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NAIROBI-MOMBASA RETURN—ON THE LUNATIC LINE

The LUNATIC LINE is the name given to the railroad built around the turn of the 20th century, from MOMBASA on the east African coast through NAIROBI to KISUMU on LAKE VICTORIA. Often called the Uganda Railway, its route can be seen on THIS MAP.
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I’ve always wanted to ride this train…..(OK, OK….we didn’t get to ride behind THAT engine…...)

Building this rail line was a tremendous feat of engineering and construction, and it was plagued by interference from disease, from local people and from predatory lions. As a child, I read THE MANEATERS OF TSAVO, the story of Colonel Patterson and his problems with lions attacking his workers as he was building the permanent bridge over the Tsavo River. This book became the basis of several movies, the most recent a highly fictionalized and seriously creepy one – THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS.
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While we were teaching at AUA, we visited the NAIROBI RAILROAD MUSEUM and among other wonderful exhibits, we saw the actual car (#13, spookily enough)
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from which Police Superintendent C.H. Ryall was dragged by the TSAVO MANEATERS
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whose (not very prepossessing) mounted skins are now at the Chicago Field Museum.
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Sitting on the very seat where Ryall fell asleep before meeting his TERRIBLE FATE
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was a bit creepy – and you can still see the torn screen where the lion stood to pull the superintendent’s body out through the broken window. However, inside the museum we were offered the final thrill
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the (allegedly) actual claws of one of the two lions that killed Ryall, as well as so many of the workmen back in 1898.
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Our greeting at the Nairobi station
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Was considerably less exciting
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but you can actually see our most attentive “greeter” in front of Gail on her bench to the left of center in the photograph.
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We were a source of great fascination to this little being, and although she had learned very little subtlety up to this point in her life…...WHAT a cutey!
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Our tickets were “first class”, with meals and a sleeping compartment. At one point, we saw what we imagined might be “second class”
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and congratulated ourselves on our wisdom in deciding that there were some things worth spending the money on.
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When our train pulled up to the platform
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we headed over to find our compartment, and there was our bedding, all ready to distribute to the compartments. The system they had in place for making up all the beds was genuinely impressive…...
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The corridors were narrow, making “passing” a challenge
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but the compartments were reasonably commodious – one bunk on the seat and another folded down from up above.
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These are aging (and not terribly well-maintained) coaches
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but we’ve certainly been in LOTS worse! Looking back to the entrance of our compartment, we found a window to the corridor and the platform
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and the concessionaire was busy with the departing passengers
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Soon after departure, we were called to the dining car
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where our table was already set
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Our dinner companions were delightful
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and the food was actually pretty good (although I’m not sure how I missed taking a picture of our meal!).
(Speaking of clueless photographers, what good is having a digital camera, if one doesn’t re-shoot when a picture comes out like that last one….sigh)
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Outside, the landscape was dry scrub – Kenya was under drought conditions at the time
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but there are people living out there, and the children were eager to wave (and, when the train was slow enough, ask for handouts)
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The stations were fairly numerous, although not very prosperous looking. Samburu was fairly typical, although better than many.
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There WAS a solar panel, but not a lot of activity to be seen. We suspected that the Kenya Railroad is going the way of so many…..a sad decline.
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The next morning, after a pretty decent night’s sleep, the landscape hadn’t changed a lot….we were just leaving TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK
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Soon, however, we could tell that we were approaching the coast – the major clue was that we began to see signs of water - notice the palms?
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There were still little kids with their hands out waving
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but many of the homesteads looked significantly more prosperous here
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My first BAOBAB TREE in the flesh was an exciting moment
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The fact that it has almost no leaves isn’t unusual – many are LEAFLESS NINE MONTHS of the year, storing water in and under the thick corky bark, a favorite food of elephants during the dry season. Baobabs are at once highly varied, visually striking, and extremely useful to both humans and the wildlife of the area.
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We saw more and more small compounds
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and then, beyond the fringe of agricultural land, something much more industrial appeared
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to be followed by definitive (though derelict) signs of “civilization”.
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There were acres of these warehouses; now roofless, empty and echoing.
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Very quickly after passing these, we could see the swamps of the coastal plain
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and then the Indian Ocean itself, with the town fringing its shores.
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As in most developing countries, the juxtapositions were somewhat jarring
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and here we saw the likely cause of the demise of railroading in Kenya.
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At least, if this country is like our own, the more flexible trucks, plying the government-supported highway system, may be putting the much more romantic (and efficient) railroads into the shade.
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Of course, everyone has to have someplace to dump the trash
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and this one was no worse than many we’ve seen.
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Nearby, a fisherman’s shanty
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sheltered a family who searched the waters for their “daily bread”.
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As we approached the train station,
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we passed surplus sheds that speak of a once far more bustling rail yard, as well as surplus, and apparently discarded, rolling stock.
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The Mombasa sign told us everything we needed to know about the temperature and humidity
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We had left Nairobi at 1795 meters (5900 feet) above sea level, and had arrived in Mombasa at 18 meters (65 feet) above the sea…..even early in the early morning when we arrived, there was a definite heaviness to the air.
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The station was well-ventilated – no need for protection from anything but the rain and “el sol” here
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Our stay in Mombasa is chronicled in at least two other posts – see the sidebar to the left. The remainder of this post is a short account of the return trip.
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When we got back to the station for the afternoon return trip, there was (apparently) a school group either going to or returning from somewhere.
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Soon after we left, darkness fell, but not before we saw another vestige of the “old days” of railroading in Kenya
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I don’t see anyplace for a motor – was this some planter’s conveyance to town, pushed by his “coolies”? As with so many things, I don’t have an answer to this question.
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The next morning, we were back at high elevation. Here was what looked like a quarry
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perhaps for railroad ballast, or aggregate for concrete, or maybe some substance to supplement agriculture – I don’t know, which was constantly frustrating. We needed a guide of some kind – like those “ROADSIDE GEOLOGY” BOOKS
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Stations were very much like the ones we saw on the way down
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but even somewhat derelict stations could be lovely.
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We saw our first wildebeest near the tracks
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and later, a colorful little school
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with enthusiastic children
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Shortly after, we pulled into Nairobi station,
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our once-in-a-lifetime trip at an end.
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If you are EVER in Kenya, take this trip….and do it soon, or you may not get the chance to live a bit of history. I suspect that this railroad line, like so many before it, will either stop operating, or it will be converted into something that none of us will recognize….a high-speed rail link between these two wonderful Kenyan cities.
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