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A
Golden Legacy
Legend has it that Paul Kruger, former president of
the Transvaal Republic, buried his millions in the
Selati region. For more than a century gold diggers
have been scouring the area for the elusive Kruger
Millions. The origin of this section of railroad,
that ran from Komatipoort to Tzaneen, is steeped in
rumours of gold on the banks of the Selati River.
The name Selati came from the female chief of the
Tebulapeople whose name was Shalati.
Excitement over the possibilities of wealth grew so
strong, that it caused one of the biggest railway
scandals when Baron Oppenheim and his brother
floated the Selati Railway Company in Brussels to
build the line from Komatipoort to the "new
Transvaal gold field".
The two brothers didn't wait to find out how the
gold fields were delivering and went ahead with
laying 80 kilometres of track right to Skukuza where
the train stands today. When the gold didn't show,
the company went bankrupt and the development was
halted halfway through the construction of the Sabie
Bridge. Tools were picked up only 15 years later
when the the line was completed by the Transvaal
government.
Accessibility made a huge difference to this area
which was previously regarded as "the back of
beyond". Around 1973, after the origin of Kruger
National Park, the railway line was used for the
last time as it was felt that it disturbed the
park's characteristic atmosphere of peace and quiet.
So the Grand Old Lady made her last stop in Skukuza,
and waits there for many a traveller to come and
blow off steam at her station.
Mainline Food
When the Compass Group, managed by Mr Monwabisi
Kalawe, took over management of the Selati Train
Restaurant in 2005, the menu had not changed much
from when the place opened. Compass Group is part of
a globalconglomerate with more than 388 thousand
staff in 57 countries. "The facilities were also in
dire need of refurbishment,"said general manager for
Compass Game Parks Services, Wesam Wehbe. Wesam set
about upgrading the Selati Restaurant and wasn't
planning to cut any corners in doing so. "We started
to conduct a series of surveys in and outside the
park to determine what clients wanted." Wesam also
thought that the restaurant lacked expertise, and
hired acclaimed chef Terry Sue. She has worked in
some of the most prestigious eateries in London,
Italy and Johannesburg. And after having a taste of
what she can cook up, I will personally vouch for
her skill.
The menu was next on Wesam’s to-do list, and after
carefully considering the findings of the survey and
consulting four engineers, food experts, and more
experts, the menu was laid down.
“South Africa is so multi-cultural,” says Wesam
adding, “we have a lot of foreign visitors too, so
it was important to have as much variety as
possible.” And variety there is, aplenty. Never
before have I seen a menu that offers matured
T-bone, venison, burgers, seafood, curry dishes,
crocodile and pizza! Truly a mouthful!
“A lot of thought and theory went into not only the
items on the menu, but also its design and the
layout of the kitchen, to suit the dishes we serve,”
says Wesam.
As far as revamping the premises goes, he describes
it as a challenging process since the train and the
station are both KNP heritage sites. Therefore the
normal approach “of out with the old and in with the
new” didn’t apply, and renovating entailed precision
refurbishment and restoration.
All of this has, however, paid off and the Selati
Train Restaurant truly does justice to its colourful
and historic heritage.
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