Rovos Rail Train Safari: Namibia to South Africa on Rails

Probably one of the gay-friendliest ways to explore Southern Africa. It is hard to find the right words to describe our first-ever Africa experience, especially because we choose an entirely new way of traveling for us by boarding a train from Rovos Rail. Starting at the Namibian Atlantic coast in Walvis Bay, we traveled on railway tracks through Namibia entering South Africa on our way to Pretoria, South Africa’s capital city. Our nine-day train journey through endless no-mans-land, rural inhabited savanna regions, windy dunes, and the protected National Parks of Namibia turned out to be one of our biggest gay travel adventures ever. Join us on an LGBTQ+ friendly train journey ‘Rovos Rail Namibia Train Safari’ and experience the southern part of Africa with photos, videos, stories, tips, and info through a Couple of Men‘s eyes.

Rovos Rail Train Safari Namibia & South Africa

We are sitting in the last car of the ‘Pride of Africa’ train of Rovos Rail drinking Ginger Ale on the rocks, listening to African music, and soaking in the view out of the lounge car’s panorama windows. It is difficult to concentrate on writing today. Our attention gets continuously distracted by the wide South African savannah we pass through on our way to Pretoria and the countless springboks passing by on their way to the next waterhole. The past couple of days on our Namibia – South Africa Train Safari are hard to describe but have been undoubtedly wonderful. While enjoying the luxury of a 5-star hotel on train tracks, we joined multiple day trips like our safaris in Etosha National Park or our hike on top of Big Daddy in the desert of Sossusvlei.

As an openly gay couple traveling, we could have never imagined finding a way to explore the beauty of Africa in such a safe, comfortable, relaxed, and gay-friendly way. This journey reunites the best of Namibia and South Africa in one trip of 3.450 kilometers by train. We still have to pinch ourselves again and again that we are actually traveling through Africa. It is the seventh of nine days on the tracks, and we are already getting sad about leaving the Vos family so soon again. Rovos Rail, the family-founded, owned and operated luxury train company from South Africa which started with a dream thirty years ago, is today successfully running what they proudly call ‘The Most Luxurious Train Journeys in the World’. And we couldn’t agree more! Let’s show you why.

Good to know about Rovos Rail’s Namibia Safari

Before we will give you a detailed overview of our 9-days Southern Africa Train Safari, we would like to start with some general information about the route, the cabins, the food, and some general advice you should keep in mind before booking and during your trip. We stayed in a 10 sq meters lengthways double Deluxe Suite with ensuite bathroom and shower. The cabin offers enough space for at least two suitcases per person. The bed was turned into a lounge corner during the day and into a comfortable bed for the night. The ensuite minibar will be stuffed with drinks you wish to have in your room (complimentary) although we had a 24 hours room service for food and drinks throughout the whole trip. Actually, everything you need for the perfect gaycation in Africa.

• Things you can take home: Rovos Rail overnight bag each, Rovos Rail toilet bags each, Rovos Rail slippers each (for the excursions)
• Things you can use complementary during the trip: bathrobes, travel adaptors, any drinks/ food (onboard the Pride of Africa)
• Included in the trip package: Excursion transportations incl. bus & flights, hotel stays plus meals/ drinks stated in the itinerary, 24 hours room service, laundry service

Meals & Drinks during the Africa Journey

Were you ever made aware that dinner is served by the soothing sounds of someone walking by your room, playing a lovely melody on a xylophone? On the Rovos Rail train, it means time to eat! Especially for Daan, it is important to point out the cuisine onboard. During the boarding process, the kitchen chef visited our cabin to ensure that she was aware of all dietary requirements for the journey.

Daan was excited and super happy about that, since being a vegetarian during our travels isn’t always easy for him. For lunch, the kitchen always served a 3-course, and for dinner, a 4-course menu made out of a mix of local ingredients, herbs, cheese, and meat. Everything, seriously everything was unexceptionally delicious and served with the best wines  (or in our case, beers) mainly from Africa. And every time Daan got a perfect vegetarian alternative. Bon Appetit!

