Route: Pretoria – Cape Town
Kimberley Excursion:
Sparkling, flawless gem of the rails, The Blue Train finds a harbour to match its legend on the southbound route from Pretoria to Cape Town. The city of Kimberley, capital of the Northern Cape province, lies at the heart of one of history’s great rushes for the glitter of mineral wealth. In 1869, the discovery of diamonds in the walls of a farmhouse lured thousands of fortune-seekers to stake their claim, clawing into bare earth, scraping away ramparts of gravel and shale, to form what would become the largest man-made hole on the planet: the Big Hole of Kimberley. One-and-a-half kilometres (one mile) in circumference, 365 metres (1 200 feet) deep, the crater would yield more than 14-million carats by the time war forced the closure of the mine in 1914. Today, quietly cloaked in the richness of its past, Kimberley offers the visitor an intriguing glimpse into an age of exploration and obsession, as well as the rare opportunity to prospect for a diamond all of your own…before you return to the glitter and allure of your gem of the rails.
Route: Cape Town – Pretoria
Matjiesfontein Excursion:
A slice of sunbleached Victoriana in the mystical midst of the Great Karoo, the quaint oasis of Matjiesfontein offers guests a leisurely interlude of opportunity to indulge in the ambience of a bygone era. Hop aboard the tomato-red London double-decker that motors up and down the lonely high street, and pause for a
traditional English tea at the Lord Milner Hotel, with its graceful façade and wrought-iron railings. Step into yesterday at the Antique Car Museum, or stroll to the edge of town and enjoy the endless panorama of the semi-desert, shimmering with the otherworldly allure of a mirage. Founded at the turn of the 20th Century by an English industrialist named James Douglas Logan, who was making his way to Australia when his ship was wrecked at the Cape of Good Hope, Matjiesfontein owes its origins to the fortuitous confluence of health-giving mineral waters and the railway that ran by them. A railway superintendent during his long and varied career, Logan understood the importance of a pause for refreshment on the arduous trek through the semi-desert interior. Soon, this “Paradise in the Great Karoo” became a destination in itself, drawing aristocrats, eccentrics, artists and explorers to its middle-of-nowhere charms, and later serving a more utilitarian purpose as an outpost for British soldiers during the South African War of 1899 to 1902. But in all the years, no visitor has been more celebrated or welcomed than The Blue Train that glides up to the platform on the northbound route from Cape Town.
