To take the road from Mombasa to Nairobi is to journey through time. The ancient seaport has been there for at least two millennia, but just a century ago, the capital city was little more than a wide place on the trek, a depot for British caravans bound for the mines and forests of the interior.
In recent years, a project sponsored by the Chinese government rebuilt a rail line that parallels the highway for its full length. It moves freight and passengers, although trains run much less frequently or reliably than they might. As collateral for the multibillion-dollar program, the Kenyan government granted a lien on the port of Mombasa. If the Kenyans default, control of the port is likely to be in dispute for a very long time.
There is a single highway connecting the port on the Indian O
