All language subtitles for The Worlds Most Scenic Railway Journeys S06E07 1080p WEB DL H264 BTN_track3_[eng]

Escape with us on a luxury train
journey

across the southern part of Africa.

Rolling through Namibia,
and on into South Africa itself,

we'll be travelling on a wonderful
vintage train

where we'll dine like kings
for ten glorious days and nights.

It is the most luxurious
train journey ever.

Along the way, we'll spend time
with the people who live and work

along this incredible line.

We'll go hunting with both man...

..and beast.

They never learned how to be a wild
cheetah from their mother.

We'll drink brandy distilled
in the desert...

And what you're left over with is
just the heart of the brandy.

..and taste the best wines Africa
has to offer,

as we travel under the
star-rich skies.

We'll visit what was once the
biggest diamond mine in the world...

With pick and shovel only they dug
by hand up until 240 metres.

..then travel to the capital
of South Africa,

Pretoria.

This is no ordinary railway journey,

this is one of the most scenic
railway journeys in the world.

We begin our epic journey
across southern Africa

in one of the world's most remote
cities, Walvis Bay.

To the west are great lagoons,
afire with flamingos,

and beyond them,
the South Atlantic Ocean.

To the east is the
great Namib desert

that gives this country its name,

Namibia.

And its into the Namib
will soon be heading.

But despite our remoteness,

our train is nothing less than a
palace on wheels.

Owned and operated by Rovos Rail,

some of these carriages were built
in the 1920s and offer those lucky

enough to get a ticket a level
of comfort

almost unrivalled
anywhere in the world.

In the two dining cars,

Jan-Louw is cooling the wine
for the guests' first lunch.

We normally put it out half an hour
on ice just to get it nice and cold,

the correct temperature.
Serving temperature.

A few carriages up in the royal
suite, with its en-suite bathroom,

Zama is making the last of the beds.

This room is finished now
and the guests are coming back.

I need to go to do the next room.

With the final passengers
on board,

booked for what will be an
unforgettable ten day journey,

the signal drops
at 11am precisely

and our locomotive takes up
the strain.

HORN BLOWS

Recently imported from Brazil,
this GE C23 EMP diesel electric loco

clocks in at a massive 94.5 tonnes.

Powering this monster is a 12
cylinder GE diesel engine,

which turns a dynamo supplying
electricity

to its six traction motors.

Our driver today is Ben.

Now, this is the speedometer.

You can see it's marked
up to 125km per hour,

but we are just limited
after 60km per hour

because of our sections.

60km, or just 37mph, may seem a
little slow,

but with the luxury this train
offers and the great vistas

we'll be travelling through,

who would want to go any faster?

This is a truly epic journey
that will take us over 1,500 miles

from the coast of Namibia, east
past the Erongo Mountains,

home of the San people,

to Otjiwarongo,
where we'll spend time

with one of nature's ultimate
hunters,

the cheetah.

From there, we'll retrace our route
before swinging southeast

at Kranzberg Junction,
heading to Windhoek

and on across the South African
border

to the oasis town of Upington,

where we'll drink local brandy as
the sun sets.

Rolling across the great
Kalahari Desert,

we'll arrive in Kimberley,

where diamonds determined the fate
of southern Africa.

Finally, our train will roll
into Pretoria.

Travelling along a line that was
first laid down over 100 years ago,

we track the Atlantic Ocean
north

before turning inland
across the desert.

At 55 million years old,

the Namib desert gets its name
from the Nama language,

meaning
an area where there is nothing.

But as we head east, leaving
the great dunes behind,

the land becomes more fertile,
both above and below ground.

And it's what was below ground
that we have to thank

for the existence of the line.

Copper.

Nicholas is the train's
onboard historian.

Well, the fact is that this railway
that was travelling along was built

by the Otavi mining company
specifically to transport the copper

from Tsumeb to the coast.

So actually, in every way,
this railway

that we're travelling along was a
copper mining railway.

Millions of tonnes of copper once
flowed down this line,

creating one of the key industries
for what would become

modern day Namibia.

But as we roll on past the Erongo
Mountains,

it's as if we are travelling back
to the dawn of mankind.

This is the ancient hunting
ground of the San people.

Despite living close to the railway
and the modern world it brings,

many Sans still choose
to live as their ancestors did

thousands of years ago.

Two of their members,
Dux and Lallae,

have agreed to take us hunting
using poisoned arrows.

