Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam - An Authentic African Adventure: Rovos Rail (Northbound)

Please check-in a minimum of 90 minutes before departure at Rovos Rail Lounge, 1 Adderley Street, Cape Town.
Depart from Cape Town Station.
Lunch is served in the dining cars. Trundle through the winelands of the Western Cape towards Worcester.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train climbs ±750m up the face of the escarpment.

Dress: Formal

Lectures will take place throughout the journey in the lounge car. Please consult Lecture Sheets for details.

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Disembark at Matjiesfontein for an opportunity to stroll through the historic village. Of special interest is the museum on the platform and a collection of historic cars and railway carriages to the right of the Lord Milner Hotel.
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. 
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Kimberley.

Dress: Formal

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. 

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.
Lunch is served in the dining cars.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Union.

Dress: Formal

Breakfast is served in the dining cars.
Transfer (±90 min) 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 (±90 min) to the train.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Zeerust.

Dress: Formal

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 until 10:00.
Transfer (±90 min) to a lodge in Madikwe for a two-night stay. Lunch is served on arrival.
Afternoon tea and game drive (approximately 3 hours).
Dinner at the lodge.

Dress: Casual

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.

Early morning game drive (approximately 3 hours).
Breakfast is served at the lodge until 09:30.
Lunch at the lodge.
Afternoon tea and game drive (approximately 3 hours).
Dinner at the lodge.

Dress: Casual

BORDER: KOPFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICA / TLOKWENG, BOTSWANA

Please ensure luggage is ready for collection at 10:00 and proceed to check-out.

Early morning game drive (approximately 2 hours).
Breakfast is served at the lodge until 09:30. 
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 000km2 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 per annum. The surrounding basin covers over 2 500 000km2 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 in the lounge and observation cars.

Please ensure the Train Manager/Guest Services Manager has your passport.

Dinner is served in the dining cars. 

Dress: Formal

Victoria Falls It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the list of activities available: Tour of Victoria Falls; 
helicopter over the falls; whitewater rafting; bungee-jumping; zip-lining; game walks; golf etc. You may book these 
excursions at the hotel OR beforehand with the onboard historian – today between 16:30-18:00. Cash accepted.

BORDER: FRANCISTOWN, BOTSWANA / PLUMTREE, ZIMBABWE

Victoria Falls: If you have decided to book activities through the onboard historian, please ensure you have 
done so before lunch. Cash accepted.
Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Border formalities.
Lunch is served in the dining cars.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels along one of the world’s longest stretches of straight railway line –114 kilometres (Gwaai–Dete) – and along the eastern edge of Hwange Park.

Dress: Formal

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 Wi-Fi available throughout. If you are crossing the border into 
Zambia during your stay, please obtain your passport from the Train Manager or Guest Services Manager.

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
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 (May-Aug) / 16:15 Summer (Sep-Apr) Meet in the foyer to depart for the sunset cruise on the Zambezi. 
Enjoy 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 2km 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.

BORDER: VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE / LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA

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 Victoria Falls.
Lunch at Jungle Junction.
Meet on station platform. Please ensure the Train Manager or Guest Services Manager has your passport.
Cross the Victoria Falls Bridge. Tea in the lounge and observation cars. Border formalities.
Dinner is served in the dining cars.

Dress: Formal

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. 
Lunch is served in the dining cars. 
Tea in the lounge and observation cars. 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.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train passes Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.

Dress: Formal

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.

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.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Kasama.

Dress: “Africa” Theme or Smart Casual

BORDER: NAKONDE, ZAMBIA / TUNDUMA, TANZANIA

Breakfast is served in the dining cars.
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. 
Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train climbs to the border, almost exactly the midpoint between Africa’s two Great Rift Valley lakes.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. Border formalities.

Dress: Formal

PLEASE PUT YOUR WATCHES FORWARD AN HOUR BEFORE RETIRING FOR THE EVENING.
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 10:00. The train traverses the Rift Valley and baobab forests towards Mbeya.
Lunch is served in the dining cars. The Southern Highlands of Tanzania are covered with grasslands, savannas, 
woodlands and forests. Miombo woodland and savanna predominates at lower elevations while the higher mountains are home to Afromontane evergreen forests, grasslands and shrublands, and part of the Southern Rift montane forest grassland mosaic ecoregion, which extends into the nearby mountains of Malawi and Zambia.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.

Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Makambako.

Dress: Formal

Breakfast is served until 10:00.

Enjoy an optional stroll through Makambako (time permitting) before departure at 09:30.

Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train travels towards the jungled Udzungwa Mountains and negotiates the 
dramatic switchbacks, viaducts and tunnels of the escarpment.
Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Fuga Halt.

Dress: Formal

Continental breakfast is served in the dining cars until 08:00.
Brunch is served in the dining cars until 12:00.
Enjoy a game visit (weather permitting) in the Nyerere National Park, the largest in Africa at 30 000km2.
The train traverses the fertile lands of Tanzania.
Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels to Gwata.

Dress: “1920s” Theme or Smart Casual

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

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. 

The train arrives at journey’s end at Tazara Station in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.