One can't help but note the stark contrast between this $1,000-dollar-a-day luxury train and the throngs of South African people living in tin shacks the train rumbles by.
Consistent with the travel-back-in-time theme, being aboard Rovos Rail recalls apartheid, the system of separating races that was law in South Africa between 1948 and ended in 1990.
Although the train welcomes passengers of any race who can afford the tariff, all but one couple on our journey were white, and most were middle-aged or older. The staff consists of both black and white employees, all of whom are gracious and accommodating.
Outside the windows in urban settings passengers view a tableau of the real Africa today — mostly poor, overwhelmingly black, and without the means to enjoy the luxury of such a ride.
On the last day of our journey, the train leisurely pulled into the Cape Town station shortly after 6 pm, sending passengers back into South Africa's multi-racial, multi-cultural twenty-first century.