TRANSLATION:

Dux has been to school
and speaks English,

but prefers the way of life of his
people, hunting in the bush,

just as his ancestors
have for thousands of years.

Closely following.

And when you can see the animal,
then we have to see also the wind.

Which side is the wind?

And if the animal is
not able to run,

then we can come a little,
a little more close,

then this way we can shoot.

The arrows rarely kill outright,

the poison taking time to work.

And when you shoot, and that's
the right part where you shoot,

it can die immediately.

But when you shoot any part,
then it can run.

Then the next day, when you come,
you will come with the family,

when you come it is still alive,
then it can run,

then you can run after the animal.

Then you can use the spears to
kill the animal.

UNTRANSLATED

Although the bush looks empty
to our eyes,

they soon spot a pair of waterbuck,

betrayed by their ears.

Now, an age-old ritual between man
and beast plays out.

This time, Dux's arrow falls short

and the waterbuck disappear
into the bush.

Back on board, as the sun sets,

the clock rolls forward
several thousand years

and we are about to experience
the opulence of the 1920s,

courtesy of our train's
Michelin grade chef, Aubrey.

He may seem busy at work,

but as far as he's concerned,

he's one of the guests.

It's like a working holiday
because every time

wherever you travel through Africa
by the coastline or inland,

you'll see the mountain ranges and
oceans

and like, for example, a beautiful
sunset coming up, like, tonight.

Keen to reflect the land
through which we are travelling,

Aubrey has chosen a local delicacy
for tonight's astonishing menu.

It's a favourite of Nicholas,
our onboard historian.

Tonight we've got ostrich
on the menu.

The ostrich is a dry country bird,

so it is a native of Namibia,

and it has the benefit of
being cholesterol-free.

It is considered a very
healthy meat.

And so we believe in the virtues
of eating ostrich.

and which is why it is served
usually medium to rare.

As the chefs work on preparing
dozens of dishes,

our guests sip the best wines
South Africa has to offer.

Above, the stars appear in the sky
and our train heads on

to Otjiwarongo, where it will
pull up at the end

of what has been a truly
wonderful day.

So far, our journey on this
incredible luxury train has taken us

from the flamingo-filled lagoons
of Walvis Bay,

one of the most remote cities in the
world,

across the ancient Namib desert
and into the Erongo mountains.

Here, we hunted with the San
as the sun dropped low in the sky.

Back on board, we feasted
on ostrich fillets

as the stars arched overhead.

Sometime in the night, we pulled up
into the small town of Otjiwarongo,

where after disembarking,
we are going to spend the day

with another of Africa's
great hunters...

..the legendary cheetah.

The coming of the railways massively
increased the human population

in this area,
and what was once the cheetah's land

has become the territory of farmers.

Men like Armas Shanka, who
tends a flock of over 180 goats,

which he loves almost like a family.

TRANSLATION:

Unfortunately, cheetahs love goats
almost as much as Armas.

As a result, farmers often
kill them on sight.

One person trying to save
the cheetah is Becky Johnston

of the Cheetah Conservation Fund,

stepmom Terosa and 28 other
orphaned cheetahs.

So, these six females here
are permanent residents here at CCF.

So they came to us under the age
of six months old.

They never learned how to be a wild
cheetah from their mother.

She would be teaching them
the correct animals to be hunting.

She would be teaching them
correct stalking behaviour.

She'd be teaching them even things
like how to properly suffocate

and how to eat your prey.

And as humans, we make terrible
teachers of all of these skills

that they need to know.

It's only something that a mother
cheetah can teach.

Being unable to fend for herself
in the wild,

Rosa and her friends will have to
spend their lives

in massive enclosures.

But Becky makes sure they still
have to work for their supper,

by doing exactly what cheetahs
do best,

running.

With the railway and other forms
of transport

bringing ever more people to the
area,

the fund is keen to find a way
of stopping the conflict

between the farmers
and these great cats.

THEY CRY

It's okay. It's okay.

And the key to that is man's oldest
friend,

the dog,

or the Anatolian sheepdog, to be
precise,

who make the perfect guard dogs
for flocks like Armas'.

The good thing about these dogs
is they don't need much training.

The main thing they need to do
is bond with the herd.

Pup, pup, pup, pup, puppies.

Come, come, come, come.

Come on, guys. Good puppies.

Yeah. Good puppies.

