Nairobi to Mombasa: Tour and Return

It was Sunday. We were up by 7:00. Before that a couple times during the night while still dark I heard the call to prayer issued from the mosque.

As light emerged I went out onto the balcony. It was hot and humid. The city was quiet. Just a few cabs, and one or two people walking along. The pigeons watched the street below from their perch atop a building across the street. Like a school of fish another flock of pigeon reinforcements arrived to stand guard; above the people guards on the street. As soon as the flock came the original guards departed. Shift change.

The cityscape was comprised of cement low-rises, coloured mostly in white or beige peppered with trees and only a few roof gardens. Instead were water tanks and satellite dishes. The streets held a fine dusting of paper litter along the gutter edge.

I’ve decided to fill my coffee cup just halfway as a symbol of consuming just to the point of satisfaction; not over consumption. My breakfast was a Spanish Omelette, dhal, chapati, bacon and a banana. The bacon was irregularly cut, not the precisely cut strips we are used to. And five half-cups of coffee.

The hotel was 9,800 shillings or about $130. I didn’t come to a conclusion as to whether this was expensive or not. I decided to cut short that analysis. To what point?

Our visit to Fort Jesus and the old town of Mombasa was guided by Amid. He charged 1,500 shillings for the 5 of us. We tipped an additional 600 which was way too much. The tour was about 2.5 hours. It was informative; it provided the necessary comfort to walk through the old town. The tour of old Mombasa was for me more interesting than the fort; it was different. Fort tours, like castle tours, like church tours, can become quite repetitive after a while.

As we left Mombasa to return to Nairobi, we stopped in a grocery store to pickup water and fruit. We left at about 12:20. Traffic was slow leaving the city. Not so much heavy. The combination of heavy trucks, poor roads and speed bumps. Kenyans appear to be cautious drivers, for the most part. The highway to Nairobi was occupied by all manner of vehicles: bicycles, motorbikes, push carts, passenger vehicles, and the dominate one was the slow, heavily loaded truck. They all posted the 80-in-a-circle symbol but rarely did they achieve even half that speed. As we reached 1:30 the city had given way to country side. The slow trucks congested around hills which there were several. On the flat land the roads were straight providing the opportunity to pass. Yet opportunity was mitigated with potholes which were big and deep.

The natural countryside of bush and grass was spotted with little patches of corn field; sometimes just a few 10s of square meters, sometimes a hector or so.

People walked along the road. Where was unclear.

Speed bumps marked the entrance to each village, reported first by a queue of trucks waiting their turn to jump the hurdle. These speed bumps are big, demanding attention. Probably to differentiate themselves from the potholes. A matter of pride driven by a need to dominate.

The truck in front of us was weaving from left to right, several times, not very fast. “Is he drunk? No, just avoiding potholes.”

The drive fell into a regular cycle: reach a line of trucks; slow to near stop; drive over a speed bump; enter a village ; run a gauntlet of parked trucks; reach the speed bump on the village exit; pass a queue of trucks; enjoy a few minutes of open highway; reach a hill and the resulting queue of trucks or reach a village and the cycle begins again.

While we might reach a top speed of 100 km, but only for a moment; our averaged was less than half that.

In one section of highway massive potholes covered both sides of the road; Trucks in both directions slowed to engaged in a back-and-forth dance across each others lanes without incident or impact.

Monkeys on the road at 2:20. Camels at 2:40. By 2:50 most of the farms are gone. Bushes and low flat-top trees dominate the landscape. We start to see lodges. Truck traffic remains heavy. Geography is against the traveller to Nairobi as the elevation difference means on average one is driving uphill and uphill means slow truck traffic.

In a couple of counts, trucks were 50-80% of the traffic.

4:10 we finished lunch. Fried chicken with fries or ugali and salad with Tusker. Free-range or organic chicken is what we would call it, but here it is just the way it is made, no hormones no mass production. The fries were made of potato, not some solidified emulsion. On the advice of my doctor I didn’t eat the salad, rather I had a beer.

The quality of the driving was generally quite good. Truckers tended to be slow and cautious. I didn’t see any really stupid / dangerous moves. Bus drivers, on the other hand, were risk takers. This almost without exception. They passed when others would wait, they pushed as much as they could.

5:37. More traffic; more people walking; more cell towers. We must be getting close to Nairobi. Farms begin to appear. Shacks and motels appear. Fruit stands. Bicyclists. Local bus being pushed by passengers.

5:53: the landscape is changing. Fewer bushes, more open the the big fat Kenyan trees have appeared. There are other types of tall tree too but not conifers. Yet still no sign of Kenya’s largest city.

6:00. Joseph, our driver, says about 150 km to Nairobi.

6:37. The rain starts and quickly proceeds to downpour status.

Night driving. Working headlights and taillights seem to be an option. So when darkness comes those that have inadequate equipment drop off but not after waiting until the last moment. Taillights however are lacking on many. High beams are used liberally if you see one light approaching is it a motorcycle or a truck with one light? There are no street lights. It is very dark.

10:00 arrive home in Nairobi.