Blue Birthdays

Vince and my birthdays are in May, three days apart actually and we usually plan a weekend away to celebrate them together. We were planning to take the Blue Train in May to celebrate our birthdays this year, but when I called to book our reservations I found out they were having a big special offering discounted  travel for South African residents before March 31. The seasons are so confusing here anyway and it is actually quite easy to pretend it's May when it's March. So we hopped aboard the Blue Train two months early for a pre-birthday trip.

Je suis arrivé

There are several options for itinerary and even travel direction on the Blue Train. We chose to go from Pretoria to Cape Town with a stop at Kimberley and an excursion to see The Big Hole. You can also choose packages which include accommodation in Cape Town, return flights and a limo ride to the Blue Train Station to begin and/or end the trip. We didn't need the hotel or the flight but we took the limo to Pretoria.

We had been to the Pretoria Blue Train Station before for A Murder on the Gautrain evening during Bloody Book Week but that time we naturally took the Gautrain from Sandton. After a smooth ride in our Mercedes limousine, we were met this time not by a dead body but by friendly butlers who greeted us with welcome cocktails and whisked away our luggage to a compartment. Much better reception!

Vince boarding the train

settling into our compartment before the trip commences

champagne on ice and a birthday card from The Blue Train

Our compartment butler Liphert offered to post our mail. Wonder if I will ever see this postcard again. I am still waiting for the one I posted in 2013 from The Post Office Tree in Mossel Bay. TIA indeed.

Once we got underway it was time for Brunch in the Dining Car, followed by Afternoon Tea in the Observation Lounge, Sherry in the Bar Car after visiting Kimberley and finally Dinner back in the Dining Car.

Elegant dress was called for at dinner. Which in South Africa by the way means the same as in the USA. A little black dress for ladies. Jacket and tie for the gentlemen. There was at least one couple I saw in black tie but mostly everyone else were just dressed elegantly.

Brunch in the Dining Car

The trip took 26 hours - not including the two hour stop in Kimberley. Outside of Gauteng, the train skirted the eastern edge of the Northwest province, went through the heart of the vast Great Karoo in the Northern Cape, and through the picturesque wine valleys and mountains of the Western Cape.

flamingos on Campher Dam

vines of the Worcester Valley

At only one point - in the Hex River Valley - were we able to see the front of the train around the bend. It was at the Bainskloof Pass near Tulbagh.

We spent alot of time in the non-smoking bar car!

Kimberley station

There was a smoking car in the front of train with cigars and a whiskey bar. I did not check it out but Vince did. He said it looked like a gentleman's club car.





 



We stopped in Kimberley for an excursion to see The Big Hole. The stop was not guaranteed, a point which they made repeatedly in print and speech. Schedule permitting. I didn't think they really meant it but our tour guide said the Blue Train hadn't been able to stop in Kimberley for the last few weeks due to train delays and other unforeseen problems. That would have been a bummer!

We also made a ten minute stop in Worcester to change train engineers after the long night's journey. See you again in a couple of days Worcester!

a rooster weathervaned steeple in Worcester

The food was delicious and the amenities were first class. When we came back from our very formal dinner, there were chocolates and champagne waiting in our turned down rooms.

birthday cake in Cape Town

I only had one almost near-disaster. As dinner was ending, the wait staff began coming out to deliver cakes to other dining car tables for birthdays and anniversaries. Not a novel idea to take the Blue Train to celebrate a big occasion I guess! Along with the cake came the requisite song which we were all encouraged to join in. "Happy Birthday to you!"

I panicked! I hate having Happy Birthday sung to me in a dining room with strangers. But lo and behold. No one brought a cake to our table. At first I was relieved and then I was angry. Hey, keep the song but where's my cake?

We stopped in the bar car to drink our dessert wine before retiring to our compartment for the night. When we did, we found a beribboned blue box, a blue bag with two more bottles of the wine we drank with dinner and a gold-wrapped box containing a miniature blue train carriage clock. Nice and private! How did they know? That is service!

relaxing in the observation car before arriving in Cape Town :(