Author Archives: Len

This one is for fellow train nerds. The photo at left shows the covering between the cars on the Blue Train, which makes it possible for there to be no breaks in the hallways of the train inside. It’s a … Continue reading →

I will in all likelihood be dozing my way to the Blue Train’s destination today.  This is ironic, because one of my most reliable methods for falling asleep in a normal bed is to imagine a train suite nearly identical … Continue reading →

3:52 p.m., aboard the Blue Train near Geelbek, South Africa I noticed something odd the first time I left Suite 22 to explore the train. When I looked down the hallway, it seemed to go forever.  I realized this is … Continue reading →

My long-anticipated trip on the Blue Train has begun. We pulled out of the Cape Town station at 8:52 a.m., bound for an arrival tomorrow at 12:50 p.m. in Pretoria. I am in Suite 22, a room which precisely matches … Continue reading →

These are two more photos from our tour of the Robben Island prison two days ago, one showing the concertina wire atop the walls and another, taken from the courtyard of F Section, looking out through a doorway to the … Continue reading →

Robben Island turns out to have much more to it than a single famous prison cell.  We found this out yesterday afternoon, when Darlene and I took a ferry carrying about 300 visitors to the island, where we were met … Continue reading →

…the cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your own mind and feelings. In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one’s … Continue reading →

Cape Town is proud of its stunning natural wonder, Table Mountain, and everywhere you look when you take the rotating cable car to the top, you find amazing views — AND requests to help place the site in the final … Continue reading →

An ordinary tour leader would have taken a straight shot on the N2 from St. Lucia Estuary to Durban’s King Shaka International Airport for our two-hour flight last night to Cape Town. But thanks to Gate1, we are in the … Continue reading →