Palace Tours - Luxury Tours Collection 20 Wall Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA Telephone: +1-800-724- 5120 Call Us 1-800-724-5120 The Dune Express On this magnificent rail journey explore the glorious landscape of Namibia - a beautiful country of extreme contrasts, vast colorful deserts, dunes, extra-terrestrial rock formations, great game reserves, delightful coastal towns with old world German hospitality, bushman settlements and the wind vitality of the south Atlantic seaboard. This spectacular 12-day journey starts in Pretoria and winds its way to the coast of Namibia, a country of compelling beauty, abundant sunshine and seemingly endless space. First stop is Kimberley for a visit to the Big Hole and diamond mine museum village before continuing on to Upington for a walking tour and wine tasting. After crossing the border, guests visit the Fish River Canyon, second in size to the Grand Canyon, followed by tours of historical towns Lüderitz, Kolmanskop and Keetmanshoop. Day seven sees guests overnighting at a Sossusvlei lodge, surrounded by the dramatic dunes of the Namib-Naukluft Park, with visits to the natural Sesriem Canyon and the 170m-high star-dune “45”. The train then leaves the vast stillness of the Kalahari Desert for a city tour of Windhoek. On day ten guests travel to the Etosha National Park for an overnight stay with game-viewing activities before ending the journey in the quaint seaside town of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. Itinerary Day 1 - Your journey starts in Johanesburg Join the Shongololo Express at 3 PM. The train departs from Rovos Rail Station in Pretoria for Kingswood for our overnight stop. Day 2 - Visit the incredible Augrabies National Park Visit the Big Hole and Diamond Mine Museum in Kimberley. Return to the train in Kimberley and depart for Upington. Enjoy lunch on board. Day 3 - Enjoy exploring Fish River Canyon Morning tour of Upington and wine tasting at Belazel Brandy & Wine Cellar. The train departs Upington for Nakop for border formalities with Namibia. Enjoy lunch on board. Overnight in Holoog. Day 4 - Fish River Canyon Morning visit to the Fish River Canyon, the largest in the southern hemisphere. Return to the train and depart for Aus for overnight. Enjoy lunch on board. Day 5 - The ghost town of Kolmanskop Full-day tour of the ghost town Kolmanskop and Lüderitz, well known for its colonial architecture and wildlife. The train departs for Keetmanshoop for overnight. Day 6 - Keetmanshoop Morning tour of Keetmanshoop. See the Giant’s Playground with its 20km-long dolerite dykes as well as Quiver Tree Forest, home to 300 species of the Aloe dichotomy. Return to the train and depart for Mariental. Enjoy lunch on board. Day 7 - Namib-Naukluft Park Transfer to a Sossusvlei lodge in the Namib-Naukluft Park. Visit the Sesriem Canyon, shaped over millions of years by the Tsauchab River. Overnight at lodge. The Dune Express(© www.palacetours.com) 1/13 Day 8 - Sunrise @ Dune 45 Enjoy sunrise from Dune 45 followed by brunch at the lodge. Take a scenic drive through the Namib-Naukluft Park. The train departs for Rehoboth for overnight. Day 9 - Enjoy the gems of Namibia City tour of Windhoek. See the Trans-Namib Transport Museum, the Alte Feste (Old Fortress), the Evangelical Lutheran Church – a striking landmark – and the Namibia Craft Centre in the old Breweries Building. Return to the train and depart for Otjiwarongo. Enjoy lunch on board. Day 10 - Etosha National Park Transfer to a lodge in Etosha National Park. Enjoy game-viewing activities. Overnight at lodge. Day 11 - Game Drive Enjoy a morning game drive before checking out and returning to the train. Rejoin the train in Otjiwarongo and depart for Kranzberg for overnight. Day 12 - End of Tour Arrive at Walvis Bay Station where your tour ends. Check out of the train. Destination Information Augrabies Falls National Park Few sights are as awesome or a sound as deafening as water thundering down the 56-m Augrabies Waterfall when the Orange River is in full flood. The Khoi people called it 'Aukoerebis', or place of Great Noise, as this powerful flow of water is unleashed from rocky surroundings characterized by the 18-km abyss of the Orange River Gorge. Picturesque names such as Moon Rock, Ararat and Echo Corner are descriptive of this rocky region. Klipspringer and kokerboom (quiver trees) stand in stark silhouette against the African sky, silent sentinels in a strangely unique environment where only those that are able to adapt ultimately survive. The 55 383 hectares on both the northern and southern sides of the Orange River provide sanctuary to a diversity of species, from the very smallest succulents, birds and reptiles to springbok, gemsbok