Yesterday, 27 May, I boarded “The Pride of Africa” in Victoria Falls at the train station located next to the colonial style Victoria Falls Hotel. The train is an ensemble of restored and/or reconverted old sleeper coaches, dining room, lounge room, kitchen and open air (covered) observation deck at the back of the train. All in Victorian style, headed by a powerful restored locomotive. From the welcome onboard to life itself on the train, everything is very plush and made to transport us in style and comfort. The only thing the train does not have is WiFi; a choice deliberately made by ROVOS to make sure you do not get disturbed by laptops, tablets or smartphones. It was an unexpected surprise, but I quickly resigned to the idea of ‘going off the grid’. I actually liked the outlook of enjoying 3 days of watching the changing landscapes glide by in the company of different nationalities without any distraction.
I opted for a Pullman suite with an en-suite bathroom, my bedroom for three nights while the train travels the 1,600 km to Pretoria in South Africa. The first night I imagined being softly rocked to sleep by the gentle “kedang-kedang” sound of the train sliding over the rails. It was more a “shake, shake, shake, shake the room” experience. Needless to say I did not sleep much until the train came to a halt at 1 pm at The Hide in the Hwange National Park where we disembarked at 6.30 am for my last game drive on this trip. I actually did not see that much of wildlife, yet the drive will for always stick in my memory because of the glorious scenery. The sun was not quite up yet and there was a mist hanging over the savannah that gave this mystic feel to it. Then slowly the sun appeared, dressed in a veil of mist – it was simply spectacular. An extra bonus was a jackal, my first!, who suddenly popped out of the long grass.
Back on the train we were treated to an excellent brunch and most of the afternoon I used to catch up on some sleep and rest while the train covered one of the world’s longest stretches of straight railway line – 114 km – to then pass Bulawayo, second city of Zimbabwe.
By the time dinner was served I had already grabbed my phone at least 10 times. As much as I like the idea of being off the grid, the habit is way more deeply rooted in me than I thought. Whether it was for a WhatsApp video call to my love, or to look on Google for an answer to a question that popped up in my mind or check Facebook on reactions to my postings, I just felt strangely impaired every time I realised there was no connection. On the plus side, I did not waste any time idly scrolling through meaningless postings that would not have changed my life whether I read them or not. And, cherry on the cake, I did interact way more with the other passengers than I would have if I had access to internet. Face-to-face conversations and discussions are definitely more valuable and enriching than watching clickbait videos.
And so, it is decided: the screen junky needs to go. From now on only functional use of my phone!
p.s.: babe, that means you need to get ready cos you are the one making sure it happens. With me having no backbone and all that…..