Day 1: Boarding the ‘Pride of Africa’ in Walvis Bay

We have been pretty excited prior to our Southern Africa Train Safari with Rovos Rail, to be totally honest with you. Especially since it was our first train trip with an overnight stay onboard. We should learn quickly, that all concerns have been obsolete. From the first steps through Walvisbay Station to our first glimpse into the dining cars, our deluxe double bed suite Eckman and the observation car all the way at the end of the train, we felt instantly at home entering perfectly restored cars with a late nineteen-hundreds, an early 20th-century interior design which truly is an art form in itself.

During the restoration process of the coaches, the team around Rohan Vos, train fanatic and founder of Rovos Rail paid particular attention to space maximization which results in large (double) beds and ensuite bathrooms. After the train manager’s introduction of the staff and some first tips for the itinerary of the Namibia Safari, it was time to get on board and start enjoying Southern Africa in a luxurious way with stunning views. Our Africa journey began…

Day 2 & 3: Etosha National Park – Namibia

To be totally frank with you, during our first night onboard the ‘Pride of Africa’ train, it wasn’t that easy for us to find some good sleep due to the continuously moving train. But let us ensure you, we quickly got used to it after the first two nights or so. On our second day after a rich breakfast on board, we departed with two buses to Etosha National Park, one of Africa’s best nature reserves for game drives and animal watching safaris, especially during sunset and sunrise.

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Day 4 & 5: Sossusvlei National Park – Namibia

We had a rough second night back onboard the train due to some pretty bumpy rail tracks. But that’s actually part of the experience, adding an exciting touch to our Southern Africa adventure. No time to waste sleeping anyway since Namibia has some seriously spectacular natural wonders to offer. Among them, the dunes and desert of Sossusvlei. To get there is an adventure in itself. The next day, we arrived in Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia, early in the morning. And already on our fourth morning, we had developed quite an efficient routine to get ready for breakfast, to pack our backpacks, and to get our Rovos Rail overnight bags for the day.

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Day 6: Fish River Canyon & Garas Park – Namibia

Garas Park and the Quiver trees

Getting up early is part of the trip, and we promise you, you will get used to it! So, on day six, after a delicious breakfast (the menu is changing slightly every day), we boarded the bus heading towards Garas Park. Then, unexpectedly, hidden in the middle of nowhere, unique volcanic rock formations with curious-looking trees appeared in the Namibian Savannah, also known as the Giant’s Playground.

A seriously magical place for our first excursion of the day. The Quiver Tree Forest is special to this place, saving liters and liters of water in the uniquely structured trunk and branches. The biggest trees you will see below in our photos are several hundreds of years old. It takes a long time for them to grow slowly centimeter by centimeter every year.

Fish River Canyon – 2nd biggest Canyon in the world

Back onboard the Rovos Rail train, we enjoyed once again a wonderful lunch menu, getting some rest on our journey towards Holoog. So, what’s special about this place? Well, besides its importance for the history of this south Namibian region, for us, it is the time and place to disembark for a 45-minute bus ride over gravel roads towards the world’s second-biggest canyon formation Fish River Canyon.

Once we reached the main viewing point at the edge of the Fish River’s Canyon, we had time to explore the nearby hiking trails to get the best view inside the deep river valley with some small waters left from the rain season. The sunset was stunning while having a cold beverage provided by Rovos Rail’s mobile bar. The deeply red-colored sky of today’s sunset was the perfect ending to our adventurous and exciting days in Namibia, particularly the southern part of the Kalahari Desert.

Day 7: Relaxing on board the Rovos Rail Train

Our next stop: South Africa. We crossed the border from Namibia to South Africa during the night. But we haven’t had to take care of it on our own. The crew made sure everything went smoothly at the border while the passengers, including us, could sleep into this trip’s first South Africa morning. The seventh and eighth days, the final days of our trip, can be described by long talks with fellow travelers from Germany, Israel, the UK, the United States of America, the Netherlands, China, and Costa Rica. And of course, we spend hours observing the continuously changing environment along our train journey and relaxed evenings with drinks and music getting to know the crew and their family-like connection to Rovos Rail.

