It’s difficult to explain just how therapeutic a long ride is…or when long is too long.
The journey from Nairobi to Mombasa is eight hours by car, too long. This journey is typically slowed down by the obnoxious amount of trucks that fill the road travelling at what feels like 2mph and occupying every lane in sight. Sometimes this journey can feel exhausting, other times it can be anxiety-inducing, but more often than not it’s just too long, especially if you’re the one driving.
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum is a flight from Nairobi to Mombasa, which rains in at a whopping 45 minutes, too short. Maybe that’s exactly what you’re looking for, after all the goal is to get to Mombasa, the quicker the better, right?
Right?
American Philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, begs to differ. To him, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” Maybe he didn’t mean it in a literal sense, maybe he was talking about the work we put in to get to our ultimate goals in business and life, or maybe he was talking about it in a literal sense. That it’s not being in Mombasa that’s the prize, but the getting there. The conversations you have along the way, the people you meet, the card games you play and the places you pass. Maybe, to Emerson, it’s these little things that make life worthwhile, because, once you’ve arrived at your destination, what’s left with you is moments of that journey. So why not make it one worth remembering?
The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) sits in between a car ride and a flight, not too long and not too short. Some might say the journey length is just right.
The comfort of a good view can be the most soothing thing in the World. The trees rushing past you in a blur as you enjoy a cup of tea and gaze into the unknown with jazz music humming through your headphones and faint whispers of laughter from the other passengers teasing in the background. It’s such a cleansing experience, especially when the pressure of the world and the undeniable weight of the very evident yet silent recession we’re enduring lie on the other side of the glass slab many call a window.
On the SGR you get four hours to ground yourself, four hours to remember what matters, four hours to experience the beauty of life, four hours to simply feel…feel everything you’ve had to push aside because the fast-paced motion of life won’t let you. Four uninterrupted hours to take a break and just exist. I guess when you look at it that way, the journey is kind of short.
For many other people, feeling the grass beneath their feet and the wind in their hair is what lowers their blood pressure and opens their minds. So, take a stop, or seven.
The last time I went to Mombasa, I took the Inter-County train, stopping at seven different terminals before reaching its final destination, my destination. But all I could think about on the journey was that the train was a backpacker’s ultimate dream. Another way to tour the beauty and greenery of Kenya, not just through a glass slab as you breeze past the trees and life forms that each county holds, but by actually immersing yourself in it all.
There’s so much that Kenya has to offer, so much life, culture and beauty and the SGR gives you the opportunity to unlock all of it. To build connections and friendships with people from all walks of life. To unwind and let go. To see first-hand just why Kenya is one of the World’s Top 10 travel destinations.
Article by Latifa Waithera
