10:00 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.
13:00 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.
16:30 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.
19:30 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. Dress: Formal
06:15 A continental breakfast is served in the dining cars until departure.
07:00 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.
11:00 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.
14:00 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. 17:45 Return to the train.
19:30 Dinner is served in the dining cars. Overnight on board. Dress: Formal
07:00 Breakfast is served in the dining cars until 10:00. The train descends the escarpment to Lions River.
10:00 Visit the famous Ardmore Ceramics Gallery. Here, artists are encouraged to express their imagination based on nature and Zulu folklore and tradition.
12:00 Depart for Pietermaritzburg, the provincial capital of KwaZulu-Natal.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining cars. The train traverses the spectacular Valley of a Thousand Hills.
16:00 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.
Lions River Railway Station
