Luxury Train Travel – A Nearly Forgotten World Of Stylish Travel Returns To Africa.
Have you ever read one of the great train travel stories of yesterday by writers like Graham Greene? Has the world of the Orient Express and luxury train travel always fascinated you? It’s such a pity that the Orient Express is a mere shadow of its former self and that the world of luxury train travel has become a distant memory that can’t be brought back no matter how much money you have.
Just close your eyes and imagine what it would like to feel when you board the world’s most luxurious train at the foot of the mighty Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. Before your journey start, you would no doubt want to spend a couple of days in this intoxicating mix of Western and African cultures. The V&A Waterfront, a living harbor with lots of live music venues, street performers, artists and shopping malls, is a must-see. The winelands, beaches and mountains of the Western Cape also deserve to be explored. Only then you will be ready to board your luxury train for a trip into the mysteries of Africa.
The moment you step into your compartment, into an Edwardian world of style and grandeur, surrounded by the soft hues of wood paneling, it’s like stepping into a time machine and going back to an era of elegance and personal luxury train travel service which in our day and age is reserved for the very few who can afford it.
One thing you don’t have to be worried about is that all this old-world charm will mean that you must live without your electric shaver or your hair dryer for a couple of days. This is not the case. Every modern convenience you are used to will be there, from the hair dryer to the shaver plug. Your private bathroom will be but a step away from your comfortable twin or double bed. You will have a private safe to lock away your valuables and you will also have a personal writing surface where you can make notes in case you want to become the next Graham Greene.
Should there be something you are not happy about, or you want to ask, you will quickly realize that service is not just a word on this train. With an excellent staff/passenger ratio, you can at all times be ensured of highly personal service catering for every need you might have.
Once the train leaves the Eastern suburbs of Cape Town it’s time to sit back with a drink and enjoy the magnificent African scenery gliding silently past your compartment window. First the winelands of the Boland area, then the towering mountains of the Western Cape. And after that the never-ending plains of the Karoo leading into a world of exploration that awaits the eager traveler.
Where your encounter with luxury train travel takes you from there is up to you. There are many options: it could be the Victoria Falls, it could be exotic Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and from 2010 it could even be the pyramids and sphinxes of Cairo.