The train goes from Pretoria to Cape Town and normally stops for a museum tour and visit to the "Big Hole", an enormous hand-dug diamond mine in days gone by. But, our journey wasn't quite to follow the script. The train is slightly more luxurious than the Indian Pacific and the Ghan in Australia, and very comfortable.
After a
wait and coffee in the lounge, we were escorted to the train by our butler to
settle in and explore our very fine room with en suite.
Butlers waiting
Bar
Lounge
Dining car
The train was only half full so meals were all in one sitting and we quickly got to know quite a few of the mixed group. And, a glass of bubbles helped that along just after 9 am! Brunch was a sumptuous five course affair, washed down with a very pleasant bottle of Riesling!
Shortly afterwards, our luck was to change as
we got stuck behind a derailment. We
returned to Klerksdorp, only 187km from Johannesburg, where we filled up with
water and then sat for a long period while the train manager and the operations
folk tried to sort out alternatives.
We should have been in Kimberley by now!
After discussion about a diversion, it was decided that we return to the
derailment and wait until its clearance, it was there we had dinner, and it was
well after midnight before we set off again.
Israel and Jean during dinner
Just after breakfast, we pulled into De Aar, only halfway to Cape Town,
to once more fill up with water. The
capacity of the tanks and consumption of the baths and showers on board mean
that this seems to be a regular need, and it takes 2-3 hours to complete! In Kimberley, the planned stop, it would only have taken 1 hour.
During extra lunch
Finally, the delays had built up such that
the train was destined to arrive in Cape Town at 2-3 am, 42 hr into what was
meant to be a 28 hr trip and the operations people decided that we would be
driven from Matjiesfontein to Cape Town instead. Private cars were laid on and this worked out, so we arrived at our hotel on
the waterfront late evening.
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