Good Morning Laird,

I wish you a very happy birthday for tomorrow (Saturday). May everyone you know spoil you.

I shall sip a glass of bubbly to your health.

Kind thoughts

Kate

Hi Kenny and thank you ever so much for the birthday wish, it is lovely to know that you remembered.

Hallo Judex, yes I have not been blogging as much as previously. I am kept frantically busy designing web pages and brochures, and in between all that I passed another cheffy examination with distinction. Yay for Me!

Hello Jason, I have not viewed your blog lately but it is good to know that you are making it chattier. I will endeavour to get round to your page at some point.

And now I’m preparing for another trip on the Rovos rail which is touted to be one of the most luxurious trains in the world. I travelled on Rovos previously; enjoying the Vic Falls trip and somewhere in between the Rovos air plane voyage which purpose was to transport embarking rail passengers to a location where we would meet up with the Rovos train to complete our trip back to the Cape.

It was an adventure of note! Not only did the plane’s one engine burst into flames as we were getting ready to take off, but once the engine problem was resolved and we were cleared to fly, we were informed that the air-conditioning had failed. It was a blistering hot day; we consequently had to endure 40C degrees and counting, cabin temperature.

The flight attendants tried their best to make a bad situation as comfortable as possible, dishing out ice soaked cloths to ‘wear’ around our necks to try and help us to keep cool, until such time as the ice too was depleted. Needles to say it was more than just the aircrafts temperature that soared that day. Some of the passengers did not handle the stressful situation very well, exacerbated by the lack of communication from the pilot. The language as well as the conduct of a few of the passengers became volatile and heated to say the least.

And here I am once again preparing to set off on another Rovos Rail excursion, a nice little birthday treat. Regardless of the problems of the air travel component, the previous trip was I have to say a memorable one.

Prior to the Rovos rail trip I also enjoyed the experience and ambiance of the Blue Train and would highly recommend that if you are into luxury train travel, that you try them both for they are quite different.