Rovos Rail Southern Africa

Elegantly appointed Rovos Rail luxury adventure throughout Southern Africa.

Vacationtechnician personalized luxury adventure travel transports you to the most exquisite wilderness and chill out retreats on Earth. Conserving rare biodiversity through low volume tourism; our aim is your indulgence -at no one's expense. Plan now to be assured a rejuvenating escape at a restful pace -to an unspoilt gem in the purest sense.

STEP ABOARD THE PRIDE OF AFRICA -THE WORLD'S MOST LUXURIOUS TRAIN - BEGIN A JOURNEY TO SOUTHERN AFRICA'S MOST SPECTACULAR DESTINATIONS

Since its establishment more than 10 years ago, Rovos Rail has earned an international reputation for its truly world-class travel experiences. Step aboard the wood-panelled coaches - classics remodelled and refurbished to mint condition - and enjoy fine cuisine in five-star luxury as some of the most varied scenery imaginable unfolds beyond the windows. Recapture the romance and atmosphere of a by-gone era, when privileged travellers experienced the magic and mystery of Africa in a relaxed and elegant fashion.

In a series of journeys lasting from 24 hours to a fortnight, the Pride of Africa links some of Africa's greatest destinations from Cape Town at the tip of Africa to Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania, from scenic splendours as diverse as the game reserves of Mpumalanga to the Victoria Falls, from the desert landscapes of Namibia and the stark beauty of the Karoo to the lush canefields of KwaZulu-Natal and the magnificent Garden Route along the Cape South Coast.

The new headquarters and the heart of this superb private railway company is the historic and newly built Capital park Station and Locomotive yard which is situated on the outskirts of Pretoria.

South Africa’s Great Rail Journey
Aboard Rovos Rail

Program Rates Per Person:
Double Occupancy: $8,490 - $9,390
Single Occupancy: $10,490

Join us for a spectacular rail journey through a land of breathtaking beauty, rich cultural heritage and abundant wildlife. Sweeping vistas evoke the romance of Isak Dinesen as we cross the southern expanse of the African continent. Only train travel provides a unique cadence by which to discover the powerful landscapes synonymous with Africa. Sure to enthrall train enthusiasts, Rovos Rail recreates the golden age of rail travel—unsurpassed service, plush armchairs affording unobstructed views in the glass-paneled observation car, private compartments featuring Edwardian furnishings and fine wood paneling and romantic dinners in an elegant, vintage dining carriage. Each historic coach has been individually selected and meticulously restored to its original splendor. Our program begins in Cape Town, cradled at the base of Table Mountain and offering one of the most dramatic settings in the world. We explore the highlights of the city, the unique plant life of the Cape Peninsula and the vineyards and historic architecture of Stellenbosch in the company of expert local historians and naturalists. From Cape Town, we board Rovos Rail for a five-day journey to Pietersburg. We visit Kimberley, site of the first diamond discoveries in South Africa; South Africa’s administrative capital of Pretoria; and the Kapama Wild Dog and Cheetah Project. Upon our arrival in Pietersburg, we fly by private chartered plane to Livingstone to experience the power and splendor of Victoria Falls, one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. We end our journey in Chobe National Park in Botswana, a superb park for animal viewing and famous for its elephant population and the Savute Marsh, packed with wildlife.

Itinerary
Day 1 & 2: Atlanta / Cape Town
We depart Atlanta Wednesday morning on a flight to Cape Town, arriving midday Thursday.
Mt.Nelson Hotel (Meals aloft ; D)

Day 3: Cape Town
Stunningly set between the mountains and the sea, Cape Town is acclaimed as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Weather permitting, we board cable cars this morning and ride to the top of Table Mountain for breathtaking views of the city and Cape Peninsula. We have lunch in the restored waterfront area, then board a ferry to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and others were imprisoned. We enjoy a special welcome dinner this evening.
Mt. Nelson Hotel (B,L,D)

