Day Fourteen

We started off our day extremely early to leave Nairobi for the second time. Yesterday, we originally had planned on meeting at 4:50am but decided to meet a little earlier to account for the time it would take to pack all of our luggage on the bus. Good thing we did, because it took about 20 minutes to get all of our bags packed in the back of our bus due to the amount of luggage and extra souvenirs we have bought while here. Some of us, however, were already asleep before the message went out about the time change, so they had to hurriedly get ready to not get grief about being late. 

As we drove to the train station, we noticed that, even though it was very early in the morning, there were still a lot of people driving and walking around the city. Nairobi is not a particularly tall city, compared to New York, so you forget it has a population of about 5 million (bigger than Los Angeles) with lots of work to be done before the heat sets in.

Once at the train station, we passed through a number of security checks. Kenya has had terrorist incidents in the past (mostly along the Kenya-Somalia border), so they take security very seriously in public spaces. The train station security is much more strict than Amtrak in the US and surprisingly even more strict than the American airports. We first went through a metal detector, were patted down, and put our bags down in a line for dogs to sniff. Afterwards our bags were then X-ray scanned, and we went through another set of metal detectors again. As we passed this step, the unexpected happened and many of us had to open up our bags to remove machetes we bought from the Maasai Village we visited while at the Mara. We had been told that airport security allows them in checked luggage and only if they have the Maasai stamp, but we didn’t realize all luggage on the train must be carried on! Since we would not be returning to the train station, we had to call our bus driver to pick them up for us. We should be able to get them back before we depart for home.

After the two security checks outside, we went through passport control and another set of scanners and metal detectors. With all of the security and removal of the Maasai machetes, it’s a good thing we arrived early. We only had about an hour to have a quick breakfast in the station. Boarding the train took a while. It was crowded, and our large bags could not fit in the overhead racks (nor could we lift them with how full they were with new clothes, gifts, and souvenirs!). Instead, they had to sit at the front of our train car, but not before all the bodies and bags created a traffic jam.

We moved through the beautiful rural landscape. The sky at first was a little dreary-looking, and we left Nairobi in fog, but as the train moved, it became sunny and hot. Many of us used the long ride to sleep, journal, relax, or work.

After about 6 hours, we finally made it to Mombasa! It is much hotter and more humid than Nairobi with many of us sweating before we even got to the bus. While Roanoke is feeling the cold winter weather, our beach trip has us sweating in 90 F degree heat (over 32 degrees C). We drove to a mall to eat lunch with cold coffee, smoothies, and ice cream on the menu. The ice cream here tastes different from the US, a little less sweet but toppings are extra sugary.

We continued to our accommodations— the North Coast Beach Hotel. The staff kindly greeted us with music and tamarind juice, which is sweet and sour. Some settled into our rooms, and others went out to the beach to relax after a long day of travel. We ran a few races alongside the Indian Ocean, some people tripping over sinking sand. The moment was filled with laughter.  

Mombasa is an amazing city by the ocean with a more Arabian-inspired culture. The architecture, music, clothes, and food is similar but different from that in Nairobi. We’re excited to experience the historical sights of Kenya tomorrow and make unforgettable memories at the beach.