Premier Classe Train - JHB to CPT

December Journey

Before we knew it, we were back in SA and on the Premier Classe train to Capetown. We love traveling on this train. It's a really good way to chill and relax. I would highly recommend it - a comfy bed, good food and well priced SA wines. You can rest or catch up on emails - the internet comes and goes - and the views out if the window through the Free State and the Karoo are great. The only problem is it often runs late and sometimes very late...This time we chose the minibus option from Worcester, because we had a rental car to pick up. I would suggest keeping your plans for day 1 in Capetown loose.

January Journey

Once again we drove to Park Station and dropped off our rental car, which is easy and safe. Otherwise, I would suggest using Uber. 

Premier Classe has a secure lounge in the station concourse. And we were back on the train to Cape town. This time with Rina and Menon, Hanli and Andrew. You can consume your own drinks in your cabin, so rounds of GnTs got us going.

After lunch, we were told the train was running late, but that we would be getting a new locomotive in Kimberly. We just enjoyed more wine and a nap. Dinner came and went and we lost track of where we were or how delayed the train was. We slept so well. By breakfast though, it was clear that the train was way behind schedule and we were offered a coach ride from Beaufort West to Capetown or the option of staying on the train another night. Most people in our half of the train opted to stay, as long as wine was available and meals would be served.

This involved a lot of calling ahead to change arrangements with hotels, car rental companies and friends. But everyone remained pretty relaxed. When the kitchen staff downed tools due to non-payment of overtime, I rallied a few troops with a plan to order take -out pizzas and have them delivered to the Beaufort West station. Luckily, the "strike" was quickly averted and meal service re- commensed. We all clapped and cheered when we reached Beaufort West.

We watched the other passengers schlepping off to the bus for a six hour drive to Capetown but we just cracked open another bottle of wine. The comeraderie in our dining car was festive and we met passengers from Brazil, Holland, Guyana and the UK. I don't know if we got another locomotive there or not, but we made it to Maatjiesfontein by dusk.

After dinner, we settled in for the second night.

Somewhere on the outskirts of Capetown, the train pulled into a siding for a few hours, the plan being getting us into the station and all off the train by 7am.

It's hard to explain how so much inconvenience can actually be that enjoyable! It certainly was an African adventure. We will definitely do it again, with flexible arrival plans in place.

Come on PRASA, get your house in order. Fix this before your reputation is ruined for good. The Premier Classe Train to Capetown is a real gem of a train journey for tourists! We have done overnight train journeys in Australia, the US, Europe and SE Asia and we still highly recommend this journey for value for money, comfort and enjoyment.

If punctuality is your only concern, take a flight!

November in Phuket

Yay! We were back again for a month! 

Same same, but different! 

Patong  Loft Condominiums, 408 instead of 407. Motorbikes from Alen as usual.

Our party mates all had a great time! We hope you will be back again!

Eric and Oliver

Nick and Kerry

Rina and Menon

Scott and Jody

Nikki and Ranj

Claire and Grahame

Our beaches

*Koh Rang Yai remains a favourite.

*Iguana Beach was partially destroyed by floods in October. They've rebuilt but there's a lots of rocks and rubble on their little beach. Still relaxing and friendly.

*We've added Phuket Brasserie at Ai Yon Beach as a favourite day out. Chilled wine and good food at the beach side location.

Our jolls

*Ka Jok See - as always.

*Moody's - we love you.

*Solo Mio - last real beach bar left in Patong. Areas around this little haven are all boarded up but no new development has started. We hope you survive the development onslaught! You've been our "local" for 10 years.

*Sea Salt

*Sky Lounge at The Kee

We spent more time in *Phuket Town and are really enjoying discovering new places there like Titanium, Bee Bop and Campus Coffee.

Mozambique: Bilene, Maputo, Santa Maria,Ponto do Ouro

Bilene

Our next stop was Bilene. Most resorts are dotted around the huge lagoon. The mouth is not always open to the ocean but you can access the sea over the dunes on a bad 4x4 track. We stayed at Villa n Banga in safari tents and there's a restaurant. Despite the rude owners I would recommend it. It's a bit off the route but worth it for your stop over.

Maputo

From Bilene we drove to Maputo. We treated ourselves to a night at the Polana Hotel. We had lunch on the balcony and spent the afternoon lazing by the pool and catching a few hours of comfy air-conditioned rest. 

A drive by sightseeing tour of the city is all you need. The city beaches are not great.  I recommend sunset drinks at Dhow Cafe. We ate dinner at a nice garden restaurant called Botanica. 

The massive new bridge over to Catemba is almost complete. On the south side it links to a brand new tar road all the way to the Kosi Bay border. 100kms and 1 hour away from Ponta Do Ouro. 