Day 4: Cape Town
This morning we visit Stellenbosch, one of the best-preserved towns from the era of the Dutch East India Company and the center of the wine-producing region of South Africa. The town was founded in 1679 and is renowned for its Cape Dutch thatched and gabled buildings and stately oaks. Since French Huguenots introduced wine-making to the Cape region late that same century, South Africa has produced excellent wines, many of them rare and unknown to Americans. Following a visit to the town center, we sample some of South Africa’s renowned wines. This afternoon, we stroll through Kirstenbosh Gardens, devoted to the cultivation of wildflowers and other indigenous South African plants.
Mt.Nelson Hotel (B,L)

Day 5: Cape Town
We drive through the beautiful and compelling landscape of the Cape Peninsula over mountain passes, alongside wide sandy beaches, and through historic ports and fishing settlements nestled in scenic coves. The flora of South Africa includes more than 20,000 plant species, a quarter of them found nowhere else in the world. The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve features many of these unique species, including the characteristic heathland vegetation locally known as fynbos (Afrikaans for "fine bush"). We continue to Cape Point, the tip of the reserve, to view the spectacular scenery at the southwesternmost point of Africa.
Mt.Nelson Hotel (B,L)

Day 6: Cape Town / Board Rovos Rail
We transfer to the Cape Town train station for a late-morning departure of Rovos Rail. From the comfort of the observation car or individual wagons-lit (sleeper cars), we watch the transformation of the South African landscape from the lush valleys, vineyards and sculpted mountains of the western Cape to the stark desolation of the Great Karoo, once an enormous inland sea. We arrive in Matjiesfontein in time to take a stroll through the village before dinner on board.
Rovos Rail (B,L,D)

Day 7: Rovos Rail
This afternoon we arrive at Kimberley, which has one of the finest Victorian rail-way stations in Africa. We visit the Kimberley Club, former gathering place of the great diamond tycoons of Kimberley’s Belle Epoque; and the Diamond Museum, a carefully constructed display of historical homes, shops and memorabilia. Nearby is the "Big Hole," the largest man-made excavation in the world. This astonishing excavation was once the site of a small hill where diamondiferous Kimberlite ore was discovered. Millions of tons of ore were removed as the diggers continued their search hundreds of feet below ground level.
Rovos Rail (B,L,D)

Day 8: Johannesburg / Pretoria
This morning we cross the Vaal River into the Transvaal, climbing steadily toward the skyscrapers of Johannesburg, the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa. We disembark the train and visit the Apartheid Museum before continuing to Soweto (the name is a shortened version of "South-Western Town-ships") for a tour of the township that played such a crucial role in the struggle against apartheid. We continue to Pretoria, administrative capital of South Africa. In the company of a local historian, we discover the treasures of this city, including the massive Voortrekker Monument, which commemorates the Afrikaaner pioneers who journeyed north to escape British rule in 1834. We also visit Church Square and see the impressive Union Buildings, headquarters for the South African government since 1913.
Sheraton Pretoria (B,L,D)

Day 9: Elands River Valley
We reboard the train late this morning and travel east. The train climbs to the highest point on the line before descending into the dramatic Elands River Valley.
Rovos Rail (B,L,D)

Day 10: Hoedspruit
This morning we disembark the train at Hoedspruit for a visit to the Kapama Wild Dog and Cheetah Project. The train passes quite close to the edge of the escarpment where the Highveld drops precipitously from 4,000 feet to 2,000 feet and, this afternoon, ascends the stunning landscape between Tzaneen and Soekmekaar.
Rovos Rail (B,L,D)

Day 11 & 12: Livingstone, Zambia / Victoria Falls
We arrive this morning in Pietersburg and transfer to the airport for a private charter flight to Livingstone, Zambia, for our two-day visit to Victoria Falls. One of the world’s greatest natural wonders and a startling one mile wide, Victoria Falls drops between 295 and 350 feet into the Zambezi Gorge. An average of 1,804,000 cubic feet of water pours over the falls every minute. The constant mist, "the smoke that thunders," creates an environment simulating a tropical rainforest and is visible from the winding footpath along the rim. We enjoy time at leisure or one of the many optional activities available in the area.
Royal Livingstone Hotel (B,L,D)

