Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to take the Blue Train.
Living a never-ending Travelife, I’m up for all sorts of adventures.
I especially like trains and cruises — and how lucky, then, that I’m doing this wonderful train journey in South Africa, and also a two-week cruise somewhere in the world, over the next four weeks.
Yes, I literally have 24 hours between my trip to South Africa, and the cruise trip somewhere else in the world.
It’s truly a never-endingly eventful Travelife.
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And tomorrow, I’m off to explore South Africa’s Garden Route, after several blissful days of going around the wine country.
But for now, let me share with you some details of the Blue Train experience.
It’s really an old-fashioned way of traveling — and I mean this in a nice way.
The attire is casual most of the time, save for dinner, when the gentlemen actually don tuxedoes and the women wear fancy dresses and good jewelry.
I decided to wear a colorful but casual long dress, with a hint of Africa on it.
The meals are all elegant, whether it is breakfast or dinner.
Each table setting has a full complement of silverware and each course is plated beautifully and served on porcelain.
Wine — and there is lots of this to accompany every course — is poured into crystal goblets by formal, uniformed servers.
You would think you were not on a train, traversing a desert.
And did I already mention that the food’s delicious?
Meanwhile, the cabins of the Blue Train are among the most comfortable train cabins in the world.
They are very tastefully decorated and quite spacious, especially in the context of a vintage train.
It’s not a hotel suite in terms of size — but when you think that you are on a train, the cabins are quite remarkable.
Each cabin has either a double bed or two twin beds, and either way, the beds are wonderful.
It has flowers, a writing table, adequate storage space, and even a television with on-demand entertainment.
The ensuite bathrooms on the Blue Train are surprisingly large, as well, especially compared with other specialty trains. These are well-appointed, and each has a picture window looking out.
And, while shower stalls are the norm, some cabins even have proper bathtubs.
Best of all, perhaps, especially for me, is that there’s free onboard WiFi. None of these pay-per-minute WiFi systems found on many cruise ships — which often leaves you stuck with a ridiculously high bill, especially if you like to surf the Net.
However, I have to say that the onboard WiFi is intermittent at best. It is a moving train in the middle of nowhere, after all.
Still, it’s way better than having nothing for 30 hours.
I loved our Blue Train experience — so much so that I can’t wait to do another train experience again, sometime sooner than later, in my never-endingly eventful Travelife.
