The Karoo

Our train took us across the Karoo, 100's of miles of semi arid land reminding us a lot of Wyoming or maybe Kansas. The primary industry being sheep and the occasional herd of cattle. A stark contrast to what us Portlanders are used to. We did see occasional families of baboon, gazelle and ostrich. But in general the Karoo doesn't have much indigenous animal life left after several hundred years of ranching. It is the end of the growing season here and many ranchers have set parts of their land on fire. You can see the brown tint in some of the photos. We were very happy to see the western mountains and vineyards. A sign that Cape Town wasn't too far distant.

The good, the bad and the ugly

South Africa is hard to characterize. There is enormous wealth and quaint little villages. Kind of the places you would like to see on vacation or maybe might want to live. This was actually the only place where we felt safe stepping off of the train: Worcester in the wine country.

Just about everywhere you look, things are surrounded by this stuff; (razor wire, spike topped fences). I mean for hundreds of miles, everything, houses, schools, train stations. Looking at it from our tourist bubble, I can't help wondering if it is keeping them in or us out. I guess it amounts to the same thing.

This is a bit extreme, but not untypical... This is the train station in one small village on the route from Jo'berg to Cape Town. Diane says that South Africa is an odd mix of first and third worlds.

We are currently tucked away in the Garden district in Cape Town. While not 100% comfortable we walked to dinner in our little corner of the city. And obviously made it back... More pictures tomorrow.

Riding the rails...

Eric here...

Enjoying fabulous fall weather. Other than eating the largest cheese burger I have ever seen and waddling back to our room and passing out, I don't remember too much from day one.  30 hours flying, even business class, was totally exhausting.

Picked up by our driver and taken to the train station for our trip to Cape Town. In the process, got the grand tour of old town Jo'berg. Really and truly looks like a war was fought here. So many abandoned and burned out buildings. Sad little alley like shops. Apparently, as the town degenerated, all of the core businesses fled to the outskirts.

Our driver so kindly assisted us with our luggage through the heart of the Jo'berg train station, helping us dodge the usual riffraff found in these places. I only had to shake off one guy that really really wanted to help me with my bag. We did our best power walk to the little waiting room for the "Premiere Classe Train" which was full of rather old and infirm people eating those suspicious little crust-less sandwiches. A scene very much like you would see on a cruise ship.

Waiting...

Kicking back in our cabin...

 Enjoying the view...

Day 2: It's winter here

But it's still beautiful out. We take the train at 1:00 to head to Cape Town.

Day 2: South Africa Fun Facts

In 1652 the Dutch East Indie Trading  Company established a trading post In Cape Town. They were a trading post for slaves and goods from the East. After the discovery of rich mineral resources (diamond and gold) the Anglo- Boer wars was fought for control of these resources. Cape Town became a British Colony in 1806.

Day 1 JoBerg

We were told to stay close to the airport and leave the City as soon as possible. There is a lot of crime here. The land looked dry as we were landing, but you wouldn't know it here!

Paris

Sitting in the Air France lounge for the longest layover in history. Watching the rain, planes, cars and people. Love the feel of the Charles  De Gaulle Airport. The curved structure, the up lights on the wood slat ceiling. Very pleasant considering the chaos around. Love hearing French everywhere. What a beautiful language. Next JoBerg