One of the highlights was undoubtedly Africa Day when countries like Namibia celebrate their independence from the European colonists. Dressed in colorful traditional African clothes, we spent the evening of the 25th May, dancing and singing to African music. Meanwhile, we learned some phrases of the Afrikaans language and gazed for the best view of the uncountable stars of the dark African sky from the observation car. African gaycation at its best.

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Day 8: Kimberley and it’s New Rush – South Africa

Before we arrived at the final destination of the Namibia Safari through Southern Africa, we passed through the town of Kimberley, known for its history of the New Rush, the South African diamond rush. Like the gold rush in the USA (read more about the ghost town Bodie in California), the hunt for diamonds attracted thousands of settlers and early colonists from Europe trying their luck in uncoordinated diamond mining. But, unfortunately, the exploitation of the treasures did not happen in a strategic and planned way leaving many victims of poverty, diseases, and crime behind. And then industrialization changed and centralized diamond mining totally.

Today, Kimberley is the lively capital city of the South African state Northern Cape and home to a diamond museum dedicated to the geologically and historically background of the diamond rush and the unique developments in Southern African geology and the famous Big Hole. So if you are not into a 1,5 hours short story of a bygone, difficult time, you are more than welcome to skip the trip and stay onboard the train. But our journey wasn’t over yet. On our last 400 kilometers from Kimberley to Pretoria through the Karoo, we passed by the Kamfers Dam lake, home to thousands of pink Flamingos. An unparalleled spectacle which we witnessed right out of our deluxe suite window.

Day 9: Rovos Rail Headquarters in Pretoria

And there we were: Around noon, we finally arrived in Pretoria at the private Rovos Rail Station in Capital Park, the once-bustling hub of steam locomotion. The gracious railway station serves as the new departure or arrival point for all train journeys to and from Pretoria, depending on which direction the journey’s route will bring you.

Part of the building is a small railway museum, a shop with some Rovos Rail souvenirs, and facilities (showers, toilets, etc.) for the LGBTQ+ train traveler of today. Before we departed from Johannesburg International Airport back home, we had some extra time to spare. We used it to explore the area by joining a tour behind the scenes to the vast carriage and locomotive sheds.

To maintain the quality of the trains, teams of local and international personnel keep the rolling stock order, which seems an easy task at the first moment, but can get quite challenging when it comes to parts of the old steam locomotives that need to be replaced but are not produced anymore. The roofed workshop of 10 000 sq meters straddles up to 15 railway lines with concrete inspection pits. Below is the repair and maintenance facility for any Rovos Rail train operation.

The low, red-bricked buildings alongside the 300-meter platform are home to laundries, gleaming stainless-steel kitchens, and storerooms with all amenities we loved during the trip, including the luxury, natural and eco-friendly skincare products by Africology. Especially for train enthusiasts, Rovos Rail headquarters will be an interesting last (or first) part of your gay-friendly train journey.

LGBTQ+ Gay-friendly History of Rovos Rail

We were not the only LGBTQ+ travelers onboard the Pride of Africa on our Southern Africa Train Safari. A German gay couple from Hamburg, one gay guide, and one gay historian from Rovos Rail were part of the passenger list. From them, we learned about the gay-friendly history and open mindset of the Rovos Rail family and the complex past of Southern Africa as colonies. Onboard, everyone is welcome and treated equally despite sexual orientation, gender identity, or nationality, from the first steps onto the train to the goodbye at the end of a trip.

The staff itself is a mixed group of Southern Africans of different origins who are unexceptionally (gay-) friendly, genuinely open-minded, and, at any point during the journey, helpful with a good portion of humor. The last day of our Southern Africa Train Safari to Pretoria was all about saying goodbye, exchanging numbers and email addresses, swapping pictures and videos, and planning the next Rovos Rail adventure. One thing for sure: It was definitely not our last trip with Rovos Rail. We got hungry to explore more of the wonders of the African continent.

Please note: Our Southern Africa Train Safari was made possible in close collaboration with Rovos Rail, KLM, and Incento. A special thanks for tips and support goes to our wonderful readers, followers, new and old friends from all over the world and South Africa. Nevertheless, our texts, photos, videos, and our opinion are our own, as always.