After our leisurely time on Lamu Island, we decided to take the slower train connecting Mombasa to Nairobi instead of the bus. The train was scheduled to leave at 6 pm but in true African time it didn’t take off until 8:30 pm. We had a 2nd class cabin for two and were provided with bedding. Since we had traveled all day by bus to get to Mombasa we were tired and went almost immediately to sleep. While it was fun to say we were sleeping on a train traveling through Africa, I must admit the sleep wasn’t so good. The tracks are not the smoothest and so we found ourselves rolling around and moving up and down with the click of the tracks.
The next morning we looked out our train window at the Kenyan villages dotted across the rolling hills. We walked through several cars to get to the dinner car where we were served breakfast on silver platters. As we buttered our biscuits and sipped our tea we smiled at each other enjoying the feeling of the old colonial days. I’m happy to report it wasn’t completely a colonial experience since our entire car was black faces. Though, when the train slowed down at different stations, looking out the window showed Kenyans running and jumping on the third class cars and other Kenyans jumping off.
As we neared Nairobi the train passed through a national park. Giraffes, buffalo, wildebeests, zebras and antelope passed by our windows. There was a young teenage Kenyan girl outside our cabin who would alert us to animals on that side of the train. Again, Hailey and I just smiled at one another amazed and in awe of this “African” life we live.
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