June 2, 2010. Shosholoza Moyl Train, Cape Town to Johannesburg
My fingers and toes continue to slowly thaw out after a frigid night aboard the train; I am guessing that the mechanic in charge of operating and/or fixing the heating system might have taken an early retirement package*. Awoke to my breath crystallizing in the shuttered, rocking, black cabin, metal shades drawn as lovely curtains over the rock-scarred windows, the scrubby plains of the Karoo that now greet my eyes soon to be beheld once I thawed out enough to move from under the 4 blanket cocoon. Signs of progress dot the view; a power substation, a graveled road, an old pickup truck (or buckie, as they are called around here) plodding down the path to the unknown; the pale tan colors of a water-starved land, the lushness must have occurred long ago, or simply never; and a perfectly blue sky, the huge horizon, naked expanse. I reckon I am about half way through this journey to Maputo, and this far done is the easy part....big, bad Johannesburg is looming in the forefront of my mind, as we hurtle through the African plains...
*-I was later told that the train carriages, ancient models, were perfecly partnered with the steam engines of a bygone era; since the steam engines were all retired many years ago, the trains are now being pulled by diesel engines, which cannot work the heating systems; thus, we freeze our asses of in the cold South African nights aboard the “Luxury Express.” Ah, TIA...(this is Africa!)
