Arrive into Cape Town where you will be met and transferred to the 5 star Cape Grace Hotel, a member of the Small Leading Hotels of the World. Set on its own private quay on Cape Town’s vibrant Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, all 121 rooms have views of the V&A harbour or yacht marina with a Table Mountain backdrop. This evening we enjoy a Welcome Dinner.

This morning we board Rovos Rails’ Pride of Africa train at Cape Town station. We spend the day on board the train climbing to the small town of Caledon through the spectacular Sir Lowry’s and Houwhoek Passes, on one of South Africa’s most scenic lines.

Visit the Outeniqua Railway Museum at George displaying 13 historic steam locomotives before we travel on South Africa’s only remaining scheduled steam train, the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe. The Choo Tjoe offers its passengers a unique, picturesque and scenic 52-kilometre journey experiencing the Garden Route with spectacular views of the Indian Ocean.

From George we climb steeply away from the coast to the Montague Pass in the Drakensberg Mountains on our way to Oudtshoorn where we visit the Cango Ostrich Farm. In the afternoon we pass through the Tourwaterpoort Canyon.

This morning we visit the Addo Elephant Reserve sanctuary home to over 450 elephants, Cape buffalo, black rhino and a variety of antelope species.

Located on the banks of the Orange River in Northern Cape, we visit the town of Upington, our final stop in South Africa. We then cross the border late morning into Namibia and after lunch we visit Fish River Canyon, located in the lower reaches of the Fish River, the longest river in Namibia. With a depth of up to 550 metres, the Fish River Canyon is reputedly the second largest canyon in the world, after the Grand Canyon in America.

This morning we visit to former diamond mining village and now ghost town of Kolmanskop before spending the afternoon traversing some of the planet’s most spectacular desert scenery as we head up through the Tiras Mountains.

Taking a 4 hour drive to Namibia’s largest Sand Dunes we spend overnight off the train at the Sossusvlei Lodge. Pre-bookable optional hot air balloon trips over the dunes will be available during our stay.

Rejoining the train we cross the Tropic of Capricorn before we arrive in Windhoek. Influenced by its German colonial past, Windhoek is the capital of Namibia and is located in a beautiful valley bordered by the Eros and Auas Mountains.

The special attraction of Walvisbaai (meaning Whale Bay) situated on the Skeleton Coast is the huge natural lagoon with its overwhelming abundance of seabirds including cormorants and flamingos and is perhaps the most important coastal wetland in Southern Africa.

Situated on the Atlantic Coast, we approach Swakopmund through the Namib Desert and is an excellent preserved example of German colonial architecture. There will be an option to take a flight over the Skeleton Coast, named for all the shipwrecks that are beached on these inaccessible and remote shores. This coastline is one of the most inhospitable and least visited places on earth.

This morning we arrive in the mining town of Tsumeb and the gateway to Etosha, meaning Great White Place. It is one of Southern Africa’s finest and most important Game Reserves with abundant wildlife including elephant, giraffe, rhino, lion, leopard and cheetah. We will have an afternoon game drive before returning to the train for dinner.

Early morning and afternoon game drives before our train departs for the Angolan border and our farewell dinner on board.

During the night we traverse a new line to the Angolan border at Oshikango. It is planned that the line will continue into Angola but for now we will cross the border on foot to visit Namacunde on the Angolan side for a short tour. We will then retrace our steps to Odangwa where we bid farewell to the ‘Pride of Africa’ and transfer to the airport where our Private Business Class jet will be waiting to fly us to Victoria Falls. On arrival we transfer to the Royal Livingstone, Victoria Falls most elegant and luxurious hotel located on the banks of the Zambezi a couple of hundred yards upstream from the cataract where it thunders into the Batoka Gorge for a 2 night stay. We take a sunset cruise on the immense Zambezi River.

Today we have a variety of optional activities at this beautiful location including helicopter rides, a guided tour of Victoria Falls, river rafting, bungee jumping, a visit to the local craft market and afternoon tea at the elegant Victoria Falls Hotel on the Zimbabwe side.

We continue our journey northwards and arrive in Blantyre, the largest city in Malawi where we stay for 1 night at Hotel Mount Soche. Blantyre is named after the home town of David Livingstone in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

This morning we board our aircraft for the 1½ hour flight to Arusha. We then drive to the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge which is perched on the edge of the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater at the eastern edge of the Serengeti in northern Tanzania, where we stay for two nights. After an evening drink enjoying the magnificent views of the crater we have dinner and stay overnight at the Lodge.

Early morning we descend 2,000 feet (610m) to the crater floor as we go on a fascinating game drive, before returning to the hotel for lunch. Afternoon is at leisure followed by dinner at the Lodge.

Breakfast is taken at the Lodge before we transfer to a luxury Serengeti tented camp built especially for us where we have lunch before an afternoon game drive at the. Declared a World Heritage Site, Serengeti, meaning Endless Plains, is exceptionally rich in wildlife and almost every great African animal can be found here including the ‘Big Five’. Dinner and overnight is at the camp.

Rejoining our private jet in Arusha we fly to Bujumbura where we have the opportunity to tour the Burundi capital which lies on the north-eastern corner of Lake Tanganyika. We then fly onto the Rwandan capital of Kigali for a 2 night stay at the Serena Hotel Kigali.

We have the opportunity for a close-up encounter with the endangered mountain gorillas of Rwanda which is arguably one of the memorable wildlife experiences of them all. There is a long and arduous trek to their mountain habitat but ultimately rewarding to spend even a short time with these magnificent creatures.

Today we cross the equator on our flight from Kigali to Addis where we spend a night at the Addis Ababa Hilton. The colourful city has some lively markets and worthy attractions, most notably the Ethiopian National Museum.

We depart at lunchtime from Addis Ababa to Djibouti for an afternoon visit of this city bordering the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden before we continue onto Asmara in Eritrea where we overnight at the Intercontinental Asmara.

Following a full day in the Italian-inspired city of Asmara with its pavement cafes, tree-lined boulevards and boutiques we fly to Aswan where we will spend 2 nights at the luxurious and newly refurbished Old Cateract Hotel. Constructed by Thomas Cook in 1899, this historical hotel with its rich and varied guest list provided Agatha Christie part-inspiration for the best selling book ‘Death on the Nile’.

In Aswan the Nile is at its most striking, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, around islands covered in tropical plants and palm groves. Discover the souk, full of the colour and scent of spices and perfumes and in the evening view the spectacular sunsets while having drinks on the terrace at the Old Cataract Hotel.

This morning we board the luxury cruise ship MS Eugenie which will be for our exclusive use for the next 3 nights as we cruise Lake Nasser, formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam. After lunch we visit the Kalabsha temple, the rock cut temple at Beit El Wali and the Roman temple of Kertassi.

A morning visit is made to the temples of Amada and Derr as well as the tomb of Penout, before we visit the citadel of Kasr Ibrim. (Note: the tour is conducted from the ship's sundeck as entrance to the site is not permitted). Continue to cruise to Abu Simbel as lunch served on board. In the afternoon we visit the Abu Simbel temples before we attend the Sound & Light show in the evening. A candlelight dinner is served on our final night on board.

Breakfast is on board before our disembarkation. We depart from Abu Simbel for a 1 hour scheduled flight to Cairo where we will be staying at the Four Seasons First Residence Hotel for 2 nights, with its views of both the Nile and the Great Pyramids. In the afternoon we visit the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

Today we have a morning tour of the amazing Giza Pyramids and Sphinx. After lunch we take an afternoon tour of Saqqara and Memphis. This evening we celebrate the end of our African Voyage of a Lifetime with a Farewell Dinner in the hotel.