Pride of AFRICA

South Africa's Rovos Rail has earned an enviable reputation as one of the finest ways to enjoy its diverse landscapes

- JEANNINE WILLIAMSON

Ushered into the huge vault by security, I gaze in awe at the dazzling exhibits on display. As our guide begins his talk, it’s hard to believe this all began when 15-year-old Erasmus Jacob picked up an innocuous-looking ‘pebble’ beside the banks of the Orange River in 1866.

Passed through the hands of several curious people, the stone was finally sent by post in an ordinary envelope to a mineralogist, who identified it as a diamond – the first discovered in South Africa. The exhibition we’re visiting is the glittering centrepiece of the old Kimberley mining town. It contains 3,500 diamonds plus replicas of the original Eureka, as it later became known after being found by the teenager, and 616, the world’s largest uncut eight-sided stone so-called after the number of carats it weighs.

All aboard

It’s just one part of our fascinating tour from Johannesburg to Cape Town, where the mode of transport is equally as amazing as the sights we see en route.

On the Pride of Africa the scene was set even before we pulled out of Pretoria, where our rail journey began earlier in the week. The once derelict station is now privately owned by train operator Rovos Rail, and founder Rohan Vos was there to meet us.

He showed us around the sheds, where his lovingly restored collection of old carriages, purchased in various stages of disrepair from around the world, now comprise one of the world’s largest private collections of vintage rolling stock.