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ROVOS RAIL
Luxury Rail Safaris
The Pride of Africa on Safari
An unforgettable journey into the heart of the African bush: Pretoria - Swaziland - Durban
This three-day safari on the most luxurious train in the world includes game drives in two varied and unique game reserves.
 White Rhino, Hluhluwe Click for a larger image (53KB) | Experience the diversity of the Kruger Park Game Reserve, Mkhaya Game Reserve in Swaziland and Hluhluwe Game Reserve. Wind your way from Pretoria to Durban through some of the most spectacular scenery South Africa has to offer. |
| Schedule | Pretoria - Durban | Durban - Pretoria |
|---|---|---|
| Departure: | Friday | Monday |
| Nov 2008 | 07 | 10 |
| Dec 2008 | - | - |
| Jan 2009 | 16, 30 | 19 |
| Feb 2009 | 13 | 02, 16 |
| Mar 2009 | 13 | 16 |
| Apr 2009 | 03, 24 | 06, 27 |
| No departure until Sep 2009 | ||
| Sep 2009 | 18 | 21 |
| Our Hotel Tips | |
|---|---|
| Pretoria: | Illyria House or Court Classique Suite Hotel |
| Durban: | The Royal Hotel or The Quarters Hotel |
| Pretoria to Durban |
|---|
Friday
10:00 The Pride of Africa departs Rovos Rail's Station in Capital Park.
18:30 After descending the Drakensberg Escarpment the train arrives in Waterval Onder.
Saturday
07:00 Breakfast is served as the train departs Malelane travelling along the border of the Kruger Park
12:30 Lunch is served as we pass through the Swaziland border en route to Mpaka station
15:00 Arrive Mkhaya Reserve for an afternoon game drive.
18:15 The train departs for the overnight journey to Hluhluwe in Zululand.
Sunday
05:00 Wake up call for an early morning game drive in Hluhluwe Game Reserve, home of the black and white rhino.
09:30 The Pride of Africa departs Hluhluwe for Durban.
11:00 Brunch is served in the dining car/s.
18:00 Arrive Durban.
| Durban to Pretoria |
|---|
Monday
10:00 The Pride of Africa departs from Durban Station.
13:00 Lunch is served as the train passes through the rolling hills and cane-fields of Kwazulu Natal
19:30 Dinner is served in as we pass through the Swaziland border.
Tuesday
05:00 Wake up call for an early game drive in the Mkhaya Game Reserve.
09:30 The train departs for Komatipoort.
11:00 Brunch served in the dining car/s.
15:15 Arrive Malelane for game drive in the Kruger Park.
19h30 Dinner is served in the dining car/s.
Wednesday
07:00 Breakfast is served as the train begins the ascent from Waterval Onder (4300 ft) and climbs this most attractive escarpment route up to Belfast at 6463 ft.
12:30 Lunch is served as the train departs Witbank and heads for Rayton where a steam engine will haul the train into Pretoria.
15:00 Arrive Rovos Rail's Capital Park Station, Pretoria
Interesting points along the track:
 The Pride of Africa steaming through the Eastern Transvaal Click for a larger image (42KB) | Witbank - Coal simply bursts out of the ground in the Witbank area. It produces 45% of South Africa's coal. Middelburg - The town was established in 1864 and eventually named Middelburg because it lies halfway between Pretoria and Lydenburg. Belfast. - The main railway to the Eastern Transvaal rises to 2025 meters at Belfast, making it the highest station on the line. |
Waterval-Boven - At Waterval-Boven ("above the waterfall"), the Transvaal highveld comes to an abrupt and spectacular end. In 1894 a railway marshalling yard and locomotive depot was created here.
Nelspruit - When the Eastern Line was constructed in 1892, a station was built on a farm owned by the Nel family. The farm was known as Nelspruit ("Nel’s stream").
| Kruger National Park is one of the great natural sanctuaries of the world. The area between the Crocodile and Sabie rivers and the Lebombo and Drakensberg mountains, was proclaimed by President Paul Kruger in 1898 and first opened to the public in 1927. Today the park comprises a surface of nearly 1,948,528 hectares. It is 350 km long from north to south and has a maximum wide of 90 km. A great variety of wildlife, including the big five - buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino - inhabits the park. Birdlife is also prolific. |  Click for a larger image (39KB) |
Komatipoort - This small border town serves as the customs and immigration control point between Mozambique and South Africa. It also straddles the confluence of the Komati and Crocodile Rivers.
Mkhaya Game Reserve - located in central Swaziland - is renowned for black rhino, sable and roan antelope as well as tsessebe. Also present are elephant, a large number of white rhino, hippo, buffalo, giraffe, crocodile, eland, waterbuck, kudu, nyala, grey and red duiker, warthog, baboon and leopard.
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park - The Hluhluwe and Umfolozi game reserves were established in 1895, which makes them two of the oldest reserves in Africa. The Hluhluwe section is situated in central Zululand and covers an area of 23,000 ha. The large variety of wildlife includes white rhino, black rhino, red and grey duiker, bushbuck, warthog, blue wildebeest, zebra, waterbuck, impala, reedbuck, kudu, buffalo, nyala, eland, steenbok, klipspringer, leopard, baboon, giraffe, bushpig, spotted hyena, wild dog, cheetah, elephant, vervet monkey and lion. There are plenty of crocodiles in most of the rivers, and hippos.
 Pretoria to Durban |  Top | Rates  |
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