Into the Interior
It’s the three and a half day journey by train from Cape Town to Salisbury (Harare), that brings the traveller face to face with the vastness of The Dark Continent - this mighty Africa.
Train may not be the most upmarket way to travel – unless you go by South Africa’s famous Blue Train or one of the boutique steam train services – but you sure get closer to the continent and its landscape travelling that way. I’m glad we did that trip, although my memories of it are definitely influenced by the state my health was in.
Even the harbour of Cape Town with its beautiful views of Table Mountain couldn’t restore to me the full excitement of travelling – I felt too rotten. My mom and I sat in the lobby of a hotel somewhere in Adderley Street while my dad did some shopping – and that was as much as I saw of Cape Town.
I was having trouble keeping down food. People on the train got used to the sight of me careering down the passageway from the dining-car to the toilet after meals. They got out of my way real quick. Aside from that, I think I gradually began to feel a bit better, and I know I took photos of the Africans who seemed to materialise from nowhere whenever the train stopped, carrying wooden carvings and other artwork for sale.
The great plains of Africa, dotted with mopani trees that paraded past the windows seemingly interminably made a huge impression on me. I had never seen so much wide open space in my life before and it was that impact of the vastness and space of the veldt that stayed with me inwardly, so that when I was finally introduced to the outdoors of New Zealand, it was the wide open spaces that got closest to my heart.
There were no overnight stops in South Africa. We were in a tourist class coach and our cabin had 4 bunks, with the top 2 folding away to give seating room during the day. The slow, rhythmic “click-clack, click-clack” of the swaying train as it ate up the miles of this epic journey was actually soothing by day and quite restful at night.
Our last night on the train started off in Bulawayo. I can’t remember if we stayed on the same train for the final leg to Salisbury, or whether we changed trains. Something far more important happened. Sitting in the dining-car in Bulawayo station before the train resumed our journey, I felt hungrier than I had for days. I tucked into a plateful of tomato sandwiches, and can still remember my mom warning me not to eat too many. I did of course - AND they stayed down!
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