Rovos Rail, Hwange National Park, and Soweto

January 26, 2020 Sunday afternoon we boarded the Rovos Rail train. It was every bit as elegant as we imagined. We had upgraded to a larger cabin and were glad we did. Talking with fellow members of our tour, we found those that did not upgrade disappointed in the size of thier cabin. Despite the upgrade, the cabin was still small but comfortable. Within a few minutes of leaving the station we realized we were not on one of the TVG trains we've traveled on in France and Italy. Rather than gliding along smoothly and quietly at over 120 miles per hour, we lurched and swayed at a sedate 35 miles per hour. A bit later we discovered the adventure of showering while our train was in motion. We felt like we had gone back to a bygone era. Dinner was announced by one of the train's attendants walking through each car striking a gong. Men were required to wear coats and ties; the women cocktail dresses or suits. Both lunch and dinner were a set 4 course meal. One of our first courses was kudu carpaccio, a member of the antelope family. An evening meal featured Springbok loin as an entre. Springbok is also a member of the antelope family. All meals were excellent. 6:00 Monday morning we were in our safari jeeps heading out into the Hwange National Park. Hwange's landscape is very different from Chobe National Park. It features more grass plains than Chobe with the occasional stand of trees and bushes. Unlike Chobe, Hwange does not have a river running through the park, but, instead, has a number of waterholes. We were surprised to see solar panels near some of the larger waterholes. The solar panels were connected to a pump that maintained the water level in the waterhole. We saw fewer animals on this safari. We enjoyed spending at least 15 minutes watching a pair of giraffes. Our guide was able to bring our jeep much closer to these graceful animals. We were excited to see several different herds of zebras and wildebeasts. It seems these two animals get along well and usually are seen together. While we were told that there were 55,000 elephants in Hwange we only saw one small family of 5 or 6. They were in a stand of trees and bushes so we only got glimpses of them. The only other animals we saw were a single kudu, a pair of cape buffalo that we were not able to get close to, a small group of warthogs, and a leapord tortoise. What we did enjoy was a large number of very interesting and colorful birds. Before the safari began, our guide told us that safari's were like mining; you never knew what was going to show up. This safari was not nearly as exciting as Saturday's safari in Chobe National Park. Fortunately, we have at least 4 more safari's scheduled at Thorny Bush Safari resort in the Kruger National Park. We have been assured that we will see big cats there. Tuesday morning our MSU faculty host, Dr. Isaac Kalumbu, presented a lecture on board the train. Isaac has a PhD in Ethno Musicology. After a number of years as a faculty member of the School of Music he now works in the Center for African Studies. Most of his lecture focused on MSU's presence in Africa. We learned that MSU was the first American university to have a program of International Studies. Over the past few years the university has partnered with several African universities in such area's as both human and vetenarian medicine among others. According to Isaac, MSU has the largest footprint in Africa of any American university. He finished his lecture with an interesting discussion of the history of pop music in the Afro-American culture. Wednesday morning we stepped off our train onto the platform in Rovos Rail's private station in Pretoria, South Africa. Rohan Vos, the owners of Rovos Rail greeted us and took us on a tour of the facilities at the station. All of the locomotives and cars for the trains are reclamation projects. He buys the rolling stock in poor condition, completely guts the carriages and then rebuilds them. We were unable to see cars being rebuilt but we did see several locomotives in various states of repair. Some of his explanations were a bit technical but still interesting. We left the rail station by bus, driving about an hour and half south to Soweto. Soweto was a town built outside of Johannesburg for the sole purpose of housing black South Africans. It was in Soweto where the first major protest rally against apartheid occurred. It was this rally that was the first to turn violent with the police shooting a number of protestors. Since the end of apartheid, efforts have been made to improve the conditions in Soweto but it still remains a city of poverty. Interestngly, we ate lunch at a small restaurant that caters to tour buses. Lunch was a buffet of typical Africa food. It was a culinary adventure that for the most part was very good. After lunch we visited Kliptown, a community of 45,000 people in the middle of Soweto. Kliptown has no utility provided electricty. They have managed to hack into the Soweto grid to basically steal the electricity that they use. They claim they are "borrowing" the power. The only water they get is from 50 water taps provided throughout the community. Toilets are a row of what we call porta-johns. The 45,000 people are crammed into a small area with everyone living in corregated metal shacks. The conditions were beyond deplorable. However, what we found was an oasis of goodness, the Kliptown Youth Project. The KYP is a community center that is providing the youth a safe place to go where they receive two meals a day and some basic school like training. Through a grant of $50,000 they were able to build a computer lab so the children/students have computer training and access to the internet. There is also training in the arts. We watched a group of 10 teenage boys sing and dance to traditional African music. The KYP is particularly proud of the number of their youth that they have placed in various area high schools and secondary schools. These people's pictures appear on the Projects "wall of fame". Also on this wall are pictures of people from KYP who had found jobs. The Kliptown Youth Project was all about helping children be better prepared for school and having tutoring and homework help. Most of the parents of these kids are illiterate so the community center provides the supports the kids need, including their school uniforms, shoes, etc. Some of the youth return to the community while others move on but many of them become donors to the KYP once they have jobs. Later, at dinner, we were discussing the day. We agreed that while we saw abject poverty, we did not see hopelessness. After the last 9 days of luxury accommodations and exquisite cuisine, today was a sobering experience. But, as we have said before, our love of travel comes from all that the world has to offer, both good and bad. Have a good day and count your blessings.