Sleeping on a train is much more romantic sounding than reality. The constant jarring and bouncing can rock you into a slumber but quickly wake you into a state where you feel you are flying down the tracks at 200 MPH and ready to bounce off into the African wilderness. The train also made many stops during the night for unknown reasons which cause us all to lay there waiting for the midnight banditos to come rob us. Needless to say it wasn’t the most restful of nights. However watching the sunrise over the African plains was quite beautiful.
Since there are 13 of us, at dinner I ended up being placed at a table with 3 other travelers. One who was silently reading a book and the other two who did not speak English. I guess the rest of the group thought this was not the environment I wanted to enjoy my meal so they convinced me to come up to an empty table which was next to the rest of the group and sit by Yvonne. Once I moved however, a British man entered the dining car and seeing an empty seat at our table promptly joined us. Abraham was his name – and talking was his game. I spent the next hour chatting with this chap who needed to see a tailor for the missing button on the part of his shirt covering his belly… and to think that I could have enjoyed a quiet meal at the other table. At least it was entertaining for the others observing from the other table.
Once we arrived in Mombasa and unloaded, we waited for our ride. We had arranged to be picked up and stay at a Christian academy just south of the city. We were prepared for some delay being in Kenya and all but after an hour we decided to take things into our own hands.
First of which was having Charlotte earn some street money…
We have discovered that one of the key factors of any Kenyan experience is having a good driver. We met Martin at the train station who ended up being a pastor who used to preach on the street. Since we had abandoned out original plans we allowed Martin to suggest some alternatives for our day in Mombasa. He told us of a place down the coast where we could stay fairly inexpensive – so off we went. One of the first things we had to do was to cross the water by ferry. We came upon a long line of cars which backed up for about a mile… not a problem for Martin. He just jumped onto the makeshift side walk and drove up to the front of the line – shook hands with the attendant and placed us first in line… I don’t know, either Martin is a gift from God – or were in some deep trouble.
After crossing the ferry we headed down the coastal road. Martin had a sunroof in his van which allowed some relief from the now hot/humid weather.
We drove for quite awhile before turning down a long dirt road. Brad was in the front of the car desperately praying that this was not going to turn into something bad. With each turn the road became longer and more rugged… wouldn’t a popular resort have a more improved road???? When all hope seemed to be lost one final turn brought us into a quaint resort on the beach.
Some of the team went in to negotiate the price which did end up being very reasonable and slightly cheaper than what we were planning on. The kids ended up in hotel rooms while the adults stayed in a 3 bedroom cottage straight out of Disney’s the Tiki Room. Although it took most of the day to get the running water turned on, the team enjoyed relaxing and swimming in the Indian Ocean.
By 8pm we all were ready for bed… and to just think that we get to go back on the train tomorrow.
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