12 DAYS • 3800km

This journey takes the train from the savannahs of the Highveld to the Atlantic in the west. Departing from Pretoria, the first stop is Kimberley, centre of one of the world’s famous diamond rushes where there is an opportunity to savour the 1870s atmosphere of the mining village. The train traverses the stark vistas of the Northern Cape to the Fish River Canyon – second in size to the Grand Canyon – and Garas Park with its quiver-tree forest. Guests continue across the untamed beauty of the Kalahari Desert to Namibia’s capital for a tour; Windhoek is a lively, cosmopolitan city with a strong German flavour. Then it’s a short flight to Sossusvlei, a stunning pan in the Namib Desert, for an overnight stay followed by a night in the game-rich Etosha National Park. On the last morning, the train travels the Namib to the perfectly preserved 19th-century German Hansa town of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay – an unforgettable end to a remarkable journey. Available in reverse.

From 2025, the Namibia Safari will be 11 nights/12 days.

Day 1: Pretoria

11h00  Depart from Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria. Travel south via the goldfields of the Witwatersrand. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travellers in the lounge car or observation car at the rear of the train.
13h00  Lunch is served in the dining cars.
16h30  Tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal

Please ensure that the Train Manager or Administration Deputy is in possession of your passport.

Day 2: Kimberley

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars.
09h45  Enjoy a tour of Kimberley’s Diamond Mine Museum and the Big Hole. Capital of the Northern Cape, Kimberley is well known for the discovery of diamonds that led to its establishment in 1871.
13h00  Lunch is served in the dining cars. The observation car will be leading the train until after tea. Travel through the Karoo, a vast semi-desert region that was once an enormous inland sea. Over millions of years, volcanic matter
was ground down and deposited as silt upon the seabed to form what geologists call the Karoo system.
16h30  Tea is served in the lounge car and observation car at the front of the train.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to De Aar, an important railway junction. Dress: Formal

Day 3: Upington & Orange River

BORDER: NAKOP, SOUTH AFRICA / ARIAMSVLEI, NAMIBIA

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
13h00  Lunch is served in the dining cars. Enjoy a walking tour of Upington with a sundowner cruise on the Orange River.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. Border formalities take place. Dress: “Africa” Theme or Smart Casual

Attorney General of the Cape, Sir Thomas Upington was principally responsible for liquidating the business activities of all the Orange River pirates and capturing their leader, Klaas Lucas. When the desperadoes were finally chased away in 1884, the town was founded on the banks of the Orange River and named in his honour.

Day 4: Fish River Canyon 

Please wear comfortable non-slip walking shoes for the excursions today.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
12h30  Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train travels along the southern reaches of the Kalahari Basin.
14h00  Transfer (±60 min) to the Fish River Canyon.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal

The Fish River rises in the centre of the country before flowing south into the Orange River on Namibia’s border with South Africa. It has formed the great Fish River Canyon – the largest canyon in the southern hemisphere
and probably only second to Arizona’s Grand Canyon in terms of size. The vast rocky landscape breaks up into a series of spectacular cliffs. Its size is impressive: 161km long, up to 27km wide and almost 550m at its deepest

Day 5: Kolmanskop & Luderitz

06h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure.
08h00 Transfer (±60 min) to the ghost town of Kolmanskop followed by lunch in Lüderitz. Lüderitz is known for its museum, colonial architecture and wildlife including seals, penguins, flamingos and ostriches. Look out for the illusive legendary horses rumoured to roam the Namib.
18h00  Return to the train. Depart for Keetmanshoop. The observation car will be leading the train until after dinner.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal

Day 6: Keetmanshoop & Garas Park

07h00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure. Visit Keetmanshoop and Garas Park (Quiver Trees), home to roughly 300 specimens of the Aloe dichotomy. The prehistoric trees have forked branches that reach up to 5m making for great photographic opportunities.
13h00 Lunch is served in the dining cars bh. Depart for Mariental.
16h30 Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Rehoboth. Dress: Formal

Day 7: Sossusvlei

Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay in Sossusvlei. Tog bags have been placed in your suite for your convenience.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Transfer to the airstrip. Depart in a light aircraft for a one-hour flight to a Sossusvlei lodge for overnight. After check-in, enjoy lunch and an afternoon at leisure.
16h30  Afternoon desert drive and a bush dinner after sunset. Overnight at the lodge. Dress: Casual

The dunes of the Namib Desert were created by sand carried by the wind from the coast of Namibia. The sand here is over five million years old and is red in colour due to its iron-oxide content. As the light changes during the day, so does the appearance of the dunes’ characteristic colour allowing for interesting photographs at any time. The wind in the Sossusvlei area blows from all directions causing the sand to form a star shape with multiple arms, hence the name “star dunes”.

