Arsenal Africa Easter Festivals, April 2019: Mombasa Edition (Part 2) - The Train Safari

Black Panther (sighted in Laikipia Wild Camp)

    

(Photo credits; Will Burrard-Lucas)

Did you know that in 2019 alone, between February and March; Kenya has made headlines across the globe for having two kinds of the rarests breed of animals? On 11^th February 2019, a British photographer captured rarest images of a black panther believed to be the first of its kind in Africa in a 100 years!

Remember the Superhero film, produced by Marvel Studios named Black Panther that premiered in theaters in February 2018? The film predominated with black casts, had our very own Mexican-based Kenyan, 2014 beautiful person of the year Lupita Nyongo featuring as Nakia. Isn’t it a beautiful coincidence that a year later; a movie themed around the mythical animal interestingly based within the fictitious land of ‘Wakanda’ in East Africa, is the same region in which the actual black panther was spotted and captured on camera?

Rare ‘Elephant Queen’, sighted in Tsavo National Park 

A month later, the same photographer, captures the never seen before photos of ‘Elephant Queen’, a female elephant with huge, long tusks that curve right down to the ground! It Is intimated that, less than 30 of these animals still exist in Africa. What a time to be alive! Isn’t Africa a rich continent? Aren’t we lucky? 

Never been to the Magical Kenya before? This is the right time to visit, be part of the history, don’t be left out! The host city Mombasa, has elephant tusks along Moi Avenue, come check them out and lets make lifetime memories!

(Photo credits: Will Burrard-Lucas)

And well guess what! With every ticking of the clock, the countdown continues and in slightly over a month from today, African Gooners and Goonerettes will visit Kenya, the home of champions, the home of The Big Five. Lovers of National Geography (Nat-Geo) documentaries, will appreciate more as this is going to be a fantastic chance to see more of real Kenya, the wildlife experience and the wildflowers, and enjoy the real train safari!

Thanks to the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), Arsenal fans attending the biggest Annual Easter festival going down in Mombasa transiting via Nairobi, will have moments of their lives sightseeing most of the game range animals from Zebras, to Giraffes, to herds of elephants, Impalas, wildebeest, rhinos, cheetahs and when lucky enough, sometimes lions and leopards as the train cruises its way through the Tsavo National Park to destination Mombasa.

Can you name some of these animals which make up The Big Five? Karibu Kenya, and get a glimpse for yourself!

Arsenal Kenya national treasurer, Mr. Mathew Malusi (also known as Jangwa Kavu) confirms that close to 100 gunners attending the Easter event in Mombasa going by the SGR train have paid for their return tickets. The list includes Arsenal fans majorly from Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. 

Other travelling fans will be using alternate means of transport including but not limited to: buses, flights, private means as well as hired tours and travel vans.  Travelling fans using the SGR train were required to have sent KES 2,100 or an equivalent of USD 21 by 15^th of March 2019 to Mr. Malusi to facilitate timely booking and reservation of seats for the contingent.

          

As previously shared to the travelling fans, the departure date shall be on 19^th April 2019 with the morning train that has a departure time of 8.20am GMT+3 from the Syokimau railway station (Nairobi Terminus) and the arrival time will be 14.20pm GMT+3 at the Miritini railways station (Mombasa Terminus).

The return date shall be on 22^nd April 2019, with a departure time scheduled at 15.15pm GMT+3 from the Mombasa terminus and arrival at the Nairobi terminus at 20.15pm GMT+3. The SGR train has two types of tickets; the economy class and first class. The main difference is the pricing of the tickets since the first class tickets go for KES 3,000 or equivalent of $30 while the regular ticket costs KES 2,000 or $20 if you like.

The SGR has undoubtedly become popular with Kenyan and foreign revelers ever since its grand commencement of operations in 2017. 

