South Africa Part 3: Shosholoza Meyl Train to Johannesburg #RenelInSouthAfrica
Written by Renel, Posted in Africa & Middle East, Canon 7D, Cape Town, Johannesburg, South Africa, train, Transportation, Travel
I spent nine days in South Africa! If you missed part 2 click here, and be sure to follow my South African adventures using the tag #RenelInSouthAfrica2014. The itinerary for the next two days took me on a 30 hour train ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg on the Shosholoza Meyl.
Day 1
We left Cape Town around 10am for what would end up being a 30 hour ride on the Shosholoza Meyl to Johannesburg. “Shosholoza” is the name of a Ndebele folk song that originated in Zimbabwe but was popularized in South Africa. “Meyl” is a word that is related to a South African word for “long distance train.” (Click here to see a lyric video with the English translation.)
I was in the 4-person sleeper with two other ladies from my tour. Our cabin was the biggest out of the group so it ended up being the hangout room. The other two cabins were two-person sleepers. The cabin was actually bigger than I thought it would be but still a little claustrophobic such a long journey. The sleeping cars are considered tourist class cost about 620 Rand (USD $59) for a one-way ticket from Cape Town to Johannesburg. That price is about half of what it would cost to fly. There’s a economy class with only seats on the other side of the dining car.
