WHY RICKSHAW?

The Rickshaw Travel Group ("Rickshaw Travels") was founded in May 1988. From our humble beginnings as a small travel agency, we have grown and expanded into several countries and today have 28 years of experience in the travel business, both corporate and leisure... read more .

TRAIN TRAVEL MAKING A COMEBACK

Dar es Salaam recently saw the arrival of South Africa’s vintage tourist train, the Rovos Rail, with passengers from South Africa, who travelled through Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania, on a 15 day journey. Also recently, the Madaraka Express, began running between Nairobi and Mombasa, which has proved to be hugely popular, though not totally flawless.

Around the world, train travel is slowly gaining traction and there are plenty of reasons why.  We’d like to share some of them with you, in case you’re thinking of train travel here or elsewhere in the world:

  1. Most train travel is stress free, in that you don’t have to arrive 3 hours before your departure time, there are no long security queues, you can carry more than 10 ml of liquids and gels, bring your own water and you can also walk straight to your next platform.
  2. Unlike airplanes, in a train you get to sit back and enjoy the ride with ample legroom and the ability to walk around without looking for a seatbelt sign that is turned off.
  3. Enjoy fine dining with full-service meals and uniformed wait staff, read a book, play cards or simply enjoy the landscapes that you would otherwise not see from a plane, e.g., cities, mountains, rivers, villages and so much more.
  4. Your luggage will arrive when you do, and you can carry more than the 15 kg or 23 kg that planes allow. 
  5. Train rides are turbulence-free for those who, like me, cannot handle turbulence.
  6. If you like travelling as a multi-generational family, then know that your kids will love travelling on the train as will your parents, who probably grew up riding them.

Consider taking a train on your next trip, if not the entire trip, then parts of it.  You’ll never regret getting on a train.