Missed SGR trip turns into lesson in resilience amid Nairobi traffic chaos

Heavy traffic and flooded roads along Mombasa Road disrupted travel plans for passengers heading to the SGR station during the long holiday weekend.

Last Friday, we set forth at dawn for an early train ride to the Amboseli, as I outlined in the last reflection. It was a Friday, a public holiday and an extended weekend. I had slept too soundly to realise trouble would be afoot, after overnight rains.

 After all, the combined county and national governments’ incompetence can’t deal with the rains. A friend called at 6.30am to warn that Mombasa Road was impassable. We braced for the worst.

 Our stretch of Mombasa Road seemed brisk enough, until I hopped onto the Nairobi Expressway, even though GPS suggested I take the regular side of Mombasa Road. I did not come out of it, literally. I simply couldn’t exit the Expressway, even though I was barely metres away from the Syokimau railway station.

 I’d be trapped for the next one hour, finally squeezing out of the mess to arrive at the station’s security front at 8am. The train hadn’t departed, but the gate had been closed, I was told. They had a schedule to keep, even if the rest of the city would be cut off for the next eight hours.

 The long and the short of this is that I had to drive some 160 kilometres to my destination and duel with mean-faced truck drivers along Mombasa Road. Along the way, I phoned a contact at SGR to seek a refund for the tickets for the return trip, still two full days away. I was told that the tickets had to be physically returned to the station.

 Yes, the same SGR that runs on schedule, no matter what, and which sells tickets online, can only issue refunds on tickets that are physically delivered 48 hours ahead of the trip—even when the station is virtually inaccessible. Moreover, they’d dock off one-third of the fares for the inconvenience! Yup, this is Kenya and Kenya is our business!

 As an optimist, I saw plentiful of valuable lessons to impart to the two young men of the house. Despite the obstacles, we remained focused and determined to get to Amboseli. There was no turning back. That should be their attitude in life, now and in the future.