Riding the rails with Rovos Rail – Africa’s most luxurious train

With a hiss and a screech, the locomotive, complete with suites, lounges and dining cars, begins to shift and we are on our way.

From the minute we’d arrived at the railway station in Cape City we’d known we had been in for a take care of. Our luggage were whisked away, and transferred to the wooden paneled, deluxe suite that was to be ours on the journey.

We, in the meantime, had been ushered into a personal lounge region, and plied with sparkling wine and canapés as a violinist serenaded us. After all our fellow travellers experienced assembled, and had been easily seated all-around the room, we ended up welcomed by Rohan Vos, the gentleman behind the family members owned Rovos Rail, and the male liable for creating it into what it is these days – the most luxurious prepare in Africa, in truth one of the most luxurious in the world – The Satisfaction of Africa.

Introductions performed, we’re ushered across the highway to the waiting locomotive, where liveried staff are lined up to formally greet the 37 visitors, and direct them to their compartments. Stepping off the gray concrete system, and on to a crimson carpet, we realized this was heading to be a excursion to keep in mind. With extra than 30 workers on board, from chefs to bar tenders, wait staff, safety guards, housekeepers, practice drivers, specialists, and jovial teach supervisor Hennie, to oversee them all, this was a railway journey in a league of its individual.

When it comes to vacation, benefit and efficiency are usually priorities. So normally, when we vacation, especially by aircraft, we forget to love the landscapes and neglect to gradual down and delight in the journey. Alternatively, our heads are filled with schedules, connecting flights, terminals, gate figures and all the other stressful factors of travel. Every at the time in a whilst, although, you crave anything gradual, leisurely and high-class, an previous-globe mode of exploration that enables you to acquire in the sights in a far more indulgent way. Visualize leaving the anxiety and be concerned behind, and instead earning the reason of the vacation practically nothing extra than in-the-second pleasure – a journey on South Africa’s Rovos Rail provides you just that. As the coach chugs out of the station, our journey begins.

Due to the fact its establishment in 1989, Rovos Rail has gained an worldwide status as a genuinely environment-course travel experience. The trains, which may possibly be hauled by diesel or electric locomotives at a variety of phases of the journey, have a most of 72 passengers, in 36 beautifully appointed suites. For our 3 day journey, from Cape Town to Pretoria, we had 17 coaches, with 37 passengers aboard.

The wonderfully restored carriages of Rovos Rail mix luxurious vacation with the opportunity to experience dwelling heritage. Cafe autos, observation carriages and sleeping compartments are all restored originals from a bygone era of rail vacation, with classic wood paneled coaches, comfortable velvet upholstery and interval fittings, designed for groundbreaking travelers from a easier, additional exquisite, period of African exploration.

Rovos Rail is known as 1 of the world’s most luxurious trains. Presenting world course prepare travel practical experience via the heart of Southern Africa, with places including Cape City, Victoria Falls, Zambia, Angola, Namibia’s Etosha national Park and Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, and all the way to Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam.  Satisfaction of spot in the Rovos stable goes to the historic, restored Funds Park Station and locomotive yard in Pretoria, which is the heart and headquarters of this personal railway business.

For people ‘train spotters’/aficionados amongst you, the train consists of the locomotive, generator car or truck, employees auto, guest sleepers, a non-using tobacco lounge car or truck which can accommodate 26 attendees, two non-cigarette smoking eating cars, a smoking lounge motor vehicle, and the observation automobile with abundant area for 32 attendees, complete with an open-air balcony, at the conclusion of the practice. Maintaining the spirit of a bygone era, there is no Wi-Fi, and no radios, newspapers or tv sets on board, and the use of electronic products is limited to suites only – all in the intention of reviving the occasionally overlooked artwork of discussion.

The Pride of Africa offers so considerably much more than mere rail transportation. Rovos Rail has a design all of its possess. The rebuilt sleeper coaches, all with ensuite loos, merge first Edwardian options and fittings, with all the modern-day features you’d would expect from a 5 star remain – air-conditioning, scorching showers, hair dryers and a bar fridge crammed with your selection of drinks, like such ‘survival necessities’ as MCC (Méthode Cap Classique) Champagne. Befitting these kinds of a journey, you have a dedicated host/ess at your call and out there at all moments, as well as all-around the clock place company.

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The spacious suites, some of the most spacious train suites in the world. Each individual can accommodate two folks, and provide travellers the possibility to vacation in privacy, ease and comfort and luxury. There are a few variations visitors can pick out from (Royal, Deluxe, Pullman), just about every with varying levels of luxury.

Royal Suite – The Royal Suites are named just after vibrant characters of the Victorian Period in South Africa, together with Cecil John Rhodes and Alfred Beit, and are certainly fit for royalty! Getting up a generous 50 percent a carriage (all over 172 sq ft), they appear entire with their possess non-public lounge, and aspect an ensuite bathroom with shower and clawfoot Victorian bathtub – how frequently does a person have the possibility to have a soak in a complete-sized tub on a train?

Deluxe Suite – The Deluxe Suite is also sizable at 118 sq ft, with an ensuite lavatory with shower and a compact lounge region. It is very a decadent working experience to be in a position to lie in bed and watch the passing scenery slide past your window without exerting any effort and hard work in anyway!

Pullman Suite – The Pullman at 76 sq ft in dimensions, is excellent for shorter outings. For the duration of the day the suites have a comfortable couch seat which is converted to double or twin beds in the evenings, and the ensuite rest room has a shower.

