Cape to Cairo — by trains. Travelogue documentary.
Cape to Cairo — by trains. Travelogue documentary.
English subtitles available (click CC).
In 2018, I travelled solo on the classic Cape Town to Cairo route using trains as much as possible. Along the way I interviewed people on each train on subjects ranging from cross-border trade to the historic context of this train route.
As of 2023, post-covid, there are no long-distance passenger trains…
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Beautiful and informative… Thank you
What a wonderful video, that is certainly not a journey for the faint hearted! Well done for sharing the good and the bad, I’m not surprised you got stressed at times. Loved all the facts and information, made it all a very enjoyable 😃
Bru… Depression is caused by, "when you stop moving…" – This is profound to me…. thank you❤❤❤🇿🇦
A train from South Africa to Egypt ?!!!!!! That's impossible
Great video. But it's a pity that one cannot do the whole distance by train these days! Your trip on the Tazara reminds me of the trip that I made on it way back in 1979. Now this was only a few years after the line was opened but already standards were on freefall! We arrived in good time for a 10.30pm departure at Kapiri Mposhi. We were travelling first class and once on board we decided to crash out before departure time. I woke up at 6am next morning to find that we had not moved at all during the night. Hours passed and at last we heard that there had been a derailment some way up the track. Also, food in the buffet car, plus gas, had already run out! Luckily, we had bought bread and a tin of cheese and this was our only food for two days on the train. Now one would normally see food vendors at each station waiting for the arrival of their customers on the train. But since we finally left at 3pm – just 17 hours behind schedule, they had long given up and all the stations en route were eerily quiet. We finally arrived exactly 24 hours late at Dar [we were on the train for a staggering 62 hours!] and I was in serious puking mode! So, mismanagement of Tazara began not long after the trains began operating and the Tazara official you met was quite correct in what he said! But it was an experience!
Thank you Neil. I enjoyed this tour with you. It was very interesting. I look forward for some more of your videos. Take care and be good.
Excellent and true to life experience. Every journey has a story and every story has some journey in it thats what I think. I may be wrong or right but I enjoyed your vlog because it seems bluntly true…
Nice experience tour of Africa.Its always good to explore.
China building anything will wind up being an expensive failure. Corruption will see to it as the money designated for quality materials will be siphoned off leaving only enough money for poor quality materials as happens back in the mainland. Tofu dreg vids tell the story
absolutely fascinating
Very interesting video, u've made it man😊
This is an absolutely incredible documentary.. I hope to adventure through africa by train at least once in my life!
Thanks Neil. Really enjoyed this. Really enjoyed your perspective on this epic journey and your thoughts along the way.
Fascinating video recommended to me by youtube. Thank you for sharing this with us. Based on your now extensive experience, which train connection was your favorite?
Wish i was young and fit enough to do the trip. To.day i would be unable to jump off and onto trains. 😢😢😢
You don’t look like a 100% Englishman, you have got something similar to Russian in your eyes, and which is more, your attitude to local people has more in common with our in country Russian culture than to colonial white sahib’.
So, come on to travel over Russian railway. Preferably in summer time of cause. Planning longer stays in major cities. Such a new documentary would get precious.
I'm very surprised at the routes you chose. Some are almost unknown to me. I knew that the train lines existed, but I didn't know that trains still ran there. I also didn't know that an uninterrupted train journey was possible, after the dream from Cecil Rhodes – "Cape to Cairo".
Very thank you for this journey report.
Why you bring not more from this? You report from this must not be dependent from your time and budget to travel self. Build a network from Youtubers by side to work with you together to bring more. I think you can build a wide following to live your dream, too remute.
I was amazed you made it all the way without getting robbed …great job , nice video production
I only travelled the Cape Town to Jo'burg train route.. Loved your narration and all of the people you met on the way. 😊
Hi Neil, I'm a traveler like you. Thank you for putting this doco together. I liked how you shared stories from the locals, some history and your use of camera angles. Well done.