Mon 4th…I was collected at 6 a.m. by the shared taxi, and after picking up another 6 passengers from the surrounding neighbourhoods we were on our way to the SGR station. I had been on it from mombasa to voi before, but going all the way to Nairobi was a new experience.
It took over an hour for the queues ( after men and women were split ) to get passed the sniffer dog check, the xray check, to the ticket office where you presented your phone confirmation in order to be issued an actual ticket, and another xray security check. There were lots of ladies trying to persuade you to use the restaurant for takeaway food etc. But actually, people were already boarding the train as it keeps precise time…I think we left 30 seconds late !!
I was happy that members of a family wanted to change seats, so I ended up on the side bordering the gamepark, and with an opportunity to see some animals. In fact I saw elephants, a giraffe and zebra. The terrain was very dry, and with the comfortable carriage, the 6 hours passed by quite quickly. The 2nd class carriage cost 1,000ksh as opposed to the 3,000 for 1st class. Not sure what you got for the extra money apart from free tea….
So, we arrived on the outskirts of Nbi. I soon discovered we had to catch the commuter train to the central station which had been nicely refurbished with tiles and paint. Fortunately I got talking to someone who showed me to the commuter train ( like a tube train), and I got a nice rundown on the suburbs/shanty towns we were passing through..Am sure the distance into the city was only a few miles but it took 45 mins to do the journey…only cost 50 bob. Luckily I was able to unwrap my sweat soaked ticket sufficiently as not to have to pay again.
It was a 15 minute walk to the hotels area. Popped into the Ambassadeur first, where I was going to be meeting Charles. Got the price down from the original 60usd to 4000ksh and then 3,500 by talking Swahili and charming the receptionist. So about £25 incl hot water and breakfast. But just for comparison I went across the road to my usual hotel..SunWay. OK, it was £11 but had water issues ( brought to the room in Jerry cans) and no bfast. No contest….so, back to the Ambassadeur meeting Charles along the way. Had a nice long chat with him, then I went across the road to the Highlander for a chicken curry. Still had water problems at the Ambassadeur which was resolved when the taps or pumps were turned on to transfer water from the tanks to the rooms.
Tues 5th. Big breakfast at the hotel. Walked to the bus stand outside the railway station and 45 mins later was in Karen . Was a bit early for my lunch with the family so stopped off for a coffee. Only a 10 minute walk to the house. Walked around the garden and drank more coffee. Eventually cousin Mary came with aunt Elizabeth. Then cousin Helen came with Glenn. Basically, had a lovely lunch and fun chats etc with the family. Helen wanted me stay longer and arranged for a taxi to take me back to my hotel after 7 p.m.
Wed morning, I checked out and walked the 10 mins to the matatu stage for the matatu to Naivasha. Again, a good trip..except that as I was sitting by the side door I had to get out every time we stopped to drop off passengers. 2.5 hours to Naivasha; could’ve been a bit quicker were it not for all the roadworks in Naivasha Town. Peter had come in to do some shopping so we met up in Naivas and I got a lift back to the house.
I spent 5 days at Milima House…the family’s plot in view of Mt Longonot . Fleur and Andy were in Kibwezi and Theodora in Nairobi. So it was fairly quiet. But the Bus was rented out for one night and the main house rented for the whole weekend.
Had a very relaxing time . Peter is an avid motor rally enthusiast and I learned a lot about Gand Prix (the Turkish) that weekend. At first I thought I’d just show a bit of interest to be polite, but I ended up getting really into it. Peter showed me his drone…that was a first. Their functionality is amazing considering how small they are. I cooked a Thai duck red curry. We went for a drink at Fisherman’s; I had to get one close up of the lake. We saw giraffe and zebra after leaving the estate, and there was a big waterbuck in the grounds of the house. We had a drive onto Kefong ranch and saw some of the route that the Rally cars took on the stage of the World Rally championship in June.
Mon 11th. Had a fabulous time with Peter, but my time was up. He drove into Naivasha and we had breakfast at Buffalo Mall then he dropped me off at the matatu stage. Was soon on my way to Nairobi. 2 hours roughly. The Naivasha stage is directly opposite the Naekana to taveta stage so I went over and bought my ticket for the following morning at 8:00. Back to Ambassadeur. Walked to the city centre but places like Ethiopian airlines offices were closed as it was a public holiday. Had a coffee at Java coffee house. Looked into having a real Indian curry somewhere but very expensive. I settled for a few beers and a curry at Ambassadeur …delicious and very reasonable. So that was it…the next morning I was due to head back to Taveta.