Rovos Rail - Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam 2024/2025

Check-in at Rovos Rail Lounge, 1 Adderley Street, Cape Town.

The Pride of Africa departs from platform 23 at Cape Town Station and travels inland through the scenic wine lands towards Hex River Valley.

Dinner is served in the Dining Cars.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars. Passengers disembark for a visual journey to a bygone era long forgotten. After 100 years Matjiesfontein remains a perfectly preserved Victorian railway village and a National Monument.

The train traverses 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.

Lunch is served in the Dining Cars.

Afternoon tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.

Dinner is served in the Dining Cars.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars.

Lunch is served in the dining cars.
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.

Tea in the lounge and observation cars.

Dinner is served in the Dining Cars en route to Klerksdorp.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars.

Transfer (approximately 60 minutes) to Pretoria for a city tour followed by lunch on the Rovos Rail Station platform. Enjoy a walking tour of the station and locomotive workshops (weather permitting). Return (approximately 60 minutes) to the train.

Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Zeerust

Madikwe is a prime malaria-free Big 5 wildlife reserve bordering Botswana. It lies within a transition zone between the North West Province bushveld and Kalahari thornveld with enormous volcanic intrusions, wide open plains and the riverine environment along the Marico River. As a result, the region is host to an incredible diversity of species from both ecosystems with a rich assortment of vegetation and more than 300 resident and migrant bird species.

Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay in Madikwe. Tog bags have been placed in your suite for your convenience. See below for inclusions/exclusions. Spa facilities available (own account). Payment in ZAR or by credit card only. Times of meals and activities confirmed on arrival.

Breakfast is served in the dining cars.

Transfer (approximately 90 minutes) to a lodge in Madikwe for a two-night stay. Lunch is served on arrival. Afternoon tea and game drive (approximately 3 hours).

Afternoon tea and game drive (approx. 3 hours). Overnight at the lodge.

Dinner and overnight at the lodge. Dress: casual.

Early morning game drive (approximately 3 hours).

Breakfast is served at the lodge.

Lunch at the lodge.
Afternoon tea and game drive (approximately 3 hours).

Dinner is served at the lodge. Dress: Casual.

Early morning game drive (approximately 2 hours).

Breakfast is served until 09:30. Please ensure your bags are ready for collection at 10:00 and proceed to check-out.

Depart the lodge. Transfer to the train at Gaborone in Botswana. Border formalities will take place en route and guests are required to present themselves to the border officials (luggage may be searched).

Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train crosses the Tropic of Capricorn and the eastern edge of the Kalahari Basin. Known as 'Kgalagadi' in Botswana, the Kalahari (which extends to 900,000 km2 and covers much of Botswana, parts of Namibia and South Africa) is not a true desert as it does experience small amounts of rain, with some areas enjoying up to 250mm. The surrounding basin covers over 2,500,000 km2 extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is part desert, part plateau. The only constant river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest forming marshes that are rich in wildlife.

Tea is served in the Observation Cars.

Dinner is served in the Dining Cars.

Lectures will take place throughout the journey during the morning and/or afternoon in the lounge car. Please consult Lecture Sheets for details. Victoria Falls: If you have decided to book activities through the on-board historian, please ensure you have done so before lunch.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars. Border formalities take place.

Lunch is served in the dining cars.

Tea in the lounge and observation cars. Pass Gwaai and Dete along one of Africa's longest stretches of straight railway line - 114 kilometres - and along the eastern edge of the Hwange National Park.

Dinner is served in the dining cars.

Please pack a small overnight bag for the stay at Victoria Falls Hotel. See below for inclusions/exclusions. Meals are taken at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Currency exchange is available at the hotel (passports not required); there is a business centre and WiFi available throughout. If you are crossing the border into Zambia during your stay, please obtain your passport from the Train Manager or Administration Deputy.

Breakfast is served in the dining cars.

Arrive at the incomparable Victoria Falls. Disembark with an overnight bag and walk across to the hotel. Welcome address on the lawn followed by lunch at Jungle Junction. Luggage will be delivered to the rooms. 15:45 WINTER / 16:15 SUMMER Meet in the hotel foyer before departure for the sunset cruise on the Zambezi.

Dinner at the Livingstone Room, Victoria Falls Hotel. Dress: Smart Casual (strictly no safari-wear, shorts, sandals or sneakers)

Plunging over the lip of the Victoria Falls is the largest body of falling water on earth. The mighty Zambezi, fourth longest river in Africa, is about 2kms wide above the falls and cascades dramatically over a precipice 1.6km in length and 108m at its deepest, compressing the vast volume of water into a chasm 50m wide. The sound can be deafening, the aspect magnificent and the memory indelible. In autumn, the spray is so great it inhibits photography while in spring the seasonal flow considerably reduces leaving large slabs of brown basalt exposed on the lip.

Check-out time is normally at 10:00 (to be advised). If you have organised morning activities, please ensure you have checked out. Luggage storage at reception is complimentary until afternoon departure. Please call the front desk and they will send a porter to collect your luggage.

Breakfast is served at the Jungle Junction Restaurant until 10:00. Day at leisure in the Victoria Falls.

Lunch at Jungle Junction.

Meet on station platform for departure to Zambia.

Cross the Victoria Falls Bridge. Tea in the lounge and observation cars. Border formalities take place.

Dinner is served in the dining cars.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars.

After breakfast, the train travels across the Kafue Railway Bridge – a 477-metre long steel girder truss bridge of 13 spans each at 33 metres supported on concrete piers.

Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train passes through Zambia's capital, Lusaka.

Afternoon tea is served in the Lounge and Observation Cars.

Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Kapiri Mposhi.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars.

The train travels the TAZARA railway line, an engineering tour de force and one of Africa's best-kept secrets as it passes through remote territory.

Lunch is served in the Dining Cars.

Afternoon tea is served in the lounge and Observation Cars.

Dinner is served in the Dining Cars en route to Kasama.

Chisimba Falls is a series of three waterfalls named Mutumuna, Kaela and Chishimba (Chisimba), which are separated over 300m along the Luombe River. According to Bemba tradition, the nature spirit "Chishimba" lives in a cave behind the falls therefore no bad behaviour (including fights, insults and arrogance) is allowed in this area. Though the Bemba people arrived here in the 17th century, they weren't the first as the land surrounding the falls is dotted with evidence of Iron Age activities including kilns, smelting pipes and iron ore deposits.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars until departure.

Enjoy a visit to Chisimba Falls where guests can take a pleasant walk down to the rock pools at the base of the falls or admire them from various viewpoints.

The train climbs to the border, almost exactly the midpoint between Africa's two Great Rift Valley lakes.

Lunch is served in the Dining Cars.

Afternoon tea is served in the Lounge and Observation Cars. Border formalities take place.

Dinner is served. The train passes Baobab forests and descends the Rift Valley towards Mbeya.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars.

Arrive at Makambako and enjoy a stroll through the town (time permitting).

The train travels towards the jungled Udzungwa Mountains and negotiates the dramatic switchbacks, viaducts and tunnels of the escarpment.

Lunch is served in the Dining Cars.

Tea in the lounge and observation cars.

Dinner is served in the Dining Cars.

Breakfast is served in the Dining Cars.

The train descends into the highlands and traverses the fertile lands of Tanzania towards the Selous.

Brunch is served in the dining cars.

Enjoy a game visit in the Selous Game Reserve, the largest in Africa at 55,000 km2 (time permitting).

Return to the train.

Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Gwata.

Breakfast is served in the dining cars.

Travel in an easterly direction towards the coast.

Arrive at journey's end at Tazara Station in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.