The Namibian Explorer (Cape town to Victoria Falls) 2011 

We depart London on Day 1 on a flight to Cape Town, arriving on the morning of Day 2. We transfer to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront Hotel where we stay for two nights. The rest of your day is free to explore Cape Town at leisure, including the opportunity to make a cable-car ascent of Table Mountain, one of South Africa's most famous landmarks. We enjoy a welcome dinner in the hotel this evening.

Today we travel along the coast to Simonstown and visit the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, home to the only indigenous penguin in Africa. We then travel on to Cape Point and enjoy the spectacle of the Cape of Good Hope.

Following a free morning in Cape Town, we take an early afternoon internal flight to Pretoria, where we board our luxury train - the Pride of Africa. After settling into your cabin we enjoy a welcome dinner on board. Our six-night adventure on the Pride of Africa begins late afternoon.

The first stop of our journey is in Kimberley, famous for its diamond mining history. We visit 'The Big Hole' mine museum - a recreated townscape and museum which houses a rich collection of artefacts from the early days of the city.

Today we visit Upington, our final stop in South Africa, located on the banks of the Orange River in the Northern Cape. We then cross the border into Namibia, enjoying lunch on board before visiting Fish River Canyon, reputedly the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in North America.

Today we traverse some of the planet's most spectacular desert scenery before arriving at the coastal town of Luderitz. Just outside the town we visit the former diamond mining village of Kolmanskop, which is now a ghost town.

We reach Namibia's famous landmark, The Sossusvlei, a huge clay pan enclosed by giant sand dunes. Some of the spectacular hills of sand reach heights of 300 metres making them the highest in the world. The best time to view Sossusvlei is at sunrise when the colours are strong and constantly changing affording excellent photographic opportunities. Here we spend one night off the train at Sossusvlei Lodge.

Today there is an opportunity to pre-book an optional hot air balloon ride (payable locally) over the dunes before we continue our rail journey. We cross the Tropic of Capricorn before arriving at Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, set in a beautiful valley bordered by the Eros and Auas Mountains.

Walvisbaai, on the Skeleton Coast, is famous for the huge natural lagoon which hosts an abundance of sea birds including cormorants, pelicans, and flamingos and is perhaps the most important coastal wetland in Southern Africa. The afternoon we visit Swakopmund, with well preserved examples of German colonial architecture. There is an opportunity to take an optional flight (payable locally) over the Skeleton Coast, named as such for all the shipwrecks that are beached on the inaccessible and remote shores. Tonight we have our farewell dinner on board the Pride of Africa.

This morning we leave the Pride of Africa behind and transfer by coach to the 5-star Kempinski Mokuti Lodge for a two-night stay, located at the gateway to the Etosha National Park. Etosha, meaning "Great White Place", is one of Southern Africa's finest Game reserves with abundant wildlife including elephants, giraffes, rhinos, lions, leopards and cheetahs. We spend Day 12 in Etosha National Park enabling us to experience the contrasts of early morning and evening game drives.

After enjoying lunch in Etosha, we transfer to the airport by coach for a flight to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. On arrival we transfer to the elegant 5-star Victoria Falls Hotel for one night. Popularly known as the 'Grand Old Lady of the Falls', the hotel is only a 10-minute walk from the falls via its own private pathway. This evening we take a sunset cruise on the immense Zambezi River, just upstream from the magnificent falls, home to an abundance of crocodiles and hippo.

Victoria Falls, the "smoke that thunders" is one of the world's natural wonders and the largest "curtain" of water in the world. This morning you are free to explore the falls at leisure, with a variety of optional activities available, including helicopter rides, guided tour of the Falls or a visit to the local craft market. This afternoon we take a flight to Johannesburg and transfer to the 5-star Sheraton Pretoria for the final night of the holiday.

We are pleased to announce, that David Mellor PC QC will be Guest Speaker on this tour.

David Mellor was born in Wareham, Dorset in 1949. After graduating from Christ's College Cambridge, he was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1972, but decided to pursue a career in politics.

David won the marginal seat of Putney from Labour in 1979, and increased his majority at three successive elections. He served in the Governments of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1981 and 1992. He worked in six different Departments of State, including each of the big three - the Home Office, the Foreign Office, and the Treasury.

Since leaving the Government David Mellor has pursued a multi-faceted career as a Businessman, Broadcaster and Journalist. As well as being Chairman of his own property company, he has presented more than 500 programmes for BBC National Radio, and hosted two seasons of BBC2's The Midnight Hour. For the last five years, David has presented a Sunday lunchtime programme on Classic FM.

Having written a number of newspaper columns over the years, David Mellor is currently the Music Critic for the Mail on Sunday. He is much in demand as an after dinner speaker, and regularly donates his services to charitable causes. 

After breakfast we transfer to Johannesburg airport to catch our flight home to London, arriving at Heathrow on Day 16.