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Cape Town to Pretoria - 31st October
This morning we sadly said goodbye to beautiful Cape Town. Hopefully we will return to their amazing city very soon, with very friendly people, delicious food and wine all extremely inexpensive.
We were driven from our apartment to the main railway station where Rovos have their own lounge. Here we were welcomed with a glass of champagne and a duo of violin and guitar (eat your heart out British rail!). The lounge was reminiscent of the old colonial style with large posters of Rovos rail through the ages. As we arrived at the station our luggage was ticketed and taken to our carriage. Having spent a relaxing half hour chatting to fellow passengers the owner of Rovos, Rohan Voss, gave a very amusing introduction to our journey through to Pretoria. We were then called through to board the train, The Pride of Africa.
There are 20 carriages on the train with a total of 64 passengers mainly from the UK. Each of the sleeping carriages contains 3 suites. Ours is called 'Impala' and consists a large day area which turns into a double bedroom at night and well equipped shower room. Each carriage has a maid to look after the 3 suites, ours is Eva.
Once we had unpacked and settled in with a bottle of bubbly from the fridge it was time for lunch. The food on board is excellent and the waiter is offering a variety of local wines to have with the food, all included in the price!
During the afternoon the train climbs up to the Touws River Valley which hosts hundreds of vineyards which yield one quarter of South Africa's wine production. The the train continues through 4 tunnels one of which is 13.5 kilometres long.
Following afternoon tea the train arrived at the quaint little village of Matjiesfontein. Here we were greeted by a very amusing big fat local who welcomed us aboard an old red Leyland double decker bus driven as he explained by a young Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe! The bus drove very slowly up the Main Street passing the post office, The Laird's Arms pub, Lord Milners Hotel and finally the Transport Museum. Here we found a collection of classic cars (sadly no Honda S800) and a magnificent old steam locomotive. There are just 300 inhabitants in Matjiesfontein and it really is a lovely little village. We all congregated in the pub which was decked out with Victorian regalia and sang round the piano before boarding the train once more.
1st November
Following a leisurely morning on the train, after lunch we arrived at Kimberley renowned for De Beers diamond mine. We were taken to the museum and extraordinary Big Hole where mining temporarily ceased at the outset of the First World War. Our tour guide advised that De Beers will probably start mining there again sometime in the future. On the tour we were supposedly taken down in the lift shaft 800 meters down the mines but once there amazingly we were still on the surface..........all down to good theatre! The museum is set in a village which depicts the shops, bank etc of the late 1800's.
So far on this whole journey the weather has been superb and as we have progressed north the temperature has climbed to 30 degrees. In fact it is so hot Barry has even discarded his vest! Our last night on this leg of the journey has been lovely with cocktails on the observation deck, followed by a delicious dinner including lobster (my favourite) then on retiring to our suite we found a bottle of bubbly and chocolates on the bed.
2nd November
Fortunately we have been able to keep the same suite for our next leg up to Victoria Falls and so for our overnight stay in Pretoria we have just packed our hand luggage.
Rovos have their own station in Pretoria and as the line is not electrified a 1940's steam train arrived to pull us back into the station - a fantastic engine called Shaun! As we had half a day in Pretoria Rovos gave us a tour of their site which includes several steam trains and diesel locomotives along with workshops. The site is situated outside the city and boasts its own peacock! We finished the tour in their own museum. All around the area the roads are lined with Jacaranda trees which are in full bloom at present giving a gorgeous display of vibrant colour.
Love to you all
Mary & Barryxx
- comments
Tony Lowe I am loving the descriptive write up of your tour Mary. It's almost like we are there with you. Such a contrast to to Crewe in the UK! Really looking forward to further instalments. Tony and Rosemary
Zoe Oh wow Mary, it all sounds fantastic! I'd so love to do this trip myself one day. Looking forward to the next instalment of your blog and the piccies too! xx
Chrissie FAN tas Tic, All sounds wonderful. Enjoy my lovely friends. xx big hugs to you both xx