Rovos Rail: Namibia Safari

Day 1 : Pretoria

Depart Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria and travel south towards the goldfields of the Witwatersrand. Guests may freshen up in their suites before joining fellow travellers in the lounge car or observation car at the rear of the train. Lunch is served in the dining cars followed up by afternoon tea and dinner.

Day 2 : Kimberley

Arrive in Kimberley and visit the Big Hole and the Diamond Museum. Capital of the Northern Cape, Kimberley is well known for the discovery of diamonds that led to its establishment in 1871. Return to the train for lunch where the observation car will be leading the train until after tea. Travel through the Karoo, a vast semi-desert region that was once an enormous inland sea. Over million of years, volcanic matter was ground down and deposited as silt upon the seabed to form what geologists call the Karoo system.

Day 3 : Upington & the Orange River

This afternoon disembark the train for a walking tour of Upington with a sundowner cruise on the Orange River. The Orange River is the longest river in South Africa (2432km). It rises in the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho and flows westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, forming part of the borders between South Africa and Lesotho and South Africa and Namibia. Attorney General of the Cape, Sir Thomas Upington was principally responsible for liquidating the business activities of Orange River pirates and capturing their leader, Klaas Lucas. When the desperadoes were finally chased away in 1884, the town was founded on the banks of the Orange River and named in his honour.

Day 4 : Fish River Canyon

After lunch, board vehicles for the one-hour drive to the Fish River Canyon. The Fish River rises in the centre of the country before flowing south into the Orange River on Namibia’s border with South Africa. It has formed the great Fish River Canyon – the largest canyon in the southern hemisphere and probably only second to Arizona’s Grand Canyon in terms of size. The vast rocky landscape breaks up into a series of spectacular cliffs. Its size is impressive 161km long, up to 27km wide and almost 550m at its deepest.

Day 5 : Kolmanskop & Luderitz

Take a one hour transfer drive to the ghost town of Kolmanskop, followed by lunch in Lüderitz. Lüderitz is known for its museum, colonial architecture and wildlife including seals, penguins, flamingos and ostriches. Look out for the illusive legendary horses rumoured to roam the Namib. Return to the train. Depart for Keetmanshoop. The observation car will be leading the train until after dinner.

Day 6 : Keetmanshoop & Garas Park

After breakfast, visit Keetmanshoop and Garas Park (Quiver Trees), home to roughly 300 specimens of the Aloe dichotomy. The prehistoric trees have forked branches that reach up to 5m making for great photographic opportunities. Return to the train for lunch. Depart for Mariental and enjoy dinner en route to Rehoboth

Day 7 : Sossusvlei

This morning pack a small overnight bag for the stay at Sossusvlei. After breakfast, transfer to the airstrip for a light aircraft one-hour flight to a Sossusvlei lodge and check in. The dunes of the Namib Desert were created by sand carried by the wind from the coast of Namibia. The sand here is over five million years old and is red in colour due to its iron-oxide content. As the light changes during the day, so does the appearance of the dunes’ characteristic colour allowing for interesting photographs at any time. The wind in the Sossusvlei area blows from all directions causing the sand to form a star shape with multiple arms, hence the name “star dunes”. This afternoon enjoy a desert drive and bush dinner after sunset. Overnight at the lodge.

Day 8 : Sossusvlei & Windhoek

Enjoy an early morning desert drive with breakfast in the vlei. Transfer by light aircraft to Windhoek, where lunch will be taken at Windhoek Country Club, followed by a city tour. Windhoek is an attractive city surrounded by clusters of hills and the impressive Auas and Eros Mountains. The Trans-Namib Transport Museum outlines Namibian transport history, particularly that of the railway. The Independence Memorial Museum focuses on the anti-colonial resistance and the national liberation struggle of Namibia. Back on board the train, depart for Kranzberg and enjoy dinner.

Day 9 : Cheetah Conservation Project

After lunch, transfer to the cheetah conservation project in Otjiwarongo. Founded in Namibia in 1990, the CCF is dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild.

Day 10 : Etosha National Park

This morning pack an overnight bag for your stay in Etosha. After breakfast transfer (one hour) to you Etosha lodge for overnight. Etosha National Park (22270km2) offers great game viewing with many species of mammals, birds and reptiles. It gets its name from the Etosha pan (4760km2), which almost entirely lies within the park. Etosha is a large salt pan forming part of the Kalahari basin and means ‘Great White Place’. Enjoy an afternoon’s game drive to spot the prolific wildlife, often around the waterholes, before enjoying dinner and overnight at the lodge.

Day 11 : Etosha National Park

Take an early morning game drive in the park while the wildlife are still active. Have a late breakfast at the lodge and transfer to Tsumeb Station to rejoin the train. The afternoon the train travels southwest towards the Atlantic Ocean as you enjoy a “1920’s” themed dinner.

Day 12 : Walvis Bay

Breakfast is served as you traverse the Namib Desert towards Walvis Bay. The Namib stretches for more than 2000km along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. The geology consists of sand seas near the coast while gravel plains and scattered mountain outcrops occur further inland. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means “vast place”. Having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for roughly 55-80 million years, the Namib may be the oldest desert in the world. Your Rovos Rail journey ends on arrival in Walvis Bay at midday.

NB

Itinerary also operates in reverse. A special route is taken from Walvis Bay to Cape Town 21 February 2026; and from Cape Town to Walvis Bay 9 November 2026.