Safari Njema

Just as Mombasa was beginning to feel like home I had to bid farewell to this lovely beach city. It was only three days ago when I trekked into town to go buy my first class train ticket to Nairobi. You should have seen the shock in my face when I went to the counter to buy my ticket. It looked like a Spaza shop. But hey, it said First Class on the window.

 

The train was scheduled to depart Mombasa Station at 19:00. My oh-so-efficient cab driver mentioned that we needed to leave the hotel at 17:00 because there is going to be a lot of traffic on our way from Reef to Town. There was always traffic in the city no matter what time of day it was but got worse in the evenings. We arrived at the train station at 17:55 as he had predicted and the car was searched for bombs, Kenyan style.  It took a while to understand what was going on until I linked it to the bombings.

I walked around the train station looking for the platform and was greeted by loud African music and happy people. Of course I knew I was in the right place. The excitement to go to the nations capital could not be missed in the locals’ faces.

I really need to stop being paranoid. As I waited for the boarding announcement I needed to go to the train station tuck shop. I wanted to take my bags with me because I was worried that they would be stolen, typical South African. There was a young man that was sitting close to me, he didn’t look like he was going to board the train. I wanted to ask him to watch my bag while I went to the tuckshop. I had ‘profiled’ him and worried that I would come back to no bags. I took a leap of faith and I asked him. Needless to say, I came back and I found him standing there with my bags. A huge sigh of relief.

The Railway Shop

At 18:30 a boarding announcement was made. I still had no idea which coach to get on. I just followed the white people. There was an eclectic mix of people awaiting to board the train. 99% of them looked like tourists from Europe. I spotted a lesbian couple with what seemed like their adopted baby girl and I wanted to go say hi to them. It was obvious that she was adopted, she was black and they were white. Everyone stood on the platform waiting to be told where to go. Turns out that our hand-written tickets had details on which cabin to board.

After minutes of trying to find the right cabin and berth I finally settled in and the train left 30 minutes later. It was going to be a long ride. I was actually very happy that I didn’t have a berth mate for the trip. We all stood by the windows and bid Mombasa farewell. Some even waved white handkerchiefs, just like in the movies.

Moments after we left Mombasa and into the darkness that I believed was Tsavo the dinner bell rang. As first class passengers we were called into the dining room. At this moment I need to mention that this first class berth was nothing like the first class I imagined.  It was beautiful and rustic nonetheless..

There was a bunch of festive European travellers. They came from Belgium, Sweden and Germany. At dinner I met this Swedish gentleman that lives in Nairobi. We had a lot of Tusker beer while in the dining room until we were asked to leave. I had forgotten to get cash for the ride and only had 100 Ksh. My friend bought me so much beer I could never thank him enough.

The best beer in a minute.

The topic of conversation that dominated was black ladies. Coming from Mombasa you will understand that there are many “cockroaches”, prostitutes, and they come in different forms. The gentlemen mentioned that they liked a few black ladies they saw in Mombasa. The ladies liked them back. But they worried that these ladies might not be genuine. They might be long-term prostitutes, seeing them as meal tickets. I couldn’t help but wonder.  Multi-racial couples were a normal sight in Mombasa. What was more distinct was that the white partner would be older. I aint trying to start nothing here, so I ma stop.

We arrived in Nairobi at nine. Two hours late. I am grateful that I took the train. As we were approaching Nairobi I got to see the poor conditions that many Kenyans live under. There was a shantytown next to the railway; I assumed that it was Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum village in the whole of Africa.

Nairobi City Centre

I was so happy to get to Nairobi, I actually wanted to kiss the ground. The city was abuzz. I was really lazy to walk through the traffic and find my way to the hotel so I hailed a cab. The cab looked like it would break down but it didn’t matter, I was in Nairobi.

Nairobi Railway Station