Good puppies.

Callum is in charge
of the Conservation Fund's

Livestock Guard Dog Program,

which breeds the dogs to protect the
flocks

from predators like the cheetah.

And all it takes is one dog,
like this one, Corvette.

Come.

I know there's a lot of people
that especially maybe

they're actually scared of dogs,
especially big dogs like this.

And the predators seem
to be the same.

Once they see one of these dogs with
the herd, they see the size,

they hear the bark,

and they see that these guys aren't
messing around,

they all make sure that they keep
away from that herd and they will go

for something a little bit easier,
like the steenbok or duiker.

Despite some pretty sharp teeth,

Corvette's main anti-predator weapon
is at the other end.

See, she's marking a territory.

She smelt something over there
that she felt was the threat,

so maybe there was a jackal
there last night.

She's marked her territory
over the scent to the jackal

to let the jackal know that
she is here.

Just by announcing their presence
in an area,

guard dogs like Corvette
have had an incredible success

in reducing predation, not
just by cheetahs,

but by a host of other predators,
too.

Good boy.

Who's a good boy?

These dogs just work incredibly.

On the farms that they go out to,

they get 80 to 100% reduction
in livestock losses.

As more of these incredible dogs
are introduced to herds,

the hope is that farmers will no
longer feel the need

to kill one of Africa's greatest
hunters.

Returning to the station
at Otjiwarongo,

we reboard to begin our epic journey
on through the legendary

Kalahari Desert.

Initially, we will retrace our route
back along the old copper line

to the junction at Kranzberg,

from where we'll branch east
across the desert

towards our next stop, Windhoek,

the capital of Namibia.

Covering much of Namibia, Botswana

and the western part
of South Africa,

the Kalahari Desert extends some
350,000 square miles.

In the local Tswana language,
Kalahari means "a waterless place".

And there is perhaps no better place
to view it from

than where Doug is viewing it,

from one of our train's own watering
holes.

I may have been generous with
the water.

Nice relaxing before dinner.

We've caught planes,
we've been on cruises...

..and this is still the best.

On the train, you see things
that you don't see at home

or that you don't even plan to see.

It's wonderful.

You get on the train, you meet
strange people,

when you get off you've got friends.

It's a wonderful place to meet
people and see the country.

Once a German colony, the European
population of southwest Africa

had only reached around 14,000
people

when it was taken over by the
British after the First World War.

Much of that population
was centred around Windhoek,

to which we are heading, and that,
as our historian Nicholas explains,

was for one very good reason.

It has got a lot of natural springs.

It's at an altitude of 1,642
metres.

So it is actually quite high.

And the presence of these springs
meant that you always had water.

Now, the history of Namibia
is undoubtedly the search for water,

because at every step of the way,
there was a shortage of water

and sometimes a paralysing
shortage of water.

Pulling into Windhoek station,
built in the early 1900s,

we can see strong echoes
of Namibia's German past.

It is amazing to me how much
the Germans put in

in the short period of 1884 to 1918,

which was the end of the First World
War, when they lost their colonies.

Whilst the station is a product
of Namibia's German days,

our next port of call, the Namibian
Craft Centre,

reminds us that this country
had many cultures,

long before
the coming of the Europeans.

Run by Shareen,

the centre allows craftspeople
from all over Namibia

to sell their art, including
the San,

who make these incredible beads.

They've taken the traditional art
craft, San craft in jewellery,

and they've done product development
and they've modernised it.

And it really creates an income

which they otherwise
would not have had.

But if you look also at
the textiles,

the artwork there is from the San
people.

So that is then printed, laid out,
graphic design and printed

on fabric, and that is produced
in South Africa.

But for every metre of fabric
that is produced

is a royalty that goes back to the
San people.

With our bags full of the best
crafts Namibia has to offer,

we reboard our train once more and
set off across the Kalahari.

This time, we're in the company
of two women who have made

Rovos Rail their second home,

Diana Buchanan
and her sister, Valda Brown.

My husband and I travelled 40 times
together, up and down

between Cape Town and Johannesburg.

And then when he died I carried
on travelling and now I'm up to 64.

Her sister, Valda, a veteran of 12
trips,

is convinced this train does
wonders for Diana.

I looked at her last night

and I thought she actually comes
alive on the train.

Having booked with Rovos Rail so
many times,

Diana really can call
this compartment a second home.

This compartment has been named
after my husband, Buck Buchanan.

