Kartagener Associates Inc: Southern Africa with Rovos Rail and Palm River Hotel

Please meet at Capital Park Station in Pretoria at 9am for check in and briefing for Rovos Rail. The Train will depart at 10 am. 

Should you wish to visit our museum or do a site tour at Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria, we suggest arriving two hours prior to departure. Passports are required at check-in. No vouchers are required. Luggage will be tagged and placed in your suite on board the train where you will find a full itinerary pack.

DAY 1: PRETORIA BORDER: MUSINA, SOUTH AFRICA / BEITBRIDGE, ZIMBABWE

Depart Rovos Rail Station, Pretoria. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travellers in the lounge car or observation car at the rear of the train.

Please ensure the Train Manager or Administration Deputy is in possession of your passport.

Lunch is served in the dining cars. Travel through Warmbaths (Bela-Bela) – so named for its mineral waters – and Nylstroom, christened by the Voortrekkers as the source of the Nile River as the town’s river happened to be north flowing. Pass the edge of the escarpment where the Highveld drops precipitously.

Tea is served in the lounge and observation cars. The train crosses the Tropic of Capricorn.

Dinner is served in the dining cars. The train crosses the Limpopo River to Beitbridge. Dress: Formal

In Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, the ‘Elephant’s Child’ departs his family for the “great grey-green, greasy

Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees, to find out what the Crocodile has for dinner.”

DAY 2: AT LEISURE ON BOARD

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. The train travels baobab country.

Lunch is served in the dining cars. Travel towards Bulawayo: second city of Zimbabwe, capital of Matabeleland and

industrial capital of the country.

Tea is served in the lounge and observation cars.

Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Mpopoma. Dress: Formal

DAY 3: HWANGE NATIONAL PARK

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

Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train travels between Gwaai and Dete along one of the world’s longest

stretches of straight railway line – 114 kilometres – and along the eastern edge of Hwange Park.

Enjoy a game drive at The Hide in Hwange National Park.

Dinner is served in the dining cars en route to Thompsons Junction. Dress: Formal

DAY 4: VICTORIA FALLS

Please ensure that your luggage is ready for collection at 09:45 and that you have your passport.

Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 09:30.

Arrive at journey’s end at the incomparable Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Transfer from Victoria Falls train station to Palm River Hotel.

7h00 - Guided visit to Victoria Falls

15h30 – High Tea

17h00 – Transfer to Ilala Lodge for site inspection

19h00 – Dinner at Ilala Lodge

Transfer back to Palm River Hotels

Transfer to Vic Falls Airport – flight and times tba