A flight gets you there in an hour and shows you nothing. The road takes longer and gives the journey back to you.
A flight gets you there in an hour and shows you nothing. Over the last few years more and more people across East Africa have been choosing the road for journeys they once flew, and the reasons are practical as much as romantic.
The hour that is not an hour
A flight of one hour rarely takes one hour. You travel to the airport, check in, queue for security, wait at the gate, and then travel again from the airport at the other end into town. For a journey such as Nairobi to Kisumu or Kampala to Mbarara, that overhead can come close to the time you would spend on a good coach, which leaves from and arrives in the town centre.
What you actually pay
A coach seat costs a fraction of a flight, and it comes with a luggage allowance that airlines now charge extra for. Each passenger can bring up to 15 kg of personal luggage at no extra charge. You pay one fare, you know the fare when you book, and it already includes the washroom, hot drinks, USB charging and free Wi-Fi on board.
Comfort has caught up
The old picture of an overcrowded bus does not describe a modern coach. Seats recline, air conditioning keeps the cabin cool, and you can work, read or watch something on your phone as you go. Choose a class to match your trip: Business for a good seat at a good price, First Class for semi-sleeper seats with leg rests and extra legroom, and VIP when you want a wide recliner with the most space, a blanket and a snack pack.
Day or night, you choose
Day routes give you the scenery and the chance to see the country you are crossing. Night routes let you sleep through the distance and arrive in the morning with a whole day ahead, and save you a night's accommodation. Long routes such as Nairobi to Kampala are usually done overnight, while shorter ones such as Nairobi to Nakuru or Mombasa to Malindi suit the daytime.
The road as part of the trip
Slow travel is not about being slow for its own sake. It is about treating the middle of the journey as part of the journey. A border town where you stretch your legs, a stop at a roadside market, the first view of a lake coming over a hill: none of that happens at thirty thousand feet. You arrive with a sense of how far you came, and where you are.
When the bus is not the answer
To be fair, the road is not always the right choice. If you have to be across the region in a few hours, or your route is very long, such as Dar es Salaam to Kahama at around a thousand kilometres, a flight saves a day. For everything in between, check the schedule, compare the fare and the time, and see which one you would rather have.
Whichever you choose, plan the journey around your own priorities, not the shortest number on a timetable.