And because he and I travelled
so regularly on this train,

as I say, when he died,
he'd done 40 journeys.

So that was reason enough to name
a compartment after him.

Whenever the name Buchanan
turns up on the guest list,

deputy manager Khangwelo makes sure
coach number 3453 is coupled up.

Yes. The thing is,

whenever she books a journey, we
always try to put

this coach on the train
just for her.

Like right now, I can tell
you the number one reason this coach

is on the train is just
for her to have a room.

So we always try to give
her her best experience ever.

And her best experience
ever is to be travelling

in her husband's memory.

And what wonderful memories
this train creates.

We've now travelled almost
1,000 miles through Namibia,

and we're about to cross the border
into South Africa,

where suddenly the desert will bloom

and we'll find ourselves in one of
the great wine growing areas

of the country.

People don't always realise this,

but vineyards originated
in the desert.

Leaving Windhoek,

our train travels on through the
great dry ocean

that is the Kalahari Desert.

And at this time of the evening,
you can stand at the back

there with your arms out and pretend
to be Kate Winslet.

And call it the reverse Winslet.

After almost 600 miles, we cross
the border into South Africa

and are suddenly confronted
by a green line in the bush.

This is the Orange River,
an unexpected oasis

where some of South Africa's best
grapes are grown.

And right on the line is the
Bezalel Estate,

home of Marthinus, whose family
have been here for five generations.

People don't always realise this,
but vineyards originated

in the desert. It was the Persians
and the Greeks

and the Romans who took it from what
is today called Iran

and started spreading
it all over the world.

And wherever they took it,
it's adapted

to the new growing conditions.

Key to any good wine is the
mineral-rich soil

the vine grows in and the amount of
sunlight it gets,

both of which exist in abundance
along the banks of the river.

I mean, looking at the soil,

it looks so rocky and it doesn't
look ideal for growing things in.

I mean, just thinking of a desert,
the climate is very harsh,

but at the end of the day,

this is what makes it such
a good area to make wine in.

So, for us, being able to grow
in such unique soil

and in such unique conditions is not
really a challenge.

It's more a privilege.

The third ingredient is the water
of the Orange River itself.

It really is the Orange River
that is the lifeline

of this area, bringing the much
needed water we need

to actually grow these grapes
in a desert-like environment.

Many of the grapes grown
along the river go to make wine,

but the Bezalel Estate is best
known

for one of the grape's other
gifts...

..brandy.

My father really started in terms
of the wine, but he always

had the idea in the back
of his head

that the ultimate goal
would be turning that wine

into brandy, rather than just making
wine for wine's sake.

Unlike a whisky, where the flavour
of the drink flows from the tannins

in the barrel, in brandy, the barrel
plays a more neutral role.

Whisky, for instance,
during the ageing process,

is where you're going to be adding
most of your flavour.

You use second-hand barrels to add
flavour to your whisky,

for instance, because all
of the flavour you taste

in the whisky comes from
the secondary processes.

Whereas with a brandy,

what we're trying to do
is not add any new flavour,

we're trying to develop
the flavour that's already

inside the spirit itself.

As the brandy matures over years,

Marthinus tests for taste regularly.

Brandy has now been in the barrel
ageing for about four years,

and you can notice it starting
to change colour,

slowly but surely.

And it is this colour change
that is the only indication,

initially, that this process is
actually happening.

And depending on how they are
changing,

will determine should this one stay
in this barrel for another five

or another ten years, or should we
bottle it

in another two years or so?

Many brandies stay in the barrel
for more than ten years.

Brandy will take me just as long
as it would take you

to put your kids through school.

It's the same time and level
of commitment.

And just as your kids, you're not
even sure exactly how it's going

to turn out because there
are so many influences

out of your control.

But if it does turn out
OK, the taste is sublime.

Now, the specific bottle we're
tasting right now

spent about nine and a half years
inside a barrel.

And even though we could have left
it for another two years

to say it's 12 years old,

it really was already where we
wanted it to be.

If you look at the top notes
of this brandy,

it really is a lot
more earthy all of a sudden.

And also, the key difference
here is, of course,

the fact that it is so much
smoother.

The longer it lies in the barrel,
the more you're evaporating

the volatile components
of the brandy itself,

and what you left over with is just
the heart of the brandy,

minus that
harshness of the raw spirit.

