It's not the destination, it's the journey ... yeah, whatever!

I no longer subscribe to the student myth that a journey is only worthwhile if it is a long and painful endurance test. I much prefer a flight and a comfortable bed. However, my budget does not always stretch to the idealised Condé Nast style of travel I dream of having one day, so every now and again, I have to suck it up and take the local transport. Of course it will always provide you with anecdotes, but are the stories worth the back-ache?
In Colonial times, the British sent thousands and thousands of Indian workers to East Africa to build a railway all the way from Kampala to Mombasa. These days, passengers can only travel from Nairobi to Mombasa, although the line to Kampala is still used for freight. The idea of travelling through Kenya on a train in a special compartment was appealing and is definitely worth a try – but just the once! We arrived at the train station in Nairobi to find it looked pretty much the same as any British railway station – well perhaps 50 years ago! Tickets checked, we boarded the train and slowly chugged out of the station. A porter came by and unwrapped a special kit bag with our blankets, sheets and pillows and made our beds. We were contented, thinking we had definitely found the ideal way of travelling through Africa – all the beauty and none of the discomfort! A few hours into the journey, the dinner bell rang and we headed for the buffet cart. As Second Class passengers we discovered that we were not entitled to a fresh table cloth. (Second class on grounds that the compartments hold 4 people instead of 2 and we were a group of 3, rather than second class on grounds of being tight-fisted). I later berated a friend who was travelling First Class for making such a mess whilst eating, but she complained that they were forced to rush their dinners in order to make room for the people in the second sitting. As the soup arrived, the train ground to a halt. My friend commented that it was very considerate of them to stop the train so we could enjoy our dinner without fear of slopping soup or stew down our clothes …Two minutes later came the announcement that a cargo train had derailed further down the track and that we would have to wait until somebody arrived from Nairobi to clear it before we could continue and that we should expect a delay of around 4 hours. 6 hours later, at 3am, we set off again. We weren’t worried though – we were comfortable in our beds and slept soundly during the wait.
In the morning we awoke to a fabulous sunrise overlooking Tsavo National Park (we think – if not, then something similar). We gazed out of the windows, looking out for any wildlife and we were in luck. We saw several goats and a herd of cows. The journey was still enjoyable and comfortable. After breakfast, we headed back to our carriage and relaxed some more. Then we started to notice the smell of diesel was getting a little stronger. We dutifully ignored it until we stopped again. We were right to be concerned – the underneath of our carriage was on fire! I get the feeling that these incidents are pretty run of the mill. The staff found that the brakes were jammed, removed the offending dust or whatever it was, squirted the fire extinguisher until the flames were doused and off we went again.
After something like 22 hours, we arrived in Mombasa. I have to say the approach was not the most scenic or fragrant, as we passed by the most enormous rubbish dump I have ever seen. But we knew we were heading for Watamu – and that’s another story!