Back in Johannesburg for a quick shop to pick up an Akubra hat and on the way to the historic and beautiful Rovos Rail station in Pretoria. We fell in love with the place immediately, the grand old age of fine travel is alive and well ladies and gentlemen and the sparkling wine and canapes set the mood perfectly for this epic mini-adventure, destination Victoria Falls.
You may recall some time ago that there was a trip planned that was to have begun in Walvis Bay, then by freighter to Cape Town, then the Wine Route, Rovos to Victoria Falls and finally a double rifle buffalo hunt in the Landies. Well it has proved to be so daunting to organise consecutively that we decided to break it up into sections. The buffalo hunt to the Save came first, which I wrote up recently, but because the buff gave me the slip there will have to be a sequel! Next leg was the Rovos Rail trip that is the subject of this report, and in the future the water part will probably be down the Nile on the Steam Ship Sudan, made famous by the Agatha Christie novel Death on the Nile. Somewhere inbetween will be the Cape Wine Route.
Anyway, on with the story. After parading one of their glorious steam locomotives the main train was shunted in and we boarded in the late afternoon, settling into the spacious suite. There are three classes: Pullman, Deluxe and Royal, we chose a Deluxe and it was just perfect with a huge double bed, mini lounge and bathroom. What a change from the school boy train travel I remember, probably worth waiting the sixty interveneing years for.
one is expected to dress formally for dinner, and pre-cocktails are served in the rear lounge adjacent to the open observation car. It was pretty cold on the deck in the evening and my suggestion of a fire pit raised an eyebrow or two!
Dinner is a four course event, excellent food as you would expect and servings just right for me, although Tess requested half portions. The emphasis was on hearty rather than too fancy and I liked that, i fact prawns only arrived once. What was particularly special was the wine pairing, they got it right every time.
The train ambles along at a very relaxed pace, taking four nights to reach Vic Falls, and it stops every night somewhere for a solid night's sleep.
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