26 February 2026 – The Railway, Tsavo, and the Echo of History
The next morning we set off very early at 6:00 am by van for the Mombasa SGR terminal. Our hotel kindly prepared takeaway breakfast boxes for us, and the drive took about forty-five minutes. At the station we went through security checks, printed our pre-booked tickets, and sat in the waiting area enjoying breakfast and coffee before boarding the train.
We travelled on the Madaraka Express to Mtito Andei at 8:00 am. The railway line, train, and station are all modern developments, recently built by the Chinese alongside the old narrow-gauge railway. But it was the sight of the old tracks that touched us most. They seemed to run not only through the landscape but through our ancestry.
Our forefathers had come to East Africa in part because of the building of the East African railways. The story of the Uganda Railway, stretching from the coast inland, is inseparable from the story of the Indian community in Kenya. Many Indians worked under harsh conditions, and many lives were lost. Among the most famous tragedies were those caused by the man-eating lions of Tsavo, which attacked railway workers in the late nineteenth century and became part of East African legend. To see the railway again, old and new together, was therefore much more than a visual experience. It was an emotional connection to our people’s past.
We arrived at Mtito Andei at 11:15 am and were met by Don in his Toyota Land Cruiser safari vehicle. Since it was almost lunchtime, we first stopped at Tsavo Inn in Mtito Andei for lunch. We enjoyed Tusker beer and a lovely Indian meal with Ogali and chicken curry before beginning our half-day safari in Tsavo West.
Right at the park entrance we saw a huge elephant. Inside the park we saw many giraffes, zebras, antelopes, deer, local fowl, and baboons. The landscape of Tsavo, with its vastness, red earth, and scattered wildlife, has a beauty that is both rugged and majestic.
Don also took us to the Shetani Lava Flow, a remarkable place where volcanic lava had spread over ten to fifteen kilometres. Even today it appears strangely fresh, as though the earth had only recently cooled. The dark rock, created by molten lava centuries ago, stretches across the land with hardly any vegetation, giving it an almost otherworldly appearance.
After that, Don took us to Mzima Springs, where we had a short walk accompanied by an armed ranger carrying a machine gun. There we saw beautiful fish underwater, hippos swimming, and a huge alligator. The springs, cool and clear against the harshness of the surrounding park, felt almost miraculous.
That evening we checked into Man Eaters Lodge, set beside a fast-flowing river. As we settled in for dinner, heavy rain began and continued throughout the night. Water gathered everywhere around our tent-style rooms, though fortunately not on our beds. All night long the river roared past. It was wild, dramatic, and unforgettable. By morning we were able to admire the scenery behind our rooms, though unfortunately we saw no animals there.
