The Cape Town to Walvis Bay Namibia Safari itinerary is an 11‑night luxury rail journey that traverses a remarkable variety of southern African landscapes, taking in the Karoo, Kalahari and Namib deserts, Fish River Canyon, quiver‑tree forests, Sossusvlei, Etosha National Park, Windhoek and the historic coastal regions including Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. This itinerary is also available in reverse. Contact us for dates and pricing.
This itinerary is also available in reverse. Contact us for dates and pricing.
Day 1: Cape Town
10:00 Depart from Cape Town Station. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travellers in the lounge car or observation car at the rear of the train.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining cars. Trundle through the winelands of the Western Cape.
16:30 Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
19:30 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: Matjiesfontein
07:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. During breakfast, there is an opportunity to stroll through the historic village of Matjiesfontein (time permitting). 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.
09:00 The train travels 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.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining cars en route to De Aar, an important railway junction.
16:30 Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
19:30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal
Day 3: Upington & the Orange River
07:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining cars.
Enjoy a walking tour of Upington with a sundowner cruise on the Orange River.
19:30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. Border formalities take place. Dress: “Africa” Theme or Smart Casual
The Orange River is the longest river in South Africa (2432km/1511mi). It rises in the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho and flows westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. It forms part of the borders between South Africa and Lesotho and South Africa and Namibia. Except for Upington, it does not pass through any major cities. 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
07:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
12:30 Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train travels along the southern reaches of the Kalahari Basin.
14:00 Transfer (±60 min) to the Fish River Canyon.
19:30 Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Aus. 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 & Lüderitz
06:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure.
08:00 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.
18:00 Return to the train. Depart for Keetmanshoop. The observation car will be leading the train until after dinner.
19:30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. Dress: Formal
Day 6: Keetmanshoop & Garas Park
07:00 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.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining cars bh. Depart for Mariental.
16:30 Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
19:30 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.
07:00 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.
16:30 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 be stored 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.
12:30 Depart in a light aircraft for the one-hour flight to Windhoek.
14:00 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.
18:00 Depart for Kranzberg.
19:30 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
07:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00.
12:30 Lunch is served in the dining cars.
14:30 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.
18:00 Depart for Otavi.
19:30 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.
07:00 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.
15:00 Afternoon game drive (approximately 3 hours).
19:30 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.
06:00 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.
11:00 Transfer (±60 min) to the train at Tsumeb Station.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining cars. The observation car will be leading the train until tomorrow.
16:30 Tea in the lounge and observation cars.
19:30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train travels southwest towards the Atlantic Ocean. Dress: “1920s” Theme or Smart Casual
Day 12: Walvis Bay
Please ensure luggage is ready for collection 15 minutes before arrival and that you have your passport.
07:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. Traverse the Namib Desert towards Walvis Bay.
12:00 Arrive at journey’s end in Walvis Bay, Namibia.
The Namib stretches for more than 2000km along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. The geology consists of sand seas near the coast while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland. 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 luxurious Rovos Rail train is a classic locomotive made up of a lounge car, two dining cars, guest sleepers, a staff car and kitchen car. Meals on board are served in the charming Victorian atmosphere of the dining cars and are complemented by a selection of fine South African wines. For days on the train, dress is smart casual however, evening attire is more formal - for the gentlemen, a jacket and tie is a minimum requirement while for the ladies, it is suggested that attire consists of cocktail/evening dresses or suits. In maintaining the spirit of travel of a bygone era, there are no radios or television sets on board.
Rates include (per person, one way, sharing):
Included (Off-Train Accommodation):
Rates exclude (per person, one way, sharing):
Excluded (Off-Train Accommodation):
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