Take a train and discover Simon’s Town

Published May 11, 2015

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Cape Town - Thousands of commuters use Metrorail every day. However, the operator has a special tourist train which is a lot posher than the daily service ones, and there are regular package excursions to Simon’s Town, the Winelands, and one to Khayelitsha, which involves cycling somehow, so I’m never going to do that one.

The Winelands are right up my alley, naturally, but we opted for the train from Cape Town to Simon’s Town.

This trip includes the return train ride, a tour of the submarine docked there, a local restaurant for a light meal with a soft drink, and a visit to the South African Naval Museum, with all transfers between stops.

The train is smart and clean, and even has plug points for charging mobile devices. There is no bar carriage, which I consider an oversight, but you can’t have everything. There is security on board and it’s express all the way.

Metrorail ambassadors flit between carriages to answer any questions you may have. On the day Diva and I went they were Sibusiso (aka Awesome Guy – really, its his Twitter and Instagram handle) and Sifiso Mokewena, 21-year-old twins who began their career with Metrorail as security guards.

How these sweet young men managed to do a job like that is anyone’s guess; they are so bubbly and vivacious and friendly, and whizzes at social media. Before we even saw the sea, we were all following each other on different platforms and photos were being taken and tagged.

Upon arrival in Simon’s Town, we were split up into our groups (numbers on tickets around our necks had been assigned at Cape Town station) and herded into minibus taxis.

The first stop is the harbour, where we were to tour the SAS Assegaai, a Daphne class submarine decommissioned in 2003 but kept on by the SA Navy as a floating museum and technology exhibit.

Whatever you do, do not turn around to try take an arty photo of the navy ship with the seagulls and morning mist as a backdrop.

I got yelled at – very loudly – by retired Rear Admiral Arné Söderlund because this is a proper working naval harbour and, well, it’s simply not permitted. This is not a joke; the word “detention” was bandied about far too easily.

The submarine tour was fascinating. Tips: don’t wear a skirt (there is a ladder down a narrow hatch, think about it) but do wear flat shoes.

Handbags will most likely have to be left topside, and if you’re claustrophobic it’s best to know that beforehand. To call the quarters confined is an understatement. Söderlund took us to the front of the boat where the torpedoes were stored, and where there is accommodation in tiny bunks, which were used in shifts.

In her day, when she was still called SAS Johanna van der Merwe, and in service, the sub carried six officers and 45 crew members, on missions lasting as long as six weeks. They came on board with everything packed in a bag more or less the same as the one I carry every day.

It boggles the mind when you consider factors like washing (a bucket of condensate – basically sweat and breath – was a special treat), wearing the same clothes, and cooking in a galley about the size of this newspaper page.

I’m just grateful about half our group were small children because navigating that narrow corridor from fore to aft was a bit of a tight squeeze.

Söderlund is a jolly tour guide (when he’s not shouting at you), and of course highly knowledgeable, full of interesting facts and figures.

With everything in a straight line, you miss nothing of what life deep under the ocean must have been like, from the officer’s quarters to the control centre and periscope. The only place we didn’t visit was the bridge.

After the submarine, the tour group is ferried off for lunch and then an optional visit to the SA Naval Museum proper.

It’s all included in the package, but Diva and I broke away to do some exploring of our own, because we’re rebels like that, and rejoined the others for the train ride back.

The next Metrorail tourist train trip to Simon’s Town is next Saturday, departing Cape Town at 9am.

The cost is R250 for adults (full package – transport, shuttle service, submarine and lunch), R120 for children 5-12 years, and R180/R70 for just the train and shuttle into town respectively.

l To book, call 021 449 2366/3018/3607, e-mail [email protected], or go to www.capemetrorail.co.za (click through to customer information/rail tourism route for more information about the different tours

For more information on SAS Assegaai, go to www.navy.mil.za/museum_submarine/, call 021 786 5243, or e-mail [email protected]

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