With the warm glow of brandy
in our chests,

we are back on board our train
once more,

heading into yet
another African night.

PLAYS MELODY

With no tannoy on board, Loren
alerts the guests

with the sound of a glockenspiel.

I'm announcing that it's almost
dinner time.

In the kitchen, the chefs are once
again preparing a feast.

Our fellow guests are dressed
to the nines,

the wine is flowing and things
are getting quite jolly.

Even our onboard historian Nicholas
has got his favourite dickie out.

My zebra bowtie is a product
of a visit to a remarkable

little hole in the wall shop in
Dar es Salaam many, many years ago,

which only sells zebra skin
products.

Everything, sandals,
belts, handbags, you name it.

And I found this this bowtie
and, well, I had two choices,

I could buy it as the bowtie, or I
could buy it also

with a little motor that goes
"brrr-rrr-rrr" round and round.

But I decided to just stick
with the bowtie.

As the party rolls on, we'll travel
from Upington to Kimberley,

stopping at the greatest diamond
mine in the world.

From there, our train will go
on to Pretoria,

where we'll pay homage to Nelson
Mandela,

the man who helped found
the Rainbow Nation

South Africa is hoping to become.

In the morning, we are rolling
through an area

that was once a border country

between the British Cape Colony
and the Orange Free State,

an independent state created
by the Boers, the descendants

of mainly Dutch people who arrived
in the 17th century.

And it was here, for good or ill,

that the history of much
of southern Africa was forged

by precious stones,
and the will of one man.

The stones were diamonds,
and the man was Cecil Rhodes.

Diamonds were found a short
distance away from Kimberley

along the river banks in the
1870s... Rather, the late 1860s.

And then in 1871, someone
found them on a little hill.

And from that little hill,
it's been excavated out

to form the Big Hole.

The Big Hole, as it was
called,

was once one of the largest
diamond mines in the world,

controlled by Cecil Rhodes
and his company, De Beers Mining.

Now a museum, David is a guide.

Now, in the beginning, this whole
place was a farm called Vooruitzigt.

The farm was owned by two brothers,
Diederik and Johannes De Beers.

They bought the farm in the year
1860 from the government at the time

for only £50.

At that time, the land around here
was of little value

and Kimberley was part of the
Orange Free State.

But then diamonds were discovered

and the British moved in.

Now, on the 16th of July, 1871,

over 40,000 miners came here.

With pick and shovel only, they dug
by hand up until 240 metres.

Arguably the biggest hand-dug
hole in the world,

the mine started out as small claims
of about 30 square feet,

each dug by one or two miners.

The upper level was called yellow
grounds, didn't have much diamonds.

So later on in the year 1892,
they introduced the headgear.

OK, it's the solo construction with
the wheel on top.

The headgear dug deeper,
1,097 metres.

Out of the Big Hole,

they took about 14.5 million carats
of diamonds.

That's a lot.

Conditions in the early
days were tough.

Can you see that small shack
down there?

All right. Looks like a dog kennel.

OK. All over here were small
shakes and tents belonging

to the miners, their accommodation.

Now, you can imagine in the winter,
the heat, heavy rain,

how it was in a small shack.

Now, the machine there next
to it,

that is the diamond sorting
machine.

What happened, there in the middle,
there's a surf.

They would take a bucket
full of sand

then they will pour it,
the sand will fall through,

but then will get caught on the
surf.

The mine was so productive
that it flooded the market,

causing the price to drop

and bankrupting many of the smaller
miners.

Eventually, the entire operation
was under the control

of a small clique of extremely rich
men,

who gathered in this building,

the Kimberley Club.

There were more millionaires
per square foot anywhere else

in the world under the roof
of Kimberley Club.

All the diamond magnates.

Diamonds were a very quick way of
making money in those days.

You dug up your diamonds.
You could sell it immediately.

Perhaps the most influential
of the diamond magnates

was Cecil Rhodes, who at the age
of 35,

controlled almost
the entire diamond market.

But that was only the beginning
of his ambitions.

This veranda at Kimberley Club
is very historic.

A lot of influential people met
here and had discussions

that essentially led to the carving
up of Africa.

Cecil John Rhodes himself wanted to
colonise everything up

as he went north.

That he wanted to take over
Africa,

owning as much of its
mineral wealth as he could,

is perhaps shocking enough,

but what is worse was his contention
that the white race was superior

and through that was justified
in stripping the indigenous

population of their lands
and their rights.

