The African Express....

Well, I don’t know if you could actually call it the African Express... more the African putt putt.  It does kind of have that sound as we chug down the tracks.  It will take a total of 26 hours with somewhere around 14 stops along the way.  I’ll tell you how much I like train travel when we get to the other side!

Sunrise from our deck in Simon's Town.

The day started out at the crack of 6:30 to rouse the girls and get out the door.  We said goodbye to Pauline who came out to say goodbye, what an amazing hostess.  We had to get the rental car back and hit the hike down a few blocks to the train station.  Everything went without a hitch thanks to my co-pilot Alyssa and we found the rental place, fuelled the car and found the train station all in good time before our train departure.  It helped that it was early Sunday morning and the streets weren’t busy at all.

Our home for 28 hours!

We found our train car and berth and wow, there’s way more room in those things then I thought.  We had lots of room for the packs and dropped both bunk beds which gave us all room to spread out.  The day started out pretty cool so the girls decided to test out their new sleeping bags which all got the thumbs up.  After a little nap and some cribbage, Alyssa and I headed down to find the dining car.  It was pretty posh, so we had pop and beers and enjoyed the view passing by.  I couldn’t believe it, they don’t even try gouging you once you’re on and two pop and a large can beer was less than 40 Rand or $4 canadian. 

On the train they were saying the first class is in the back with second class at the front.  Turns out its not first class or second class but sleeper units and seats only.  The dining cart separates the front passengers with the back and there is a great presence of employees.  I did see one guy getting escorted to the back of the train in handcuffs so you’ve got to watch but they’re definitely on top of things.

Alyssa's favourite spot.

The evening went off without much excitement but we did all head up to the dining car for dinner.  It was beautiful to watch the sun set as we trundled down the tracks.  The dining car is a pretty good way to see through the big windows and comfy seating.  We met a number of other travellers and we found a great place to sit and chat while watching South Africa go by.  After dinner we headed back to our berth as there really wasn’t much to see in the dark.  We all read for a bit and it must have been at least 8pm by the time I was ready to crash and couldn’t read anymore.  The big change in darkness has sure messed with my mind as in Turkey it was dark around 11pm and now its dark by 6:30.

We awoke to much of the same so I let the girls sleep as I went up to the dining cart for coffee and watch the sun rise.  The girls joined me for breakfast and eventually it was time to pack up as we neared Johannesburg.  I noticed a couple of things as you near the main towns.  Whenever you get close to a shanty town, first you start to see women with huge piles of wood and branches on their heads and then as you get closer, there garbage everywhere.  You can also see where people have gone through all the bags and often there are people rummaging through the piles.  I guess like they say; one man’s garbage is another’s treasure.

Snow on the peaks as we cross South Africa.  Didn't expect that!

We got off the train in Johannesburg and I was told by a couple of people on the train to keep everyone and everything close.  It was a bit intimidating and at one time I notices a police officer following us.  He ended up turning a different direction after the escalator but its interesting how the spidy senses go up.  Not sure if we needed to be that vigulent but everything was good in the end and Gloria picked us up to take us to Mufasa’s Backpackers.

Still on the train.

On the way to the hostel, we got a run down of all the people that Gloria had picked up from the airport that were going to  be on our tour.  Sounds like there are three other families from all over the and she told us about all the people that rave about the trip.  Can’t wait!  Once at the hostel, we got  our room and met all the families.  One dad with a boy and girl (14 & 16) from France, family of two girls from Tasmania (9&11) and a family with two boys from Italy (8&10), should make for a fun mix of kids and ages.  Alyssa immediately bonded with Amelia and her little sister Tilda from Australia and were chasing dogs and climbing trees all over the yard.

We finished the night with ordering delivery pizza and hanging out at the hostel with the rest of the crew.  Everyone is super outgoing and they’re all character... should be a pretty fun trip.  Our meeting is tomorrow, where we meet the rest of the tour and our guides.