The Most Luxurious Train in the World - Rovos Rail

Sep 17
07:08

2008

Claire Dinnie

Claire Dinnie

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Next year, 2009 sees the twentieth anniversary of a man’s dream, a dream based on irrepressible passion to create what has become the most luxurious steam train experience in the World. Rohan Vos has done exactly this and as we found out, he not only created this for himself but for his dedicated and supportive team as well.

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Back in 1986,The Most Luxurious Train in the World - Rovos Rail Articles Rohan along with friend Phil Acutt attended an auction of railway carriages. The seed had been planted in Rohan's mind, he along with Phil would restore and rebuild these magnificent custodians of a bygone era into authentic replicas of steam travel within Africa. Lofty ideals without doubt but this is where the experience & knowledge of Geoff Pethick came to the party. As a team, an ever growing team of enthusiasts, eager amateurs, family and admirers, the fabric of Springbok Steam Safaris, a name vetoed by the authorities, emerged as Rovos Rail.

Romantic, convivial, historic, authentic without a shade of doubt but along with these superlatives came a fair share of challenges. The cost of restoring not only the coaches but steam engines, maintaining the high standard set by Rohan himself often required the man of vision to seek advise and support from the ever growing team of supporters of his often scorned initiative. Very much guest driven is one of the key aspects found within Rovos Rail.

What will you experience as a guest on board Rovos Rail? Well for an investment of US$28K you and your partner will witness and partake in their annual Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam Grand Tour. Fourteen days of unique and hugely diverse vistas, crossing four countries in unbridled luxury the essence of Africa literally unfolds before your eyes. Attention to detail is part of the norm, your Rovos Rail management team will know instinctively your internal time clock, your need for privacy mingled with the need to be social. Off train excursions are designed to extend your knowledge and experience in a number of divergent ways. Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the Worlds and a World Heritage Site awaits you, history and culture as old as the sands of time come into vivid reality. Africa will wow you !

Rohan and his inimitable creative team have developed a very special tour to celebrate the ultimate journey, Cape to Cairo in 2010. This once in a life time opportunity spans the length of Africa. Commencing in January 2010 here in Cape Town incorporating both rail and vintage Rovos aircraft, the better part of one month will see each of their privileged guest’s span eight countries between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. This journey is designed for the traveler who has ‘’done’‘ everything else and now wishes to experience an in depth sojourn at world class safari properties, absorb the magnanimity of African deserts where the colour spectrum is repainted every day, to places where history and culture has shrugged off the mantle of the western time frame dogma finally settling each invigorated guest in one of the most populated cities in Africa, Cairo. Pyramids, Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities awaits. This twenty eight day journey could be called unique, this would however be a hopeless understatement of reality. It will be an opportunity to understand how a man of unrivalled vision seeks to impart his passion of superlative travel in Africa with others. For the fortunate few who take time to do this, it will reinforce the greatness of life in Our Africa.

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