Day 13: Chobe National Park, Botswana
This morning we take a guided walking tour of the falls before transferring back to the Livingstone Airport for our flight to Kasane, Botswana. Upon arrival we drive to the deluxe Mowana Safari Lodge at the edge of Botswana’s Chobe National Park. Our animal-watching runs in open safari vehicles are scheduled for early mornings and late afternoons, when Chobe’s residents are at their most active. We look for giraffe, hippopotamus, baboon, impala and elephant, whose numbers make Chobe home to one of the largest wildlife populations in Africa.
Mowana Safari Lodge (B,L,D)

Day 14: Chobe National Park
We awaken early in anticipation of spotting a diverse array of wildlife: perhaps a pride of lions, a herd of impala or a family of warthogs. Birders may be able to add cormorant, kingfishers and bee-eaters, among others, to their life lists. We board a boat this afternoon and cruise the Chobe River. In the softening light of sunset, we look for elephants as they appear to "snorkel" their trunks along the surface of the water, or an African fish eagle as it makes its evening hunting foray for fish. We enjoy a festive final dinner this evening.
Mowana Safari Lodge (B,L,D)

Day 15 & 16: Kasane / Johannesburg / U.S.
Following this morning’s game drive and breakfast, we transfer to Kasane for a charter flight to Johannesburg. We connect with an evening flight to Atlanta and arrive the following morning to meet connecting flights home.
(B;Meals aloft)

Study Leaders
David Welsh is a Capetonian by birth and received his PhD from the University of Cape Town and his MA from Oxford. He recently retired from teaching Southern African Studies in the Political Studies Department at the University of Cape Town. Widely published, he has authored three books, co-edited five books, and published over 100 articles and chapters. In addition to his scholarly activities, he has been a commentator in the media and a campaigner for human rights. Currently he acts as a political consultant to Omega Investments Research.

Virginia van der Vliet was born in Johannesburg and educated at the University of the Witwatersrand where she obtained her MA degree. She taught Social Anthropology at Rhodes University, Grahamstown from 1963 to 1980, and at the University of Cape Town from 1980 to 1990. Her principal scholarly interests have been the African family in transition, gender relations among Africans, and the sociology and politics of AIDS. Her book The Politics of AIDS was published in 1996. She is currently a consultant to Omega Investment Research and edits a bi-monthly bulletin entitled AIDSAlert.

Train
The many pleasures inherent to train travel are grandly amplified aboard the distinguished Rovos Rail, chartered exclusively for five days of travel during this program. All of South Africa was scoured in order to find the unique, pre-1970 South African Railway coaches and either steam, diesel, or electric locomotives that today convey passengers under the Rovos Rail flag.

Once abandoned and neglected, these coaches have been carefully and lavishly restored to provide unparalleled standards of sleeping accommodations, dining and sightseeing among trains worldwide. Each sleeping carriage has either two Royal Suites (172 sq. ft. each) or three Deluxe Suites (118 sq. ft. each).

Complimentary bar service is provided throughout our stay, and meals feature the finest provisions, including internationally recognized wines.

Extention:

May 26 – 31, 2004
An optional four-night extension to the Okavango region of Botswana has been planned to immediately follow our program. This extension offers an opportunity to explore, in comfort, one of the most extraordinary wildlife havens in all of Africa, with two nights at Savute Elephant Camp and two nights at Khwai River Lodge. Further details will be included in the confirmation mailing.

South Africa
South Africa's Biotic Wealth
South African Eden The Kruger National Park
Garden Route Activities
Challenges along the Garden Route
Wild Frontier -Eastern Cape
The Wild Coast
Namaqualand
Namaqualand Wildlife
Greater Addo National Park
Ndumo Game Reserve
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park
The Lowveld –Birding Best Secret
Addo Elephants
Drakensburg UNESCO World Heritage Site