10h00 Depart Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria. Travel southeast across the gold-rich mining areas of Gauteng. 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. Coming into view are the Drakensberg Mountains, first named by the Voortrekkers who thought the unbroken chain of heavily weathered peaks reminded them of the spines on a dragon’s back, hence the name ‘Dragon Mountain’ or Drakensberg in Afrikaans.
16h30 Tea in the lounge car or observation car. The train climbs to Majuba Hill – site of the decisive battle that ended the First Anglo Boer War – then on to Newcastle where the Indian population has erected what is reputed to be the largest domed Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere.
19h30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train passes Glencoe, site of the first battle of the Anglo Boer War and now the centre of the province’s coalfields. Overnight on board en route to Elandslaagte.
ROVOS RAIL: Accommodation, all meals, all alcoholic and other beverages, 24-hour full room service and bar facilities, limited laundry service, guided excursions (where applicable), entrance fees as per itinerary and government tax.
ROVOS RAIL: Gratuities, French Champagne
06h15 A continental breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure.
07h00 Enjoy a game drive in the Nambiti Reserve, a private Big Five bush retreat set on 20 000 acres of malaria-free bushveld with incredible biodiversity.
11h00 Brunch is served in the dining cars. The train passes Chieveley Siding where, on the left of the track, stands a memorial to Winston Churchill who was captured here in November 1899 while trying to free an armoured train trapped by a Boer ambush.
14h00 Transfer (50 minutes) to Spionkop Lodge. A choice of two excursions is available: 1. An escorted tour of the historic battlefields OR 2. A game drive in the 11 000-acre Spionkop Reserve.
17h45 Return to the train.
19h30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. Overnight on board.
ROVOS RAIL: Accommodation, all meals, all alcoholic and other beverages, 24-hour full room service and bar facilities, limited laundry service, guided excursions (where applicable), entrance fees as per itinerary and government tax.
ROVOS RAIL: Gratuities, French Champagne
07h00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. The train descends the escarpment to Lions River.
10h00 Visit the famous Ardmore Ceramics Gallery. Here, artists are encouraged to express their imagination based on nature and Zulu folklore and tradition.
12h00 Depart for Pietermaritzburg, the provincial capital of KwaZulu-Natal.
13h00 Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train traverses the spectacular Valley of a Thousand Hills.
16h00 Arrive at journey’s end in Durban. A number of museums and cultural sights, the beautiful botanical gardens and the superb shark-protected beaches are but a few of the city’s many charms.
ROVOS RAIL: Accommodation, all meals, all alcoholic and other beverages, 24-hour full room service and bar facilities, limited laundry service, guided excursions (where applicable), entrance fees as per itinerary and government tax.
ROVOS RAIL: Gratuities, French Champagne
