South Africa – Pretoria and Blue Train
From Pretoria to Cape Town, this is our route. Of course, the ride on the Blue Train is not a cheap trip, but it is a “special experience”. One of the most luxurious nostalgic trains, the “Blue Train”, takes us on a tour through southern Africa, which was named the most beautiful train journey in the world by the World Travel Award in 1998. In a 25-hour drive we drive from the capital Pretoria across South Africa to Cape Town. In an exclusive ambience reminiscent of the Orient Express, you can leisurely let the impressive landscape pass you by in the “Blue Train”.
We arrive in Pretoria from the Kruger National Park with our car. The day after next we want to travel back from Pretoria to Cape Town with the “Blue Train”. After our experiences on various safaris in the lodges Mala_Mala and Ngala, we treat ourselves to two days of relaxation in Pretoria. The hotel is already getting you in the mood for the journey with the Blue Train. It is decorated in typical South African colonial style.
The lounge on the ground floor of the hotel is full of nostalgic memories of the Blue Train and the Rovos Rail. There are plenty of books in which you can read the stories of these famous trains.
The walls are decorated with oversized motifs of the trains. Old photos document the first trips of the Blue Train. Underneath, their founders can be seen in various poses. In the hotel’s nostalgic bar, you can sit down in deep club chairs and read or relax or be served.
After the exhausting last days on our safaris, this is also necessary. We use the stay in Pretoria to get to know the city and visit the National Museum, which is well worth seeing.
The day after next, our suitcases are picked up by the train staff early in the morning, so that we only have to carry out the check-in procedure provided with our hand luggage. On a red carpet we are led by our stewart into our train compartment, not without the usual champagne greeting. Each compartment in the Blue Train has its own bathroom with shower or full bath, telephone, television and individually controlled air conditioning. On a video channel, you can watch short documentaries about the region through which the train is passing, while a large screen in the club car provides a view of the railway line thanks to a camera mounted on the front of the locomotive. The professionally trained and friendly staff is available to us around the clock. The 380m long train has 18 wagons, offers space for 84 passengers and 27 employees and travels towards our destination with a top speed of 110 km/h.
