Thomas had been visiting Africa and Nia's friend, Kwaku, had been showing him around. They had been pulling a long passenger train together, stopping at many different stations in many different countries over many days and nights.

They soon began their side-trip into Egypt. "Wow," said Thomas, "look at that big river."

"That's the Nile River," Kwaku explained. "They say it is the longest river in the world. A long, long, long time ago, it was the fastest way to travel on this side of Africa, but the Nile is still Egypt's main source of water and fish."

"Oh, back on Sodor, my friends, Henry and Arthur, deliver fish. Henry even pulls a long heavy fish train called the Flying Kipper."

"Well," chuckled Kwaku, "islands are surrounded by water, so we don't need a whole train to carry the fish we catch in the Nile. Then again, maybe I'm just in denial." And the two friends laughed.

Then, Thomas saw something strange. "What are those giant triangles?" he asked.

"Those are the Pyramids," puffed Kwaku. "Very long ago, the Pyramids represented the great might the people who lived here. It's where they kept their most precious treasures, and they contain some of the oldest stories in the world."

Thomas was amazed. "Really?"

"Yes. Back then writing was done with pictures and special markings on the Pyramids' walls. These days, they are known as 'hieroglyphics.'"


Thomas and Kwaku stopped to let their passengers explore the Pyramids. A Tour Guide even showed Thomas what hieroglyphics looked like.

"Oh my," said Thomas. "What does that mean?"

The Tour Guide laughed. "It takes a long time to learn," he said, "but I can explain a little bit. This square shape and the lion mean 'hullo' while this stool-shape and hand with another hand, eagle and plant-shapes mean 'good day.'"

"That's amazing," said Thomas.

"And this is what your name would look like." The Tour Guide wrote some hieroglyphics on a piece of paper and showed it to Thomas and his Driver. They were most impressed.

"Did engines know what these meant?" Thomas asked.

"No," Kwaku laughed. "Railways weren't around back then, but Egypt does have one of the oldest railways in the world; the second oldest if I am correct."

"Wow, what was it like?"

"Well, the first railway was built by a man who lived not far from where you came from; London, I think. Many of Egypt's first engines came from around there too."

"Are any of them still around?"

"I'm afraid the left long ago, Thomas, but some of the oldest engines do live in a museum and today, railways are the fastest way to travel around Egypt."


Thomas and Kwaku were soon on their way again and made an overnight stop before continuing their journey in the morning. Gradually, the reached Nia's home in Kenya. On their way, they collected some holidaymakers. They were going on a safari up the valley of the East African Rift and they were very excited to see the amazing animals.

"Let's go!" shouted a boy. "I want to see the chimpanzees!"

"What are they?" Thomas asked.

"They look like this," said the boy's father. He showed Thomas a long list of animals and pointed to one of them.

"Is that some kind of monkey?"

"I thought they were too," said the boy, "but chimpanzees are bigger, and they don't have tails."


Thomas and Kwaku steamed across the savannah and saw all kinds of amazing animals. There were tall giraffes, big pink birds called flamingos, and larger animals like a hippopotamus and even a rhinoceros, then two.

"These animals are amazing," grinned Thomas. "I remember when Nia and I saw them the last time we were here…" And he thought back to his last trip across Africa.


"Hey, Nia, look at those funny stripped horses!"

"They're zebra's, Thomas."

"I knew that."

"Slow down a little, Thomas. You need to be careful about animals on the tracks."

"Oh, I know all about that. We get animals on the tracks all the time back on Sodor."


Thomas had seen many amazing animals with Nia. "…but I didn't see chimpanzees," he said.


Thomas and Kwaku didn't see any chimpanzees and neither did their crews or any of the passengers. All they saw and heard was the little boy laughing like one.

When they reached the next station, the boy was very disappointed. "Why weren't there any chimpanzees?"

"I think we were just unlucky today," replied his father.

Thomas was happy to have seen so much wonderful wildlife, but he felt sorry for the little boy. Suddenly, they heard something. It sounded like laughing. Then, something landed on the coaches. "What's that?!" Thomas cried.

"Look!" shouted the boy, "look!"

And that's when they saw them…chimpanzees. They climbed along the coaches and over the engines before hopping onto the platform.

"So those are chimpanzees," laughed Thomas. "They're so funny."

"Some might even say…'cheeky,'" his Fireman added.

Thomas was happy the boy got to see chimpanzees after all, and he was happy to have seen them up close.


At last, the day came when Thomas and Kwaku arrived at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

"Welcome back, Kwaku!" a crane called down, "and hullo, Thomas! It's wonderful to see you again."

"Hullo!" Thomas called back, "I remember you. You're the crane who loaded Nia and I onto that ship to Brazil. It's nice to see you again too…um…"

"Oh, I didn't introduce myself last time," chuckled the crane. "My name is Kobe."

Then, another big engine rolled alongside them. "Thomas, eh? So, you're the one who collected my goods back in Mauritania last time you were here."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Thomas. "I was trying to keep up with Ace and the other cars racing across the Sahara."

"Don't apologize," laughed the engine. "I was held up anyway and you and Nia took some pressure off my pistons. It's nice to meet you at last. My name's Polo."

"It's probably for the best that you did take his train, Thomas," said Kwaku. "Who knows were Nia would be if you hadn't shown up."

"Speaking of Nia, how is she?" Kobe asked.

The passengers and other people crowded around Thomas once more making notes and taking photographs. Thomas, his Driver, and Fireman told everyone how Nia was getting on and Kobe and Polo told more stories from Dar es Salaam and beyond.


The next morning, Thomas was waiting for a ship to take him to Brazil. Polo had already left with a goods train while Kwaku remained with Thomas and Kobe.

It wasn't long before the ship arrived. "It was great to see you again, Thomas," said Kobe. "Please say 'hullo' to Nia for us when you get back, and that we miss her."

"Yes, give her our best wishes from home," added Kwaku.

"I will," replied Thomas, "and it was great seeing both of you again too."

The three friends said 'goodbye,' Thomas thanked Kwaku for his help and then, the ship left the Docks for its big journey across the ocean.