Day 8: Sossusvlei & Windhoek

Please ensure your overnight bag is ready to be collected from your suite before the drive. Bags will bestored in the lodge’s baggage area. Time of drive to be confirmed.An early wake-up call with tea and coffee. Enjoy a desert drive with breakfast in the vlei. Return to the lodge to use the facilities, check-out and transfer to the airstrip.

12h30  Depart in a light aircraft for the one-hour flight to Windhoek.
14h00  Lunch at Windhoek Country Club followed by a city tour. Visit the Trans-Namib Transport Museum, the Independence Memorial Museum, the Evangelical Lutheran Church (a striking landmark) and the Namibia Craft Centre in the old Breweries Building.
18h00  Depart for Kranzberg.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal

Situated in Namibia’s central highlands, Windhoek is an attractive city surrounded by clusters of hills and the impressive Auas and Eros Mountains. The Trans-Namib Transport Museum outlines Namibian transport history, particularly that of the railway. The Independence Memorial Museum focuses on the anti-colonial resistance and the national liberation struggle of Namibia.

Day 9: Cheetah Conservation Project

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
12h30  Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train travels along the southern reaches of the Kalahari Basin.
14h00  Transfer (±60 min) to a cheetah conservation project in Otjiwarongo. Founded in Namibia in 1990, the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) is dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal

Day 10: Etosha National Park

Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay in Etosha.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Transfer (±60 min) to an Etosha lodge for overnight. Guests are welcome to use the pool and lodge facilities. Enjoy lunch followed by check-in.
15h00  Afternoon game drive (approximately 3 hours).
19h30  Dinner at the lodge and overnight. Dress: Casual

Etosha National Park (22270km2) offers great game viewing with many species of mammals, birds and reptiles. It gets its name from the Etosha pan (4760km2), which almost entirely lies within the park. Etosha is a large salt pan forming part of the Kalahari basin and means ‘Great White Place’

Day 11: Etosha National Park

Please ensure your overnight bag is ready to be collected from your suite and proceed to checkout by 10:45. Your bag will be loaded into the vehicles. Time of game drive to be confirmed.

06h00 Breakfast at the lodge until 07:00 followed by a game drive in the Etosha National Park. Return to the lodge to freshen up and check-out by 10:45.
11h00  Transfer (±60 min) to the train at Tsumeb Station.
13h00  Lunch is served in the dining cars. The observation car will be leading the train until tomorrow.
16h30  Tea is served in the lounge car and observation car at the front of the train.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels southwest towards the Atlantic Ocean. Dress: “1920s” Theme or Smart Casual

Etosha National Park (22270km2) offers great game viewing with many species of mammals, birds and reptiles. It gets its name from the Etosha pan (4760km2), which almost entirely lies within the park. Etosha is a large salt pan forming part of the Kalahari basin and means ‘Great White Place’

Day 12: Walvis Bay

Please ensure your luggage is ready for collection 15 minutes before arrival and that you have your passport.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Traverse the Namib Desert towards Walvis Bay. 
12h00   Arrive at journey’s end in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

The Namib Desert stretches for more than 2000km along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means “vast place”. Having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for
roughly 55-80 million years, the Namib may be the oldest desert in the world. The geology consists of sand seas near the coast while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland.

Please dress accordingly for game drives: mornings can be cool then warm up considerably; afternoons can be warm then cool down considerably.

Warm clothing, hats, comfortable shoes and sun protection are advised (season dependent). Rain capes are available.

We strongly discourage giving any form of handout to children while travelling. This action may have detrimental consequences to local communities. If you would like to give responsibly, we support many local charities and would be happy to assist.