9/10 DAYS • 3400km

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 2022, the Namibia Safari will be 9 nights/10 days including a visit to a cheetah conservation project. See itineraries for details.

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

BORDER: NAKOP, SOUTH AFRICA / ARIAMSVLEI, NAMIBIA

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
09h00  Disembark the train for an optional two-hour walking tour of Upington.
13h00   Lunch is served in the dining cars. Border formalities with Namibia.
16h30   Tea is served in the lounge car and observation car at the rear of the train.
19h30   Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Holoog. Dress: Formal

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 & Garas Park

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

06h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure.
08h00  Board vehicles for the one-hour drive to the Fish River Canyon. Return to the train at 11:00.
13h00   Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train travels along the southern reaches of the Kalahari Basin.
15h00   Visit 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.
16h30   Tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.
19h30   Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels north through the Kalahari to Mariental. 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: Sossusvlei

Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay in Sossusvlei. Tog bags have been placed in your suite for your convenience. See under costs for inclusions/exclusions.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
10h30  Transfer to the airstrip. Depart in a light aircraft for a one-hour flight to Sossusvlei.
12h00   After check-in, enjoy lunch at the restaurant.
16h30   Afternoon desert drive and a bush dinner after sunset. Overnight at the lodge. Dress: Casual

The dunes of the Namib were created by sand carried by the wind from the coast. The sand here is over 5-million years old and is red 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 6: Sossusvlei & Windhoek

Please ensure your overnight bag is ready to be collected from your suite before the drive. Time of drive to be confirmed. Bags will be stored in the lodge’s baggage area before being loaded into the aircraft.

An early wake-up call with tea and coffee. Enjoy a desert drive with breakfast in the vlei.
11h00  Return to the lodge to use the facilities, check-out and transfer to the airstrip.
12h00  Depart in a light aircraft for the one-hour flight to Windhoek. Enjoy lunch and visit the Transport Museum.
18h00  Depart Windhoek.
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Kranzberg for overnight. 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 7: Cheetah Conservation Project

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
12h30  Lunch is served in the dining cars.
14h00  Visit 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. TIME MIGHT BE EARLIER
19h30  Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Otavi. Dress: Formal

Day 8:  Etosha National Park

Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay in Etosha. See under costs for inclusions/exclusions.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
10h30  Transfer (120 min) to Mokuti Lodge in Etosha National Park. Check-in and enjoy lunch.
15h00  Afternoon game drive (approximately 3 hours).
19h30  Dinner at the lodge and overnight. Dress: Casual

Etosha National Park (22270km2) offers great game viewing. It gets its name from the Etosha pan (4760km2), a large salt pan forming part of the Kalahari Basin. Etosha means ‘Great White Place’.

Day 9: 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.

An early wake-up call with tea and coffee. Enjoy a game drive in the Etosha National Park.
09h45  Return to the lodge for breakfast and check-out.
11h00  Meet in the foyer to check out and transfer (60 min) to the train at Tsumeb Station.
13h00  Lunch is served in the dining cars.
16h30  Tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.
19h30  Dinner is served. The train travels southwest towards the Atlantic Ocean. Dress: “Africa” Theme or Smart Casual

Day 10: Walvis Bay

Please ensure your luggage is ready for collection at 11:45 and that you have passport.

07h00  Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Traverse the Namib Desert towards Walvis Bay. The observation car will be at the front of the train for last stretch – a different aspect that our rail enthusiasts enjoy.
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.