We decided we needed a little beach time before heading off to the bush for a safari, so jumped on an overnight train to Mombasa. We booked a 2nd class ticket, securing our own room, bedding, and two meals served in the dining car. (BG: We were really excited because it was supposed to be a “white glove” experience.)  Once we were settled into our room, it began to get dark and we searched in vain for the light. Just then, a conductor came around with a large, battery-operated lantern. No electricity. (BG: So much for white glove…)

Shortly after the train left the station, we were told to head to the dining car since we had landed the 7:15 dinner time, the first group for the evening. We brought our lantern and stumbled through the tightest corridors I have ever seen. Half expecting to find more lanterns and perhaps some candlelight, we were pleasantly surprised to find a well-lit dining car once we tumbled, bruised and battered, into the car for dinner.

We ate in courses: bread, soup, fish, potatoes and chicken, and a bready, pudding desert, served by waiters with white aprons and tall chef hats. We finished up with some coffee and ordered cokes to bring back to the room. By the time we finished, it was 9:15, nearly an hour after the next group was supposed to eat. Lucky we got to go first…

Back in our room, our beds were already made and turned down. We changed into our pajamas, and broke out our “Signature Whiskey” we had been dragging around with us since India and poured it into our long, glass bottles of Coke. We stayed up telling stories and planning our route for a while, and then decided to look out the window before going to sleep.

We turned off our lantern and looked in amazement at the pitch-blackness passing by us outside and the dark sky lit up with more stars than I think I have ever seen.  The Milky Way weaved its way across the middle of the sky, with bright shining dots dipping down as low as the horizon. Beth yawned unimpressed, laying down and remarking that she had grown up with this, but Marjona and I remained awestruck at the window, two city girls ogling at the marvels of nature.

Each of us had a different experience sleeping on the train. Marjona had trouble sleeping with the jostling and rocking of the train tripping down the tracks, and Beth found it difficult to ignore the loud and strange noises of metal on metal and the passing of other trains and stations. Having taken a few overnight trains in my previous travels and having always thought how nice it would be to have Beth with me, I fell asleep easily and slept soundly through the night, happy to be surrounded by such good company.

We woke up early the next morning, and bounced like pinballs once again through the tight hallways. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, and sausages while enjoying the now visible landscapes passing us by. We returned to the room and spent more time looking out the window, seeing a few villagers, waving children, and herds of livestock every so often. We napped for a bit, since the train was to be a few hours late, and arrived in Mombasa around 11.

We found a rickshaw right outside of the station and went to check out a hotel. We thought we’d stay in the Mombasa, the main coastal city hub, for the night and head to the more beachy areas the next day, but after finding a hot and dusty city with unimpressive hotels, we decided to make a beeline for the beach. We asked our rickshaw driver to get us to where we could take a bus down south to the beaches, and took off.