Aside from the private guest sleeping quarters,  there are three lounge areas and a eating region on the teach. The lounges consist of a non-using tobacco lounge car or truck, a cigarette smoking lounge and the Observation Auto – deep sofas and wingback armchairs make for a at ease experience in any of the lounges, although you chill out and check out the stunning scenery roll previous. The Observation Auto, in the tail end of the practice, was definitely one particular of my favorite spots, and I loved the working experience of getting exterior even though the educate is relocating, looking back again the way we had occur – I discovered the site of teach tracks receding behind us decidedly mesmerizing.

Attendees are summoned to dine by a mini-xylophone, and dressing for dinner is predicted – males are necessary to costume in a jacket and tie and women at cocktail or night dresses.  This ceremonial ‘dressing for dinner’ makes the entire expertise feel special, and the food stuff is definitely worthy of the effort and hard work. Four-class foods are served in the wonderfully restored cherry-paneled, teakwood-pillared restaurant motor vehicle, with slash-crystal wine glasses, wonderful china, starched linen napkins, silver cutlery and seamless company.

When catering for a complete complement of company, within the restricted house of a train kitchen area car or truck, attaining a standard that rivals that of great eating places is a challenge. There is an emphasis on new, local elements. Traditional dishes these types of as sport meat are a specialty, and a variety of great wines from some of South Africa’s most renowned estates enhances the menu. Your tastebuds will be dealt with to a assortment of South African delights that contain Karoo lamb, bobotie, melktert and Cape brandy pudding. Substantial imagined and meticulous scheduling go into devising the menus, and an enthusiastic staff of cooks is accountable for overseeing the job of guaranteeing that all the friends enjoy the indulgence. I will have to say, a total stomach, wine, liqueur and the soporific rhythm of the coach surely allows lull you to slumber when you retire to your compartment after evening meal.

A total breakfast is served in the morning, with a selection of chilly meats, croissants and preserves as perfectly as dishes cooked to order, and lunch is one more four-study course meal, though a small lighter than meal.

In a collection of practice journeys ranging from 3 nights to a fortnight, Rovos Rail back links some of Africa’s biggest destinations – from Cape City, at the tip of Africa, to Dar es Salaam at the Indian Ocean in Tanzania, with surroundings as assorted as Kruger National Park to the Victoria Falls, from the desert landscapes of Namibia, to the stark splendor of the Karoo and the lush cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal

We were being travelling from Cape Town to Pretoria, a driving distance of 1,500km, normally just a a person hour flight, or an right away journey on a standard teach, but on Rovos Rail it takes a leisurely two and a half days of convenience, design and class.

The journey took us by way of Cape City and into the valleys and mountains of the Cape Winelands, just before crossing the mountain variety and getting into the extensive semi-desert of the Karoo, well known for its lamb, which would make an appearance on the menu that night time. Enroute, we disembarked at the tiny historic city of Matjiesfontein, an authentically preserved Victorian village on the fringe of the Karoo, which was launched as a refreshment cease in 1890 and was a renowned Victorian well being vacation resort the place all those suffering from lung problems uncovered respite in the distinct dry air. It was also a station for British troops through the Boer War (1899 – 1902) and the town’s historic buildings, like the Lord Milner Hotel, have been restored to their former glory.

The following day’s location was the diamond mining city of Kimberley, exactly where miners in the 1800s excavated the premier gentleman-built gap in the entire world, which descends a staggering 2,755ft under the earth. We paid out a go to to the Diamond Museum and learnt about the heady days of the diamond rush, prior to traveling to the ‘gift shop’, although sadly my husband could not be enticed to open his wallet! Kimberly is also house to the colonial ‘Kimberly Club’, where by Cecil Rhodes once dreamt of a railway line from Cape Town to Cairo, and all of Africa less than British rule.

Leaving the Karoo guiding, the tracks just take you via the savannah-like Highveld, prior to arriving the upcoming early morning in the city of Pretoria, the govt funds of South Africa and recognized for its beautiful, purple-flowering, jacaranda trees. We’ve attained the close of the line and our journey is finished.

Although the 3-night Cape Town journey is a vintage, if you’re sensation more adventurous or have extra time to spare, possibly decide for 1 of the other several routes on provide, like the fifteen-working day ‘Trail of Two Oceans’ itinerary, which starts off in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, crosses Zambia, traverses a sliver of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and concludes in Lobito, Angola. Rovos offer a sequence of train journeys long lasting something from 48 several hours to a fortnight, the Pleasure of Africa backlinks some of Africa’s finest places from Cape Town at the tip of Africa, to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, from scenic splendors as numerous as the sport reserves of Mpumalanga to the Victoria Falls, from the desert landscapes in Namibia, and the stark splendor of the Karoo, to the lush cane fields of KwaZulu-Natal – there is a myriad of itineraries to choose from.

Rail can be a person of the most indulgent and at ease ways to journey – with a spacious suite all to your self, you can move the days enjoyable, or mingling with fellow passengers, whilst the beauty of Southern Africa’s scenic landscapes passes by the window. This extravagant railway has been touring all through Africa for around thirty several years and provides one of the world’s most magnificent train journey ordeals, combining the golden age of rail journey with modern conveniences and supplying you the prospect to examine Africa in all the luxurious of a bygone period. If you extravagant stepping again into time, but in the utmost type, travelling throughout Africa’s large plains with Rovos Rail is the journey for you.