Victoria falls Itinerary - Luxury Train Tours
Pretoria - Pietersburg - Victoria Falls
Combine the luxury of train travel with the excitement of a flight in a vintage airliner. The adventure begins as the train pulls away from the gracious station at Capital Park, Pretoria, a historic rail yard that is now home to this exclusive private railway. It pauses at Witbank, a rich coal-mining area where Rovos Rail was founded in 1986. At this town the intrepid young Winston Churchill leapt aboard a freight train to escape from his Anglo-Boer War captors.
The pride of Africa retraces his route towards Mozambique, reaching its highest point at Belfast (1970m or 6463 feet), before descending the breathtaking Drakensberg Escarpment. The descent between the quaint towns of Waterval Boven and Waterval Onder is one of the most challenging rail tracks in the world as the train winds through many switchbacks and tunnels. Journey on in comfort and style through the lush, sub-tropical Mpumalanga bushveld, through country that inspired Henry Rider Haggard's yarns of African adventure, to Nelspruit and the Crocodile River Valley. Follow the edge of the world-famous Kruger National Park towards Hazyview and Hoedspruit, the heart of South Africa's celebrated game-viewing paradise.
Ascend to the Highveld through the tangled indigenous forests of Magoesbaskloof, with its deep gorges and ancient cliffs where cycads ("living fossils") flourish, before arriving in the high-lying land of the primeval baobab tree. Travel past tea estates, trout streams and natural woodland, then alongside some of South Africa's vast citrus farms. At Pietersburg, board an historic aircraft for the two-hour flight to Journey's End, the incomparable Victoria Falls on the mighty Zambezi River.
PRETORIA - VICTORIA FALLS
THURSDAY
10:00 Depart Rovos Rail station.
13:00 Lunch is served in the dining car en route to Witbank.
20:00 After descending the Drakensberg escarpment en route to Nelspruit, dinner is served.
FRIDAY
09:00 Arrive Hoedspruit for a game park excursion.
12:00 Depart Hoedspruit for Tzaneen
SATURDAY
08:00 Arrive in Pietersburg.
09:00 Passengers transfer to the airport for flight to Victoria Falls.
13:00 Land in Victoria Falls and transfer to hotel.
VICTORIA FALLS - PRETORIA
SATURDAY
14:00 Guests meet at Victoria Falls Hotel. 15:30 Take of from Victoria Falls Airport.
20:00 The Pride of Africa leaves Pietersburg, heading in a north-easterly direction. Dinner is served in the dining car, after which guests are invited to enjoy a night cap in the observation car.
SUNDAY
07:00 - 10:00 Breakfast is served.
15:00 Guests disembark at Hoedspruit for a game park excursion.
18:00 Depart Hoedspruit
MONDAY
07:00 The train begins to climb between Waterval Onder and Waterval Boven.
10:00 Pass through Witbank.
14:15 At Rayton, the Pride of Africa is connected to Rovos Rail steam locomotive for the last leg of the journey to Pretoria.
16:00 Arrive in Pretoria.
*** Please note you can continue through to Cape Town.
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