Day 6: The Rovos Rail – Pretoria to Durban

SOUTH AFRICA

Day 6: The Rovos Rail – Pretoria to Durban

The Golden Age of train travel is now more or less a relic of the past. The first several decades of the 20th century ushered in a time when most people who needed to travel long distances would do so by rail. This was before there was an automobile in every garage or airplanes were flying passengers by the tens of thousands per day. This period was of rail service was not only defined by the speed and ease of train travel, but also by the high level of service and attention to detail relished on the passengers and guests. Unfortunately, that type of travel no longer exists as standard fare. However, there are still a few places in the world where one can harken back to this golden age and travel in style, comfort, and complete five star service. As it turns out, the Rovos Rail in South Africa is one of those rail journeys.

I first learned of the Rovos Rail in my travel book Journey’s of a Lifetime by the National Geographic Society in the chapter on Rail Travel. I had never done a luxury train trip before, and certainly never a train trip through Africa, which would seem like one of the best places in the world to travel by train. So, despite the high cost, we decided to splurge a bit and take what would most likely be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Of the several routes offered by Rovos, the one that fit best in our itinerary and schedule was the three day trip from Pretoria to Durban on the Indian Ocean. It was catching this train to start our train journey that required us to fly out from Cape Town last night.

After waking up early at Pretoria Backpackers and checking out, we took a taxi to Capital Park Station in Pretoria which serves as the headquarters for Rovos Rail and is the main arrival and departure point for most of their journeys around southern Africa. Arriving there just before the required 9 AM reception time, we were immediately greeted by the welcome staff and helped with our bags. Luggage tags that were preprinted with our names were ready for us and the staff said that they would take care of all of the bags and have it ready in our suite. We were then ushered into the spacious and comfortable Park Station Lounge where a light breakfast and snacks was laid out for us as we waited for our orientation and 10 AM departure from Pretoria.

Around 9:45, after all 29 guests had arrived and gathered in the Park Station Lounge, one of the company executives stood up at the podium in one corner of the room and gave us an overview of what we could expect over the next three days. This included the route we would be travelling, the sights along the way, the staff and train protocol and meal schedules, and some other odds and ends. Immediately after that, the guest names were called out by train car and we were led to our respective suites. We had opted of the smallest of the three suites called the Pullman Suite. It was 76 square feet (7 square meters) in area including a full bathroom with a shower. The interior of the trains and the suites were top notch with dark wood panelling, brass fixtures, air conditioning, and classic Edwardian features. Needless to say, our backpacks looked a bit out of place as we opened the sliding door to our suite and saw them waiting for us on the floor of our room.

The Rovos train left Capital Park Station around 10:15 as it made it’s way southeast towards Durban. I pretty much spent the next couple of hours exploring every single car from the engine all the way to the obvservation deck in the rear. It really is a beautiful looking train. Though the train did remind of the one from the old TV show The Wild Wild West that I used to watch in syndication back when I was a kid. The main characters on that show, James West and Artemis Gordon, used to ride on a very spiffed out train as they worked for the government fighting crime during the administration of President Grant after the US Civil War. In any case, most of the cars contained the other suites that guests stayed in, and so it was just a pass through. However, the dining car, lounge car, and observation car were the three public cars that all of the guests could meet up at and socialize. I spent the majority of my time at the back of the observation car since the rear of it was open to the outside and it was a great place to sit and take pictures without windows being in the way.

Lunch was served in the dining car at 12:30 PM, which was a several course meal starting with an appetizer, salad, drinks, the main course, and finally followed by dessert. This was the standard fare for lunch and dinner for all of the Rovos trips. Breakfast was slightly different as it was in a buffet style with bread, cereal, juices, yogurt, and other basic items. However, guests could order limited items from a menu as a short order.

Following lunch, I headed back to the observation lounge and introduced myself to several of the other guests and spent quite some time talking and watching the scenery go by. Of course, with this being a five star service excursion, the Rovos staff was always on hand to offer the guests drinks and/or snacks throughout the day and into the evening.

The dinner meal in the dining car was formal and was exclusively by candlelight. Since I hadn’t brought along any formal clothes, I felt even more out of place than I did earlier in the day when I showed up at the Capital Park Station with my expeditionary North Face backpack. At least I was wearing a button down shirt to go with my khaki pants and amphibious Keen shoes. Dinner was just as fabulous as the lunch meal was and we were told near the end of the meal that our day would begin at 5 AM the next day as we would be going on our first game drive beginning at 6 AM.

So, not too long after dinner we turned in for the night as the train arrived to the town of Ladysmith in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Once in Ladysmith, the Rovos Rail stopped on one of the side tracks and remained there till early the next morning.