From Cape Town to
Pretoria
Port Elizabeth
From Pretoria to
Victoria Falls
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The Blue Train
South Africa
The World's Leading Luxury Train
Pretoria - Victoria Falls - Pretoria
 Click for a larger image (40KB) | Pretoria: Among its many historical and cultural attractions, is also home of the Blue Train. It has seen the unfolding of many chapters of South African history, including the part the railroad played in the last years of the 19th century. The 1994 inauguration of South Africa's first democratically elected State President, focused great international attention on the city. At first glance Pretoria appears to be a city in the mold of Washington DC, but its history goes back several centuries when Nguni-speaking people of the same migratory group as the Zulu and Swazi, first settled in the region over 360 years ago. |
Germiston:
One of South Africa's principal industrial centers it has one of the largest railway junctions and the biggest gold refinery in the world.
Johannesburg:
The capital of Gauteng Province, known as the 'City of Gold' because of the great gold strike on the Witwatersrand in 1886. It is South Africa's largest city and only second in size to Cairo on the African continent.
Krugersdorp:
After the discovery of gold, the town was laid out and named Krugersdorp in honor of the President, Paul Kruger. Today it is the principal town of the West Rand.
Magaliesburg:
The village lies in a fertile, sub-tropical valley below the southern slopes of the Magaliesberg range.
Groot-Marico:
The fertile valley of the Groot-Marico River in the North-West Province, is a major maize, citrus and tobacco growing area.
Mafikeng:
Here the international Boy Scout movement was started by Baden-Powell during the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902.
Ramatlabama:
On the South African border through which practically all Botswana's rail traffic passes into endless, undulating expanses of thornbush and grass.
Lobatse:
Botswana's judicial capital, seat of the High Court.
Gaborone:
Often pronounced 'Khaberoney' it is considered to be one of the world's fastest growing cities.
Francistown:
Originally a gold-rush town, it is still surrounded by the remnants of abandoned mines.
Bulawayo:
Became the home of Lobengula, King of the Matabele nation, when he came to power in 1870. The history of the city has contributed greatly to its character and it is to emphasize this that it has adopted the motto 'City of the Kings'.
Nyamandhlovu Siding:
The correct spelling is Nyamayendhlovu which means 'flesh of the elephant'. On his journey north, King Mzilikazi was guided to a pan shaped like the head of an elephant. Mzilikazi named the area Enyamayendhlovu meaning 'at the flesh of the elephant'.
Sawmills Station:
The indigenous forests in this area yield hardwood, predominantly Zimbabwe teak, which is used for furniture, flooring, railway sleepers and mining pit props.
Dete Station:
Means a swampy place with an abundance of reeds.
Tshontanda Siding:
Means where passage is blocked by a large log. The Tshontanda River, which joins the Pongoro River a little downstream, are crossed.
Pongoro Siding:
Named after the river along the banks of which grow the wild Mangora fruit. Here the Hwange National Park is left and the Deka Safari area commences.
Hwange:
Named after a senior chief of the Nembya people, Hwange was originally named Mbaira Siding, to be renamed New Wankie and finally Hwange.
Victoria Falls:
Named in honor of Queen Victoria by Dr David Livingstone in 1855. The traditional name 'Mosi Oa Tunya' romantically translated as 'the smoke that thunders' means, in the Leya-Tonga language 'the water, which rises in the air'. The Victoria Falls have the greatest curtain of falling water on earth. They are 1.7km wide and 107 meters high, with an average flow of 550 000 cubic meters per minutes. The town is a small, modern town in the extreme north-west of Zimbabwe.
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