Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didnt do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe habour. Explore. Dream. Discover.- Mark Twain
We are now home, after a LONG trip back. But first, our last evening in Mombasa, and our journey home, involving planes, trains, and automobiles!
We had a nice last dinner at the resort, at the Italian a la carte restaurant (which turned out to be tables set up by one of the pools). It was a pleasant change from the buffet though, and was more of an evening out feeling. I had minestrone soup and a spinach ricotta ravioli, and Susan had a salad and a tagliatelle alfredo with ham and peas. We also had a couple of glasses of just barely drinkable red ?. The wine at the resort unfortunately, isnt very good. We had some very nice wines at the safari camps, mostly from South Africa or Chile (there are also some nice Kenyan wines), but whatever type of they have at the resort is pretty crappy. It improved somewhat after the first glass! They make good
G&Ts at the resort, though, and the cold beer was always flowing. It started raining lightly as we were finishing, so we moved to a table with an umbrella, and then walked back to our room, stopping to watch the show (there is nightly entertainment here) on the way.
The next day dawned clear and sunny, and we had a lovely last morning. We enjoyed the excellent breakfast buffet, taking snacks for later with us, and then hit the pool. We swam, and watched the Indian Ocean from the edge of the infinity pool. I wanted to walk along the beach and go in the ocean, but I didnt want to face the phalanx of vendors who positively pounce on you the second down the stairs onto the beach. Its unfortunate they are so persistent. There are some who set up their displays just down the beach (beach dresses, sarongs, etc) but the worst are the ones trying to sell you boat rides, etc.
We reluctantly left the pool, showered, and managed to cram everything, including various purchases weve made during the course of the trip, into our suitcases. We had arranged to be picked up
at 12:30 for our ride to the train station, and we had enough time after checking out at noon for a last beer in the lobby bar. It was nice and breezy with the large ceiling fans turning overhead. Our ride came on time and we were off on the drive to the train station. It was a pleasant drive, much more so than the drive from the airport to the resort (during that drive it was hot, and dark outside, I was crammed in the backseat of the van, and the traffic was horrendous with construction causing long delays). This drive was in the daylight, in an air conditioned vehicle, with lots of space for us, and the traffic wasnt bad at all. We passed the enormous port of Mombasa on the way, and arrived at the train station in lots of time for our train.
We had heard that there was a lot of security at the train station, and there certainly was. We had to put all of our bags on a designated area, then step back as the sniffer dogs went back and forth (Im assuming they were checking for explosives, not drugs). Then all
items went though the security scanner. We then found where we had to print our tickets. It was an easy process and we were soon inside the terminal, being directed up to the second floor to the first class waiting area, where we were pounced on by servers offering food and drink (Im thinking they work We had lunch there and after a bit were told it was time to board the train, for our 5 hour trip to Nairobi. I had thought there would be a luggage car, or some way to check your luggage, but there wasnt. We (meaning Susan) managed to haul the bags onto the overhead luggage racks.
I wasnt that happy with our seats, since they turned out to be at the very front of the car, with the window set in front of the seats, but not directly at the seat.
