Day 13, May 29, 2013: It was an interesting night traversing the tracks overnight. I kept myself in the bed at least. I don’t think I would have slept too well if I hadn’t taken a pill. I did awake at some point in the night. I was curious about the sights outside, so I took a look out the window to see if there would be any glowing eyes peering back at me. Not a twinkle was to be seen except for the stars in the sky. My camera couldn’t capture the sharp little shards of light arranged in constellations that were unknown to me. I just make out the undulations of the landscape in the horizon. It was a beautiful sight that I relish for a short while. The pill begins to kick back in and I fall back to bed until early morning. It was clear we were approaching urban life again as I wake up. We pass more townships and small farms. We pause more often now, as we did on our departure from Cape Town. A quick wash in the communal shower at the end of the car (no shave this morning; I’d cut my throat for sure) and then I go to the dining car for my last meal. We start off with mango juice and yogurt followed by a full breakfast of toast, perfectly cooked eggs, ham, grilled tomato, boerewors sausage and mashed potatoes with gravy. Yes, that’s right, mashed and gravy for breakfast. Oliver soon joins me for our last meal together. After a while we say good-bye and wish each other well. I spend a few minutes talking with an older Africaan couple at the next table before I make my way back to my compartment to collect my things and get ready to disembark at 11:00am. Just as I settle in to watch the scenery for the last bit of the trip there is a knock at the door. We are arriving 30 minutes early! I send a frantic text message to my driver, Joseph, who took us on our Johannesburg tour Monday of last week. As a typical South African, he texts back that is no problem; he will be there. After a short wait in the lounge he collects my bags and we’re off to the hotel. Not able to take off his tour guide hat, he gives some tidbits of information of the places we pass on the highway. I settle into my room and attempt to organize my photos and finally get some uploading done. Now that I finally have a reliable internet connection, my camera is acting up. I can’t find the photos from the train trip!!! I walk away in frustration to get some lunch and clear my head before sorting this out. I find a restaurant that seems busy with locals and order an appetizer of deep fried squid heads. This is the first deep fried food I have had since I left the states. It’s a huge portion and good. Thank goodness I didn’t order an entrée. I never would have finished it. I walk around the shops afterwards and begin to feel fatigue coming on. Maybe I didn’t sleep as well as I thought on the train. I go back to hotel for a nap. Several staffers recognize me from my last stay and welcome me back. I’m glad to be staying here. Dinner was a treat. The restaurant called Moyo is very dark. The pictures needed the flash to show up. Before the food arrived a young woman arrived at my table carrying a wooden bowl, a clay pitcher and a towel. She asks me is I would like to wash my hands. After this unusual service my first course arrives. I start with a smoked snoek pate. The French would be appalled. It looked more like tuna salad, but tasted great. I also get a serving of flat bread with dukkah, an Egyptian dipping sauce of spices, herbs and nuts. Their version is served in olive oil. South Africa has a thriving olive business and makes some good oils. I resisted eating all of the snoek and bread to save room for the main dish, a shank of springbok. Two big shanks were braised in an apricot and almond chutney. It was spicy and after finishing half of the second shank I had to quit. The burn was slowly getting to me. I had some almond ice cream afterwards to cool me off. On the way back to the hotel I was feeling the fatigue coming on again. I think this trip might be ending at the right time. I’ve enjoyed this time away, but I have to admit it would be good to be in my own bed again. I've run out of storage space for the pictures, so I'll be looking for another site to host my photos. I'll be sure to share the new link in a later post.