by They called it the Lunatic Express. It was a railway that crossed Kenya, from Mombasa to Kisumu, through what is now Tsavo National Park. It was built to give quick access to the Nile – a sensible premise – but it was an act of insanity to build it on the part of the British colonists.
By the time the railway was completed in 1901, 2,493 workers had died – four for every thousand. They succumbed to malaria, dysentery, floods and a pair of man-eating lions, which killed approximately 135 people during the construction of the Tsavo Bridge.
And it wasn’t just the construction of the line that was insanity – it was arguably an act of insanity until 2017 to choose to go on the journey. Passengers who were traveling from the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, to Mombasa faced a crawl of up to 24 hours through stifling heat, with delays caused by dead leaves on the road but dead elephants.
But in recent years, a massive upgrade to the Lunatic Express has seen the addition of new trains, stations, rails on pillars and, thankfully, a new name – the Madaraka Express.
Although it has been controversially financed by Chinese loans, leaving the country heavily in debt, it has been popular with locals. The Nairobi-Mombasa journey is only four and a half hours and offers the opportunity to see a big game from the rails. At 8,036 square miles, Tsavo, Kenya’s largest national park, is famous for its elephants.
And while Tsavo gets some of the visitors to the Masai Mara, the new train is attracting people’s attention.
My own journey began with two days in Nairobi National Park, a tiny sanctuary that is calling the city. Establishing myself at The Emakoko, I cut off a private game drive and within minutes came across packs of zebras, impalas, and catatonic lionesses.
“We have a lot of wildlife here,” Rihaz Sidi, the Emakoko’s resident wildlife photographer, told me as I drove them to the gate as we passed a herd of giraffes. “In Tsavo, you have to drive and drive… it’s a real wild place.”
When I arrived at the new Nairobi Terminus – a steel and glass monolith that looks like a strange 1960s vision of the future – my belongings and I were scanned, swiped and sniffed (by dogs) before being led to the carriage of the finest quality. of the Madaraka Express by a woman dressed entirely in violet.
I was surprised at how quiet the train itself was: I could only hear the hum of an air con and the low murmur of Swahili conversation. A woman sweeps a mop down the aisle, trailing a cloud of chlorine vapor.
My seat was roomy and maroon, with an imitation velvet lining, and although I was at first afraid to see a sick paper bag in the peace pocket, I realized that my fears were unfounded as the train slid out without so much as a bump.
As we rolled out of the city and through Nairobi National Park, I saw a line of ostriches strutting sassily along the horizon. Then we lurched back into human territory, and I kept jumping to misidentify cows and goats as impala and zebra.
The trolley announced itself with a clatter; pasted to its side was a menu offering bhajis and pakoras. In the late 19th century, the British conscripted around 32,000 Indian indentured laborers to build the Lunatic Express; in 2017, the Kenyan government officially recognized their descendants as the country’s 44th tribe.
We entered Tsavo and farm land had been replaced by a wall of bleached acacias on rust colored land, but apart from the occasional zebra or giraffe, Rihaz seemed to be right: Tsavo’s animals wouldn’t be having a party everyone welcome.
As the light began to fade – as well as I hoped – the acacias emerged in a field with vague brown shapes. I grabbed my camera and trained it on one. “Elephants!” I exclaimed, to no reaction whatsoever. After that first herd, the elephants kept coming, all the way to the town of Voi.
Landing at Voi’s V-shaped light station, I looked for my transfer and found two Masai, traditionally dressed in the red striped cloth called shuka, waiting for me: Chris Ngotiek and Fred Lenjir, guided by Kipalo Hills.
The secluded African lodge, Kipalo Hills is exquisite – all hardwood and striking metal lamps – but hardly spectacular. “I’d rather provide guests with a five-star experience than five-star accommodation,” founder Richard Corcoran told me as he handed me a G&T as we watched the sun’s last rays light the frosty peaks of the mountains in far away. “You won’t find $30,000 artwork here; for $30,000, I could educate 30 children.”
Kipalo Hills sits just outside Tsavo, in the Mbulia Conservancy and with Chris and Fred as my guides, I spent the next few days exploring Tsavo by jeep. The train route bisects Tsavo. “Tsavo East is all about big open spaces and big animals,” Chris told me. “Tsavo West is all about birds and beautiful scenery.”
As if in the distance, a gerenuk – a legged antelope with a long graceful neck – looms across our path. “You don’t find those in the Masai Mara,” Chris said.
As we traveled further into Tsavo East, the brittle bush gave way to a green bowl surrounded by mountains and teeming with animals. A herd of about 300 buffalo glistened in the mist; a male lion fell on the plain, one eye trained on herds of hartebeest
In Tsavo West, we passed the famous Tsavo bridge – famous for the man-eating lion – rustling under the white pillars supporting the new track. True to Chris’s word, it was an epic for a twitcher. Vultures wheel over black lava ridges; yellow guinea fowl scattered after us. My favourites, however, were the great starling and the golden-breasted, with their prismatic plumage. Just before we left the park, we saw a leopard over a tree, and I ticked off the last member of the Big Five.
I jumped back on the train at Voi and headed towards Mombasa to spend my last days in Kenya sunbathing on the beach. I saw the old railway beside us, buried in the ground and baboons touching it. This journey was louder than the last: the velvet tones of the Kenyan singer Mzima Mzima wailed from someone’s Bluetooth speaker and a group of young lads, immersed in a game of poker, were playing from time to time in laugh fits.
“Someone is always cheating,” explained my classmate, a 14-year-old schoolgirl named Uti. Uti was on her way to visit her grandmother. “It’s fast and cheap,” she said of the train. “No more crashes.”
I asked her if she ever got bored of watching the Tsavo elephants pass by the window. “No,” she answered, in a dreamy, transfixed voice. “They’re really fun to watch.”
Of course, I could do this trans-Kenya trip – combining lodges, safaris and beaches – by car. But such a journey would take me away from the culture I wanted to experience; and besides, where else can you see elephants from public transport? Take the train – you wouldn’t have any fun.
Fundamentals
Sarah Gillespie was a guest of Audley Travel (01993 838510; audleytravel.com), which offers a new 13-day Kenya itinerary from £7,950pp, including one night at Hemingways Nairobi, two nights at the Emakoko, four nights at Kipalo Hills and three nights at Cardamom House. Includes flights, transfers, train travel and tours