The history is very painful,

but it's a history that needs
to be told.

Yes, Mr Rhodes,

from his side,
he was an imperialist.

What he found here, in Africa,

he said it belonged to his people.

So from our side, in Africa,
we suffered.

All right, so from our side,
his history is a bit better for us.

Returning to our train, we leave
Kimberley on railway tracks

that exist because of Rhodes' dream.

This is a section of his
Cape to Cairo fantasy,

a railway line he'd hoped would run
the entire length of the continent

from Cape Town north to Cairo,

on territory that he hoped
would belong to the British Empire.

A bittersweet reminder
of the follies of empire

and the suffering it ultimately
brought to the peoples

of southern Africa.

But as our train rolls on,
we are heading to Pretoria,

where we will visit the statue of a
man who hoped to heal that pain.

To me, being part of a project
like this opened up a new way

of thinking because it opened
up the history of South Africa.

It showed me a part of the history
that I did not know about.

The sun is now setting
on this incredible journey

across southern Africa.

The wine still flows

and the kitchens are preparing yet
another feast

as we head
into our last African night.

In the morning, now pulled by two
Class 18E electric locomotives,

our train is rolling through
greener lands.

This section of the line runs almost
1,000 miles

from Cape Town up to Pretoria,

our final stop.

Between the wars, it was the route
of the luxury Union Express train,

an era our carriages were part of.

And as we arrive at Rovos Rail's
own platforms

in the Pretoria suburb
of Capital Park,

it's as if that era lives
on,

as it's here that engineers like Joe

bring the wonderful carriages we've
travelled in back to life.

This is a 1924 dining car
originally,

and it was a 44 seater dining car.

We converted
it into an observation car.

We took that wall,

we put it in so that it can
have an open air balcony.

Whilst Rovos Rail celebrates
all that is good about the past,

South Africa has changed
beyond recognition.

A change personified by the giant
statue of Nelson Mandela,

or Madiba, as he is often called,
in front of the Union Buildings

just a few miles away.

Right from the start, its sculptors,
Andre and Ruhan,

wanted to
replace division with inclusion.

So, we were thinking if you repeat
the form of the building

with the arms, it creates
a repetition

and repetition creates rhythm, and
it makes the whole feeling,

if you look at it, it creates
a calmness.

Commissioned as Mandela's health
declined,

the team had to work
against the clock.

They told us we had six
months, less than six months

in which to do this.

Now, normally we would do a statue
like this in 18 months to 2 years,

but we had six months
in which to do this.

The key to the statue's power
radiates in those features

the team really focused on.

The smiling face. I mean, he had,
you know...

His whole demeanour had to be one
that was friendly.

Unselfishness.

And you can't...
There's no anger, no hate.

Yeah, that's amazing.

He was a true, you know...
He was really a person

that really practised
what he preached.

And that was the acceptance of all.

All human life was equal to him.

Sadly, Mandela died before the
statue was finished,

but the pair had an idea that would
help people with their grief -

a way that people could
communicate with Mandela,

even though the man himself
had passed.

I remember with the installation,

we asked the foundry to grind
the tiny slit in his left leg.

And you were able to send all post
letters to him on that day.

The idea was that mourners
could find a way of saying goodbye

in a personal and deeply
private way.

The idea that we wanted to say,
if you've never met Madiba,

or if you wanted to say something
special to him, you write a letter

and you put it in his statue,
in his sculpture.

And in that way, this is
his, you know... It's not for us.

It's not for this life.

It's for the afterlife that
these letters are intended,

and for the idea of what Madiba
stood for.

Standing beneath the statue, Andre
is reminded of how it helped him

to understand Mandela and South
Africa,

which had a profound
effect upon him.

For me, being part of a project
like this opened up a new way

of thinking because it opened
up the history of South Africa.

It showed me a part of the history
that I did not know,

that was hidden from us
for such a long time.

For me, it makes me understand
where I come from.

And with that thought, it's time
to look back

on where we have come from.

An incredible 1,500 mile journey
from the wilds of the Namib desert,

where we spent time with the people
who have made it their home

for millennia, and with animals,
for even longer.

And on through the lush oasis
of the Orange River

to the diamond fields of Kimberly

that did so much to
create South Africa

during the days of Empire.

And finally, we have arrived
in Pretoria,

where the sun has to set on this
most scenic of railway journeys.