Rovos Rail Day 3

We are so far behind schedule with all the stoppages that we won't be able to see the pretty Dutch township of Matjiesfontein in daylight. However having finally reached Kimberly at 7:30 this morning, the visitors centre of the historic diamond mine was opened especially for us, not surprising really as the privately run Rovos Rail is their best customer. In spite of the literal red carpet welcome and the glorious day, I found Kimberley to be a very depressing and austere place with razor wire everywhere. Guards carrying rifles and body scanners welcomed us to the historic diamond mine where a guide showed us around the now disused mine which is just a big hole as the same suggests. Our visit ended with a quick visit to the super secure vault and a bus tour of the town.

Back on the train we continued south towards Cape Town consuming yet another outstanding lunch on the way.

Our TAD (tripadeal) group of 11 all get on really well together having lots of laughs. There are about 75 passengers altogether on the 21 carriage train in 3 different standard cabins, ours sadly being the most basic. I'll know next time 🤔

At dinner tonight the Rovos manager informed us that 240 km ahead, a truck had an accident and was stuck on the train track. Then the removal vehicle, while extricating the truck, managed to rupture a main signals communication line. How is this going to affect us? Well our train has been given permission to continue and to manually adjust the signals along the way. So once again things have changed and we are now going to be able to see Matjiesfontein in daylight after all even if it is only for 30 minutes. Who knows when we will arrive in Cape Town, but thankfully nobody on board has a flight to catch or a deadline to meet.Read more