The Coast Holiday: Fly, Bus or Drive?

Yes, I decided to become a travel writer. A version of this was published in the Business Daily 'BD Life' section, and also at http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Going-to-the-Coast/-/1248928/2118908/-/ones36z/-/index.html

The holidays are upon us, and from controlling restless children, to accommodating annoying relatives, to resisting the urge to stop by the office, the busy executive sometimes realises that holidays can sometimes be more stressful than board meetings.

Add to that the fact that deciding to leave home and actually, well, go on holiday is much more fraught with difficult and expensive decisions than was the case a few short years ago. Time was when the choice was clear – do you cart off the children to their grandparents’ home or go down to the coast? Now, the grandparents live in tiny apartments in the city, and the coast is not just a simple matter of looking for the nearest relative who works in Mombasa.

So let’s look at some of the decisions you may have to make in the next few days, and hopefully leave the stress to having to pick between the colour of the beach towel.

The Choice:

Let’s assume you want to keep to tradition and go down to the Kenyan Coast. How do you get there? The reason that this has become a bit more of a difficult decision has to do with changing tastes, the need for speed and expense.

The simplest decision (and one that keeps to your corporate image) is to simply fly down. But this does have its drawbacks. For one, air tickets are at their most expensive this time of year. If you have a family of five (you, spouse and three mini-me’s), the costs can skyrocket. And don’t forget, there’s a world of difference when your company is paying for an overnight jaunt to Mombasa and when it is your credit card that’s taking the hit. So what are your options when you want to fly? You can book early (I can see you saying ‘thanks for letting me know when it’s too late’), saving a bundle. You can also use your accumulated air miles. Even when your company pays for your travel, the air miles are credited to you individually, and these can come in handy. Don’t forget, though, that you’re still liable for taxes when you redeem them (redemption only covers the cost of the flight itself). And when you do get to the coast, you still have the problem of how to get around (the company car is presumably not available to you).

Leading to the second option – simply driving yourself there. This has multiple advantages: you have a car to move around during the holiday, and it is one that you’re familiar with (not some dodgy hired contraption). And you also get to carry as much luggage as the car will accommodate, as opposed to getting dictated to by a stingy airline. There are drawbacks here as well, though. Most of us spend time in our cars moving less than twenty kilometres back and forth between home and office. There’s nothing like a five-hundred kilometre trip to highlight your car’s shortcomings, and there’s nothing as inconvenient as remembering stories of the Tsavo man-eaters when you’re stranded at the side of the road near Mtito Andei with a leaking radiator. The other thing to remember is that many vehicle-rescue companies operate at a very brief radius from the major cities, and so you may be stuck for a while.

So, the third option. Hop on a bus. The newer coaches are quite impressive, with air conditioning, catering and Wi-Fi connections. And there’s nothing like getting there slowly to make you appreciate the charms of the coast. When you fly, you get from here to there in barely an hour, which is rather soulless. On a bus, though, the temperatures climb as you go past the Yatta Plateau, and the first palm tree you see always gets the heart racing. It’s less expensive than the plane as well, and much less stressful than driving yourself. However, the record of Kenya’s roads is becoming ever worse, and accidents do become a crimp in your style. Also, the new-fangled coaches do not always live up to their billing, and the internet is full of complaints about passengers stuck for eight hours with air-con that was either not working or freezing, and the Wi-Fi only represented by the sticker on the door. And not a single bus company has developed a pleasant terminus in either Nairobi or Mombasa, making embarkation and disembarkation a chore.

So, there are your choices. Good luck as you decide, and when you eventually do get to the coast, begin with the stress of deciding between a hotel room and a cottage. Happy holidays!