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Fish River CanyonGiraffes, Etosha National Park, NamibiaElephants at a waterhole, Etosha National ParkThe Itineraryand, in some places, 27 kilometres wide. Baboon, rock dassie, ground squirrel and klipspringer are often seen in the canyon, while the presence of leopard and mountain zebra is indicated by tracks left at waterholes. Enjoy the stunning views and the opportunity to take a short walk along the canyon%u2019s edge. We return to the train and depart for Aus. (B, L, D)Day 7 Kolmanskop & Luderitz. Today%u2019s tour begins with a bus ride to the ghost town of Kolmanskop, where the first diamonds were found in Namibia in 1908. Sparking a %u201cdiamond rush%u201d the town grew in the ensuing years, peaking in the 1920s, until the discovery of richer deposits further south. By the 1960s the population had left and the town is now at the mercy of the weather and encroaching sand dunes. Continue to the harbour town of Luderitz which was first landed by Portuguese mariners in the 15th century but it was not until 1883 when the land was bought by a wealthy merchant, Adolf Luderitz, that the town developed as part of German colonization of the region. A walk will see the Luderitz Museum and the colonial buildings including the Goerke Haus and Felsenkirche. Return to the train at Aus station as our private train continues on its journey north. (B, L, D)Day 8 Keetmanshoop & Quiver Tree Forest. Visit Garas Park where we will see the unique quiver trees and the interesting rock formations. The quiver tree is not really a tree, rather a plant of the genus aloe, as evident from its scientific name, and one of the few species of aloe that reaches tree proportions, it can grow seven to nine metres high. Return to the train and depart for Mariental. (B, L, D)Day 9 Sossusvlei. After breakfast we transfer to the airstrip for our specially chartered flights to the Namib-Naukluft Park. We will check into our overnight lodge and enjoy lunch before taking an afternoon drive in the desert. The dunes of the Namib Desert were created by sand carried by the wind from the coast of Namibia. The sand here is five million years old and is red in colour due to its iron-oxide content. As the lighting changes with the time of day, so does the appearance of the dunes%u2019 characteristic colour, allowing for interesting photographs at any time. The wind in the Sossusvlei area blows from all directions which means that the type of the dunes here are known as %u201cstar dunes%u201d. A special dinner will be served in the desert before we return to our lodge for an overnight stay. (B, L, D)Day 10 Sossusvlei & Windhoek. Awake at dawn and take an early morning drive into the desert enjoying breakfast in the vlei. Later this morning we return to the airstrip for our specially chartered flights to Windhoek where the train has travelled to meet us. Situated in Namibia%u2019s central highlands, Windhoek is an attractive city surrounded by clusters of hills and the impressive Auas and Eros Mountains. The city tour of Windhoek starts with a visit to the TransNamib Transport Museum. The museum is situated in the Windhoek Railway Station and was built from 1912 to 1913. In front of Day 1 London to Johannesburg, South Africa. Fly by scheduled flight.Day 2 Pretoria. Arrive into Johannesburg this morning and transfer to our hotel in Pretoria for an overnight stay. This afternoon we will walk to the Union Buildings designed by the famous colonial English architect, Sir Herbert Baker. Completed in 1913, it now houses the offices of the President and Ministers and the buildings overlook the city towards the once fortified hills to the south. A grand bronze statue of %u201cOom Paul (Kruger)%u201d, the patriarch president of the ZAR or old Transvaal Republic, surrounded by his Boer fighters, dominates Church Square at the centre of the city. We return to the hotel and enjoy a welcome dinner this evening. (D)Day 3 Board Rovos Rail in Pretoria. After breakfast we transfer to the Rovos Rail station at Capital Park in Pretoria which, once a bustling hub of steam locomotion in the old Transvaal is now the headquarters for Rovos Rail. We will have the opportunity to tour this gracious, colonial-style railway station and the ever-expanding railway museum. The eyes of rail enthusiasts will be drawn to the vast carriage and locomotive sheds where teams of dedicated personnel keep the rolling stock in perfect order. We board our train in the late morning and travel south across the goldfields of the Witwatersrand. Take lunch and dinner on the train as we continue towards Kimberley. (B, L, D)Day 4 Kimberley. This morning we will reach the historical train station of Kimberley, the city of diamonds. At the end of the 19th century, the town experienced a real diamond rush, from which the diamond empire of De Beers emerged. On arrival, view the famous Big Hole, once the largest diamond mine in the world and visit the lovingly restored original buildings of Kimberley%u2019s Belle Epoque. After lunch on the train we spend the afternoon crossing the Karoo, a vast semi-desert region that was once an inland sea. (B, L, D)Day 5 Upington. We arrive into Upington, which the railway reaches by means of a bridge 1067 metres long, the second longest bridge in South Africa. Sir Thomas Upington, attorney general of the Cape, was the man principally responsible for liquidating the business activities of the 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. After a walking tour of the city we will join a sundowner cruise on the Orange River. This evening we will make our way across the Namibia border (B, L, D) Day 6 Fish River Canyon, Namibia. Over lunch we arrive in Holoog for our visit to the Fish River Canyon, second only to the Grand Canyon in Arizona in geological importance. Eroded over many millennia, the canyon is the second largest natural gorge in Africa, 161 kilometres long, 549 metres deep