I have been working on some exciting new ideas and will introduce you all to this in my next blog, but first I thought I would tell you all about the Aloe Steam Train in Creighton, Kwa-Zulu Natal.
You may be thinking where is Creighton….well you very right, its a small town South of Durban. Staying in Hillcrest/Kloof it took us roughly 2 hours to get there.
So aloe season is around June/July and we were lucky enough to catch the last train of the season to check out the flowering of the Aloes.
Get up and get onto the road as soon as you can so that you arrive at the station with time to grab a bacon and egg roll and a cup of hot coffee. Then you board the train, depending on what ticket you bought you are allocated a coach, there is a “A” class coach, then a middle class and i guess a lower class.
Once we got started the views were spectacular, we passed beautiful landscapes, clean clear rivers and then we got to see the Aloe’s who didn’t disappoint they were vibrant in colour by the thousands along the rolling hills.
We enjoyed a sherry whilst catching up with friends and family, and we had a helpful gentleman who gave me useful information about where we were and what rivers we were passing, and finally what town we were stopping at.
Riversend was a quaint little town and the locals welcomed us with song and dance, all the children were dressed up in traditional gear and had some entertainment for us as we waited for the rain to turn around. This is an opportunity for the locals to make some extra money 🙂
I think the highlight for me was when the train stopped and everyone jumped off, the train then backed up and we had an opportunity to stand along side the railway as the train raced by leaving us with the trembling ground underneath our feet, the sound of the engines ringing through our ears and the feel of the soot on our faces and through our hair, what a feeling!!!!
This is a great day out for the family and kids if you don’t mind the drive.
Booking information
The entire trip is 3 hours long, starting at 10am – 1pm
Adults R200.00 – R300.00 dependent on where you sit
Kids R170.00 – R250.00 dependent on where you sit
www.creightonaloefestival.com .
You can prebook lunch at the country club for around R90.00 per person.
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