The 19:00 to Mombasa

In different odd spots around the world are historical trains lines, built under massive human endeavor to open up new continents to trade and settlement. In East Africa, there's the Djibouti to Addis Ababa train, now barely functioning just over the Ethiopian border and approaching scrap heap status, and the Nairobi to Mombasa line in Kenya--ready for business three times a week. Built in 1903, the line once ran all the way to Uganda, and Nairobi was founded halfway along as a result. It may be a little tattered around the edges, but this train has heart.

At the station I must check in at a special counter where a woman welcomes me and gives me an already prepared card with my name on it for the first meal service seating. This is a beautiful and graceful touch from how people used to travel, and it's not like they're being nostaligic; they're still doing it this way. My first-class cabin boasts leather seats that look like 1950s vintage. I share accommodations with a Dutch woman.

Hot, sweaty, and happy.

We pull out of the station and the train manager comes by dressed in a full suit and tie and introduces himself. He warns us to keep our door and window locked during the night. Next a steward comes down the corridor, ringing a bell to summon us for dinner. The restaurant staff have choreographed an excellent meal served on a white table cloth of soup, chicken, vegetables, rice, and fruit. People from France, Spain, Britain, and Kenya sit at the tables around me, and we all chat as fellow travelers.

The dining car--note the overhead fans.

Sometime during the night the train stops and stays stopped--for hours. What should be a fifteen-hour run will turn out to be twenty-one hours. "Not to worry," the train manager announces over breakfast, "passengers will be served lunch!" (All meals are included with the fare.) This is great news. Lying about all day on a train crossing Africa is my idea of a perfect day. As luck would have it, because of the delay, we cross through the middle of Tsavo National Park during the day. I stare out the window for hours and spot elephants in the distance.

We stop at Voi--about halfway to Mombasa.

Inside Voi's station.

Still at Voi.