Every Friday at 9 a.m., a train leaves Kenya's capital, Nairobi, for Nanyuki at the foot of Mount Kenya. The old locomotive honks punctually and rattling as it leaves the main station of the metropolis.
So much in advance: If you want to get to your destination quickly, don't take the train to Nanyuki. The slow train takes about 7.5 hours for the almost 180 kilometers, with the bus it is only a good three. Nevertheless, the longer journey is worthwhile.
An employee sells the tickets directly on the platform. "Kenya Railways expects passengers to check in at least an hour or more prior to departure time," the website reads. That doesn't seem necessary. On departure, the five wagons are hardly full.
The train leaves the skyscrapers of Nairobi behind and rolls slowly through the outskirts of the capital, past industrial areas, housing developments and mountains of rubbish. Dust and stench seep into the wagons through the windows.
Eventually, industry gives way to green fields of corn, beans, and cabbage. And the train fills up. "For many people in the villages, the train is cheaper," explains the engine driver. A journey in second class costs 200 Kenyan shillings, the equivalent of 1.60 euros. Men, women and children now sit in two rows of seats, close together, like in a subway train. All around her are bags, a large potted plant and provisions for the journey.
In contrast, the private compartments of the first class offer a lot of space and comfort. For 1,000 Kenyan shillings (around eight euros), passengers get two beds made of beige leather, a sink and even a cup holder. But you don't travel luxuriously in first class either. The electricity doesn't work, nor does the tap for drinking water. The colors in the compartment show the years.
“The train is over 40 years old. The locomotive was still built in Germany,” explains the engine driver. The tracks even date back to the British colonial era - which ended in 1963.
Again and again the engine driver has to honk his horn clear of the narrow stretch because dogs, cows or motorcyclists are blocking the path. A man pulls his wooden cart off the tracks too late. In the collision with the train, the vehicle disintegrates into its individual parts. After a short break we continue.
The slow train ride through Kenya slows things down. The closer the train gets to Nanyuki, the greener and hillier the landscape becomes. On the narrow, single-track route, the train looks like an attraction in an amusement park. The reactions of the people along the tracks match this. Some adults snap photos with their cellphones, which wave to many children in their school uniforms.
The train reaches Nanyuki on time. The city is still relatively unknown to tourists. About 50,000 people live here. For a small Kenyan town, Nanyuki seems surprisingly calm and relaxed. Mount Kenya forms the backdrop on the horizon.
The Batian peak is 5199 meters high and mostly disappears in dense clouds in the afternoon. Mount Kenya is the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro. The ascents take two to six days, depending on the summit, route and experience. A day trip can also be worthwhile. For example via the Sirimon Route, which starts a few kilometers northeast of Nanyuki.
The tour starts at Camp Moses at 3300 meters. The thermometer shows 13 degrees, the wind is blowing hard, but the sun shines from a clear sky and illuminates the peaks of the mountain massif. Perfect hiking weather. "Here in the national park there are elephants, zebras, baboons and even leopards," explains guide Desmond. But they either don't live at this altitude or seem to hide well. Only a marmot screams in the distance.
The path leads through a mountain landscape with grasses, rocks and different types of lobelia. The plants make the landscape look like a Mexican steppe. Only now at more than 3500 meters. The path is neither particularly steep nor particularly demanding. The effort comes with distance and altitude. The circular route leads over 21 kilometers up to 4100 meters, with the rocky peaks of Mount Kenya always in view.
Only rarely do other hikers cross the path. It's early June, low season. "Most groups come in August and September or December," explains Desmond. But then it can get really crowded on Mount Kenya. “Sometimes 350 people are here in one day. Plus guides and porters. Then it's like a dormitory up there."
But the region around Nanyuki has more to offer in terms of tourism than Mount Kenya. Among other things, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The park is home to the last two remaining northern white rhinos in the world and more than 140 other endangered black rhinos. There are also zebras, elephants and giraffes and a sanctuary for chimpanzees.
The Ngare Ndare Forest features natural pools for swimming, waterfalls and a canopy walkway and of course many other animals. There are also many other private animal sanctuaries in the north of Nanyuki. But the fun has its price: because without admission, a guide and a car, nothing usually works in Kenya. For Mount Kenya, the day pass alone costs 52 US dollars (51 euros).
If you want to see a lot of animals for little money and without a guide, you can visit the Animal Orphanage on Mount Kenya. Animals are housed here that would probably not survive in the wild. Entry costs 2,000 Kenyan shillings for tourists, and the proceeds will go to the animals.
The area looks like a small petting zoo. Antelopes, ostriches and llamas walk around the visitors. Other animals observe what is happening from their enclosures. The reasons why the animals live here are very different: A leopard is missing a paw. Cheetah "Neten" was rescued by a Maasai. But when the animal killed one of the man's goats, the man brought the cheetah here to the Orphanage.
The two hippos came to Kenya in 1969 as a gift from the President of Liberia. Now they wallow here in a small pond. Most of the animals seem relatively unimpressed by the visitors. A vision-impaired warthog with a crooked hip shuffles across the meadow and sniffs at the guests. A few meters away, a giant tortoise is pushing itself across the grass. "We try to release all the animals back into the wild," explains one of the keepers.
But that doesn't always work out. “The cheetahs are too used to humans. In the wild, they would rather approach them than run away.” In the enclosures, however, these animals should at least be used for research and knowledge transfer, for example when school classes visit the site.
The most spectacular attraction in Nanyuki itself is the equatorial boundary to the south of the city. A handful of men are standing next to the information signs. In a small experiment, they want to show tourists that water flows the other way around in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere, and ideally they want to sell a few souvenirs in their small shops.
The slow train runs back to Nairobi every Sunday at 9 am. If you want to stay longer, you can also return by bus or taxi. It's more than twice as fast, but it's certainly only half as nice.
Arrival and entry: Lufthansa offers direct flights to Nairobi from Frankfurt/Main. To enter Germany, tourists need a visa ($50), which can only be applied for online in advance, as well as full vaccination protection against the corona virus or a negative PCR test. The website of the Federal Foreign Office provides up-to-date travel advice.
Train ride to Nanyuki: The train from Nairobi to Nanyuki departs every Friday at 9am and returns every Sunday at 9am. First class tickets cost 1000 Kenyan shillings and can only be booked directly on the platform. All information about the Nanyuki Train can be found on the Kenya Railways website.
Travel time: The best travel time is usually from December to March.
Information: Kenyan Tourism Authority, //ktb.go.ke/; Animal Orphanage at Mt Kenya Wildlife Conservancy: mountkenyawildlifeconservancy.org/animal-orphanage
