Experience a day down memory lane, visit the Outeniqua Transport Museum before you travel on South Africa’s only remaining scheduled steam train, the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe
The Choo Tjoe offers its passengers a unique, picturesque and scenic 52-kilometre journey experiencing the Garden Route with spectacular views of the Indian Ocean. The George / Mossel Bay line was officially opened by Sir Pieter Fraure on 25 September 1907 and was operated by the Cape Government Railways (CGR) by the New Cape Central railway (NCCR) until the railway line was completed as far as Oudtshoorn in 1913.
The railway initially traverses mainly agricultural land used for grazing. Two major rivers are crossed. These are the Gwaiing and Malgate rivers. After crossing the Gwaiing River the railway climbs towards the siding of Skimmelkrans. After Skimmelkrans the railway winds its way for 4 kms into the Malgate Valley. The railway crosses the Malgate River high above the river where large roundish holes can be seen in the rock of the riverbed. These holes are the result of floodwater rolling stones over and over in the depressions causing gradual, but noticeable erosion.
From Outeniqua the line begins its descendant to the sea. As the train twists around a large horseshoe bend, the hillsides fall dramatically towards the sea. The first seaside resort to come into view is Glentana.
read more here.....http://www.onlinesources.co.za/chootjoe/
http://steam-locomotives-south-africa.blogspot.com/2009/04/fauresmith-municipality-sar-class-8b.html
The top tourist attractions in South Africa are: - Victoria & Alfred Waterfront: Cape Town
- Table Mountains Cable way: Cape Town
- The Wine Route: Stellenbosch, Paarl, Boland.
- Kirstenbosch Botanic gardens: Cape Town
- The Garden Route: Cape Town to Port Elizabeth
- Ostrich Farms: Oudtshoorn ,Karoo, Western cape
- Kruger National park: Mpulmalanga / Limpopo Province
- Durban Beach Front: Durban City
- Robben Island: From cape Town Water Front
- Cango Caves: Oudtshoorn ,Karoo, western cape
- Blyde River canyon: Mpumalanga Escarpment
- Pretoria: Gauteng
- Drakensberg Resorts: uKhahlamba drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal
- Pilgrims Rest Historic Village: Mpumalanga Escarpment
- KwaZulu-Natal Game Parks: Northern Natal
- Shakaland Cultural Zulu Village: Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal
- Gold reef City: Johannesburg
- Soweto: Gauteng (only guided tours)
- Port Elizabeth: Eastern Cape
- EasternCape Beaches: Eastern Cape
- Eastern cape National Parks: Eastern Cape
- Mpumalanga Private Game Reserve: Mpumalanga
- Sun City resort and Pilanesberg National Park: North west Province
- Namaqualand Wild flower Routes and Parks: Northern Cape
Google and South African Tourism announced the winners of the online and mobile poll, in which South Africans voted for the first tourist attractions to be photographed by the Google Street View Trike.
The top three most popular tourist attractions will get a visit from the Street View trike and car in the coming weeks. The images it collects will be carefully stitched together with the aim for them to be available in Street View on Google Maps, in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The Trikes, which weigh nearly 115kg, is comprised by three bicycle wheels, a mounted Street View camera and a specially decorated box containing image-collecting gadgetry.
The three winners reveal South Africa's passion for the big outdoors: Chapman's Peak and the Cape coastal routes; Kruger National Park; and the Blyde River Canyon. These tourist attractions will be put right on the virtual map, tempting people at home and overseas to explore South Africa's scenery and landmarks in an exciting new way, over the internet.
In addition to the Cape coastal routes, Kruger and the Blyde River Canyon, the voting shortlist of 20 included Tsitsikamma National Park, Simon's Town and Boulders Beach, the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the Franschhoek Winelands, Durban Waterfront, Newlands Cricket Stadium, Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves, Addo Elephant Park, Madiba's House, Hector Pieterson Memorial and other Soweto Highlights; Constitution Hill; St Lucia/iSimangaliso Wetlands; the Big Hole, Kimberley; Cathedral Peak; the Apartheid Museum; Isandlwana, Rorke's Drift and Valley of the Zulu Kings; Golf Course Highlights and the Bloemfontein Houses of Parliament.