Santa Maria and the Maputo Special Reserve

The old ferry crossing is slow and chaotic so we chose to drive out to Boane to cross the river, heading to Bella Vista. Here we entered the Maputo Special Reserve on the Manculo Pennisula. It's a beautiful coastal national park with amazing birdlife.  We saw the elephants as well  as a few other animals.The road is strictly 4x4, mostly through thick sand and it takes about 4 hours to drive 70kms up to Santa Maria Beach on the Northern tip of the Pennisula. Here there is just a narrow channel over to Inhaca.

This is another piece of paradise. The remote location has kept  it relatively quiet and untouched. Just beaches, fishing and diving. We stayed in a wonderful open beach house in Nhonguane Lodge. 

There's also a sunset beach bar with a pool for residents.They have 6 lodges of various sizes on the property. There are other lodges and houses available for rent too. Bemugi's has a restaurant and an activity centre. With a sport's bar for rugby games on TV. The tidal variation is very marked in the bay so our Dhow trip had to be arranged around high tide. You can see the skyline of Maputo across the bay on a clear day. If you're not driving in, you can charter a speed boat for the hour long ride from Maputo. We spent 3 nights but next time we will stay at least 5 days.

Ponta Do Ouro

We stayed a few nights at the cool GalaGala Ecologde. It's got a nice relaxed feel but it's not at the beach. We found Ponta do Ouro so overdeveloped since our last visits in the late 90s. And sadly, not in a good way. There's hardly any public access to the beach and no decent parking. The place has sprouted in all directions with no planning and we couldn't find great restaurants or beach bars like you find in Tofo. Ponto de Melangane looked like it's gone the same way. I am sure the diving is still good here and if you have a house with beach access it would be fine.

Mozambique - Tofo Beach, Xai Xai

Hands down the best beaches in the world. Overall. The coastline is nearly 3000km long. The Indian Ocean is warm. The weather is mostly hot. The marine life is awesome. The beaches are cleaner than most in the world and not overcrowded.

We crossed into Moz from Kruger at the Giriyondo Border Post. It was quiet and the process was simple. The road through the Mozambican Trans Limpopo Reserve is greatly improved but 4x4 is still required. This area of Mozambique is dry and the villagers are very poor.

Xai Xai

Our overnight stop was in Xai Xai.  Praia do Xai Xai is not recommended. Run down and depressing with no happy beach vibe and a few dreary looking bars none of which were even open. We stayed in a nice villa in the Eco Estate but I think a far better overnight stop is Belene. ( See later blog) The beach is nevertheless beautiful.

Tofo Beach

It's a pleasant half day drive up to Inhambane and Tofo Beach the next day. You can get fresh veggies at many roadside stalls but the best selection is at the Mercado Central in Inhambane. There are much better grocery stores at Babalaza just outside Tofo. Yum Yum or Go Fresh. There is a new butchery in the Go Fresh complex called Toro de Carne. She also sells frozen LM prawns which we recommend over the offerings from the local guys, which weren't that fresh. The garage has ATMs where you can easily draw Meticals but SA Rands are accepted everywhere albeit at a less favourable rate.

Tofo Beach is heaven on earth. Not at all busy in October and November. The town centre has a great vibe with a good choice of  bars and restaurants. We stayed in Tofinho, the beach just south of the main bay. Thanks to Daryn and Lou who are always so happy to let us stay at their house. Most places in Tofo have their quirks and we think Casa Lou is one of the nicest houses in town. I suggest Airbnb to find houses and make sure it's an easy walk ( not more than 2 minutes ) to the beach. You don't want to have to get in the car all the time.

The newish Hotel Tofo Mar is well located. Turtle Cove is chilled but too far out. 

The highlight in Tofo is Scuba Diving and I would recommend Diversity Scuba. With wonderful unspoilt reefs and the chance  to dive with  Giant Manta  Rays. We did an Ocean Safari with Peri Peri Divers and if you can handle the beach launch and rubber duck trip on the swell, swimming with a whaleshark will be one of the best things you ever do. I just jumped into the deep blue ocean and he was right there. I followed him for a few minutes until he swam down but he was back up and swimming right under the boat again. By the third jump into the sea lots of other boats and divers had arrived and we were pretty tired.

We can also recommend attending the evening talks by the Mega Marine Fauna Organisation.

Facing East, you need to be up early to see the sunrise over the ocean but there are plenty of places to watch the sunset over the palm fringed wetlands. I recommend Tofo Tofo. You must have at least 1 RnR when you visit the beaches of southern Moz. Rum and Rasberry. Local Tipo Tinto and red Sparletta that stains your lips and tongue bright pink.

 Head a few Kms north on the sand road to Mango Beach with a view of the ocean and the sunset from the top of the dune. Great cocktails and good food too. They also have chalets if you fancy being out of the bustle of Tofo.

For dinner we had a great meal at Casa de Comer. The best place by far at the moment is the Japanese restaurant Sumi. They also do live music on Saturday nights.

We had to say a sad good-bye to half our group but we stayed for 7 nights. That's the way to enjoy beach life. We took a trip up to Barra which was another dissapointment. Many lodges are in ruins. Palm Grove is open and the beach is beautiful there.