Thread by @LanceTheWitten

#SAbyRail - a thread

It had been many years since I last travelled across the country by train. The last time I did it was as a teen with my mom and brother in the heart of winter, and I remember the views as being absolutely magical

Snow on the mountains along the Hex River, the barren beauty of the Karoo, the comforting sway of the carriages... memory can be deceiving, only the good stuff remains

So, it was with great anticipation and excitement that I booked tickets for myself, @lisacharles56 and Mila for the trip down from Jozi on Shosholoza Meyl. The booking process should've been the first indication of what to expect...

@lisacharles56 Booking can't be done online, only via African Sun travel (booking agent for the service) via email. You indicate your intent to book online, and then they email you, and then it's a back and forth email business until eventually you get your car transport and train voucher

@lisacharles56 This is not your ticket, though, and you still have to pick that up at the ticket office before you travel. But first, you have to book your car in... which is a mission.

@lisacharles56 My dad and I took the car to be booked in on platform 14 of Johannesburg Park Station. How do you find platform 14? Well, you drive around the station a few times until you find a hidden slipway that leads to a few off-ramps with numbers spray-painted on them...

@lisacharles56 Except, the off-ramp for 13 and 14 has a vacant security kiosk hiding the spray-painted numbers. Eventually, we found our way just barely missing the 7:30am deadline to book in

@lisacharles56 Rush off to church, and back to the station to check in by 12;30, only to find that the train leaves at 12:30 (so the info provided was wrong) and after hurrying with loads of baggage and a cranky toddler, we board. But... the train only left an hour later

Bear in mind I received 3 SMSes the night before so we hurried off to a shopping centre to get bedding for the journey - which obviously meant more baggage to carry

(SURPRISE! There was bedding on the train offered to us at R65/set - two sheets, a comfy pillow and two lekker blankets - about six hours into the journey) #SAbyRail

Thanks to Eskom, it took us four hours to leave Joburg. As in, we travelled at 20km/h for 10 minutes before stopping for an hour. At one point we were stationary for two hours, awaiting manual authorisation. We also took a different route out of JHB because of cable theft

Now, delays I don't mind. BUT... the aircon was out of order (and only came on in the middle of the night and then died again in the morning in the middle of the Karoo), and the kitchen only opened at about 4pm. Remember, we have a toddler with us who is slightly special needs

We finally had an opportunity to have "lunch" at about 4:30pm - chesseburgers and chips (they weren't bad, the burgers were of the PnP/Mamas Burgers variety, and the chips were really good), but there was nothing for the little one to eat

We got her a toasted cheese sammich, because the kiddies meal - russian and chips - was out of stock. There was fish and chips on the menu, but with broken aircon, I wouldn't trust that the fish stayed fresh in the fridges #SAbyRail

At about 6pm, I was tired of being hot and sticky and decided on a shower. The water was cold. Colder than the drinking fountain water (two drinking fountains per carriage, because the sink water isn't potable) which was warm af and absolutely unappetizing

The cold shower was welcome in the absence of aircon, so I didn't mind. Washing the toddler was another story. We went down for supper shortly thereafter. Lisa had the 1/4 chicken and veg, I had the beef stew and pap with sambal (which was spelled hilariously)

Drinks were R15 each (!) for the small cans of cooldrink but guess what? There was no juice on sale for the toddler and no bottled water either. And the ice machine was out of order. So if you're going #SAbyRail, do yourself a favour and pack a cooler box and padkos

Each meal cost us R150 😐

But, hell! This view 😍 (you can't see it, but that there is a bright orange moonrise)

The next morning was much of the same. Weak tea (Joko) and coffee (Ricoffy) at R12 each, but the breakfast was bomb. This time, the drinking fountain was cold (due to the overnight temparature drop) but still unpalatable - just ok enough to brush your teeth

Before this, however, we were roused at 7am by the staff to let us know they were advising people to get off at De Aar to hop on a bus, because load shedding would mean a further delay. Our car was on the train, so we didn't mind staying on board...

...but also, I wouldn't trust any bus driver along the Road of Death, that stretch of the N1 between Beaufort West and Laingsburg. We got to De Aar at about 8am, and I had resolved to trot down to the shops and get some food and snacks as the kitchen hadn't yet opened

BUT, the shops in De Aar only open at 9am, and we left shortly before then. We would have to wait until the kitchen on the train opened (about 10am) and kept the toddler going on Japanese Rice Crackers and corn nibs, and some All Bran Flakes borrowed from a neighbouring cabin

On that note, where in Cape Town can I buy these? They're divine

After brekkie, it was the long trek through the Karoo. It was hot, and as I mentioned, the aircon had died again while we were out to brekkie, and there's still no bottled water or ice, and no shops at the stations to get any. By now, the wad of cash I brought along was exhausted

Look, there's power in the cabins, so we're keeping the toddler busy with movies on the laptop (stored on the external hard drive), but there's zero reception in the desert. The views are magical, though...

Not sure if you can see the herd of impala frolicking in the scrub outside Beaufort West

By the time we'd stopped in Beaufort West, I'd arranged with the train chief for me to disembark and find an ATM and a shop where I could get some bottled water and top up the snacks. The driver who took us from the station to Checkers demanded R30/person for the trip

I said "hell no", so the three passengers agreed to R20/person - That's R60 for a 2km journey in a death-trap taxi. Anyway, we got cash and water, so, at least that was sorted. It's now around lunchtime, but the kitchen is closed again

So we ate apples and corn nibs and caramel cashews and pan peanuts and tried to survive the searing heat streaming into the cabin until the kitchen reopened at 5pm

By now, we're already 90mins late and only just within the border of the Western Cape. Seeing as the toddler was finally napping, we ordered our food and had it delivered to the cabin. The kitchen has run out of burgers and chicken. It's just beef stew, fish & chips and sammiches

At about 6 or 7, the gates to the kitchen were locked. This is understandable. We should've been in Cape Town by 3:30pm. But... we have a special needs toddler who needs to eat, and drink tea and water and milk. #SAbyRail

But again, this trip is redeemed by the view... 😍

Just after Worcester, someone threw a rock into the window of one of the cabins, injuring a teen and her gran. This was scary. It was dark, so you couldn't see outside, and we now had to travel with the metal shutters down until it was safe.

They expected more stonings close to Mbekweni. So now we're travelling with our eyes closed, with no idea where we are. It's late, and the toddler has had enough

We eventually got to Cape Town at 11:45pm, and then had to stand on the windy platform in the teeth of the biting South Easter waiting for the car to be off-loaded. This was the worst part of the journey. The toddler was restless, sticky, smelly, and cranky af

She fell asleep in the car en route home and we let her sleep all night. She didn't wake up, even when we wiped her down (her feet were black from walking kaalvoet in the train, and her face streaked with dirty tears, hands sticky from snacks)

Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY! Maybe not with a toddler, and I'd definitely push to rent a four-berth first time around, instead of hijacking a vacant one (we had initially booked and paid for a two-berth because it was cheaper). What would I do differently?

1) Leave the toddler
2) Take a massive bottle of hand sanitizer and more wet-wipes
3) Take a cooler box with ice and drinking water
4) Save up for Premier Classe (and a four-berth)
5) Bring a kettle and my own coffee, tea, more milk, travel mugs, a fan and padkos