Even though its economy class ticket price was revised upwards to match up the price of a bus that plies Nairobi and Mombasa, its comfortability, alongside the availability of toilets and trolleys, with enough leg space and no fear of death by long distance Mombasa road trucks made it the better option for most passengers. The travel time has also reduced immensely, from 8-9 hours while in a bus, to 4.5 hours with the non-stop train.

There are both food and drinks being served at the lobby as well inside the train, even though they are a bit pricey. You may want to consider dining before boarding the train if you can’t afford their prices. 

In a snapshot of the menu prices recently shared by a member of Arsenal Kenya (photo credits to Ms. Terry Mbote), most snacks & bitings range from $0.5 to $3, while hot drinks range from $1 to $3. Main course meals will cost you around $3 while beers will cost you between $2.5 and $4. This is what you will pay for a drink or a biting at the waiting bay. It will be noted that prices inside the train may be the same or a dollar higher. 

Sadly, no drinks(alcoholic) from ‘outside’ are allowed in the train. However, revelers who purchase drinks at the waiting lounge can get it in with them upon producing a receipt of purchase. Your bags will be checked and if found with drinks from outside you will have to involuntarily give them away. So if you don’t want to reach Mombasa ‘sober’, you may possibly need to be loaded with heavy wallets! 

Do take note the security at the train terminus is almost as thorough as at the airport. Traveling fans need to be at the station at least one hour before departure to facilitate the many bag searches and checks. There are three check points, plus a sniffer dog as well as a pat down. Remember the maximum bag weight is 30 kgs. The train does not wait for anyone and refund might be tedious, so just keep time! Good thing is that the travelling gooners will meet up on the eve of good Friday possibly at the Lazarus Inn, Moi Avenue and assemble at the same place on Friday morning before catching the commuter train from the CBD railway station, that leaves at around 06.00am GMT+3.

Visiting gooners from neighboring countries as well as Kenyans (who will have contributed to the event kitty) are informed that their transportation to and from the Miritini train station and movement within Mombasa have been catered for in the following ways;

a). Pick & drop from Mombasa terminus to the hotel (Friday, 19^th April 2019).
b). Pick & drop from the airport (Moi Int’l, Mombasa) to the hotel (Friday, 19^th April 2019)
c). Pick & drop from the hotel to the venue of introduction party (Friday, 19^th April 2019).
d). Pick & drop from the hotel to the charity venue (Saturday, 20^th April 2019).
e). Pick & drop from the hotel to the cultural heritage site, and later for the match screening  of the Arsenal game (Saturday, 20^th April 2019).
f). Pick & drop from the hotel to the Mombasa terminus (Monday, 22^nd April 2019).
g). Pick & drop from the hotel to the airport (Moi Int’l, Mombasa) (Monday, 22^nd April 2019)

Meal cards or meal vouchers with full names of the above mentioned group will be provided and given access to two meals per day i.e. lunch and dinner alongside two drinks either taken over lunch time or diner time.

In order to accord enough support to the visiting fans, each supporters fans club has been allocated a host leader on the ground to facilitate logistics. They will be as follows: Arsenal Tanzania shall contact Pauline Njoki, Arsenal Rwanda shall be in touch with Dennis Njau, while Arsenal Uganda will have Gilbert Mososi as their contact person. In the same spirit, Arsenal Zimbabwe will have Mathew Malusi as their contact person. Any other visiting supporters team (including Arsenal Ghana, Arsenal Zambia, Arsenal Nigeria etc.) that may not have been assigned a contact person will be attended to by Stephen Ndungu (not cast on stone, as maybe subjected to change).

Arsenal Kenya is excited to be hosting you all in this 3^rd Edition of the Arsenal Africa Easter festival bonanza and we say Karibu Kenya, Hakuna Matata! 

#ArsenalAfricaFestival
#TwendeMombasa

The writer of this article is a lifetime goonerette, who attended both first and the second editions of the Arsenal Easter festivals in Dar es Salaam and Kigali. She is also a freelance writer and a blogger at Up-close & Personal with LB