and giraffe. Aus Aus is a village in Karas Region in southern Namibia. It lies on a railway line and the B4 national road, 230 km west of Keetmanshoop and about 125 km east of Lüderitz. Trains from Keetmanshoop now terminate at the village but formerly continued on to Lüderitz. The village is small but has a number of amenities including a hotel, police station, shop and garage. It is located in the Aus Mountains above the plains of the Namib Desert. The climate is usually hot and arid but snow has been recorded in winter. Cape Cross Seal Reserve. Cape Cross Seal Reserve is situated 150 km north of Swakopmund on the west coast of Namibia. The reserve is the home of one of the largest colonies of Cape Fur Seals in the world. The name refers to the large stone cross erected in the area by Portuguese settlers in the 16th century. Etosha National Park It was proclaimed as Namibia's first conservation area in 1907 by the then German Government. Consisting of saline desert, Savannah and woodlands the National Park is one of the largest Game Reserves in Africa. Its definitive feature is the Etosha Pan, a vast, shallow depression of approximately 5000 sq km, which for most part of the year is a bleak expanse of white cracked mud, which shimmers with mirages. The salt pan fills with water briefly in the summer months, when it attracts pelicans and flamingos in particular. Also attract a variety of animals, including Black Rhinoceros and Black Face Impala. The Dune Express(© www.palacetours.com) 2/13 Fish River Canyon The Fish River Canyon is located in Namibia. It is one of the largest canyons in the world (definitely the largest in Africa), as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia. It features a gigantic ravine, in total about 100 mi (160 km) long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 meters deep. The Fish River is the longest interior river in Namibia, but its flow in the present is a puny trickle compared with the immense volume of water that poured down its length in ages past. It cuts deep into the plateau which is today dry, stony and sparsely covered with hardy drought resistant plants such as succulents. The river flows intermittently, usually coming down in flood in late summer, and when it ceases to flow it becomes a chain of long narrow pools on the sandy rock-strewn floor of the chasm. At the lower end of the Fish River Canyon, the hot springs resort of Ai-Ais provides an oasis in the desolate rocky wastes. Henties Bay Henties Bay is a coastal town in Erongo Region, Namibia. It is located 70 km north of Swakopmund and is an important holiday settlement. 70 kilometres to the north of the town is the seal colony of Cape Cross. The town has 3,300 inhabitants and owns 121 square kilometres (47 sq mi) of land. Johannesburg Known as eGoli (place of gold),it is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa. The city is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world, and Africa's only officially designated global city. It houses the South African Constitutional Court - South Africa's highest court. It has the source of a large-scale gold and diamond trade, due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills. The city is considered as a transit point for connecting flights to Cape Town, Durban, and the Kruger National Park. It has many attractions places such as the Apartheid Museum, Gold Reef City- a large amusement park, and The Johannesburg Zoo. Also have several art museums, such as the Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Mandela Museum. Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a city in Karas Region, southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and founder of the city. Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was known as Nu-gouses, which means "Black Marsh" and indicated the presence of a spring in the area. In 1860 the Rhenish Missionary Society founded a mission there to christianize the local Nama. The first missionary, Johann Georg Schröder, arrived in Keetmanshoop on April 14, 1866, which is now marked as the founding date of Keetmanshoop. The mission station was named after the German trader Johann Keetman who supported the mission financially, but never actually visited the place himself. Kolmanskop Just outside of Lüderitz lies the ghost town of Kolmanskop. This previously bustling diamond town is now abandoned, and fights a constant struggle against being buried under the shifting sand dunes of the Namib Desert. Luderitz Lüderitz is a harbor town in southern Namibia, lying on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It was founded in 1883; Lüderitz began its life as a trading post, with other activities in fishing and guano-harvesting.