
Timetable courtesy of The Man in Seat 61, as ever the bible as far as overseas train travel is concerned.
The train takes approximately 6-hours and passes through national parks along the way. Sightings of giraffe, elephant, antelope & zebra are common. Makes a change from sheep & cows.
We elected for the 08.00 departure. We had booked tickets through East African Shuttles at inflated prices, approximately 60% higher than the 4,500 KES (£27) cost of booking a first class single direct.
The fly in the ointment for direct booking is you need M-Pesa, the African payment method. For this you need a phone with a local SIM. Doable but hassle, plus we wanted to pre-book before we left the UK.
We could have asked our hotel to book them for us. They probably would have done but we did not want to impose. The agent we used delivered the tickets to our hotel so they were waiting for us when we arrived, which was nice!
We arrived at Nairobi Terminus at 07.00. Good job we did as security was intense. Our bags went through scanners 3 times and we had to show our passport twice.
At one stage we lined up with fifty other passengers either side of a static conveyor belt where we placed our bags. Sniffer dogs then proceeded to smell all the belongings for drugs. One lingered slightly when it smelt my breakfast wrap, but we passed OK.
After security it was straight to our train. Just time for a few photos before a prompt departure.
The train was very comfortable with the train crew immaculately dressed, attentive & smiling. They appeared to love their jobs, an example to crews in many other countries.
We tucked into our Hobb House packed breakfast as the train sped along at an average of around 100km/h. Drinks & snacks were also available from a frequently wheeled trolley.
We arrived into Mombasa dead on time to be greeted by a waiting throng of expectant families and taxi drivers.
Coming next – Mombasa
