Depart from Pretoria’s Capital Park Station as the luxury train makes its way to the scenic Drakensberg Mountains en route to the Kruger National Park. Settle into your modern suite, explore the bar and open-air observation car, and enjoy excellent cuisine in the elegant dining car for lunch and dinner.

Non-golfers start their day early with a Big 5 game drive, followed by lunch, in the world-class Kruger National Park, South Africa’s premier reserve and one of the most famous in the world. Golfers are treated to a round and lunch at Leopard Creek, a breathtaking course where no expense has been spared. This massive parklands course is banked by the Crocodile River and the signature 13th hole has magnificent views of both the river and Kruger.

All passengers will be driven to rejoin the train at Malelane, and savour dinner en route to Swaziland.

Today everyone enjoys another exciting early morning game drive, this time in the beautiful Mkhaya Reserve, after which the train will continue towards Durban, passing the exquisite St Lucia wetlands on the way to Durban.

Durban is a cosmopolitan semi-tropical city lying on the golden shores of the warm Indian Ocean. Golfers will breathe in the sea air as they tee off on the semi-links at Durban Country Club, a prestigious enclave established in 1922. The third hole is the signature one: tee off into a valley that is exposed to ocean gusts, avoiding both trees and a sizable fairway bunker as you do. Alternatively, tee off may be at Zimbali.

For non-golfers, the day holds a tour of Durban – home to an exciting mix of Hindu, Zulu and British colonial cultures. The rest of the day sees all passengers enjoying the very scenic Valley of a Thousand Hills en route to Ladysmith.

Ladysmith is replete with 19th-century history, and today non-golfers will visit the Siege Museum and the Anglo-Boer War Battlefields, as well as enjoy lunch and a game drive at Spionkop Lodge.

For those keen to hit the greens, the Champagne Sports Resort offers a course amid the Drakensberg. All guests rejoin the train for the trip to Kroonstad across the Drakensberg Mountains.

The locomotive chugs you rhythmically to the coast today as you take the opportunity to read, nap, chat, play board games or simply while away the hours in the observation car.

For those not playing golf at the challenging Humewood course, today marks a game drive in Addo Elephant National Park – look out for the elephants for which this park is renowned amid the classic Eastern Cape thicket vegetation.

For those golfing, Humewood is a true links course on Algoa Bay with unforgiving rough and strong winds, making it a worthy adversary for skilled players. The 17th hole had breath-taking views of the Indian Ocean that are your reward after you best the changeable winds and four surrounding bunkers.

The night is spent travelling to Oudtshoorn, once the ostrich-feather capital of the world.

The Montagu course at Fancourt Country Club in George awaits the golfers this morning. Large tracts of rolling grass are dotted with mature trees, water hazards, colourful flowerbeds and indigenous shrubs.

For the other passengers, it is a day to visit an ostrich farm and understand the dynamics of the world’s largest bird before joining the golfers for dinner at Fancourt.

A morning tour of the idyllic town of Knysna – known for its oysters – and a ferry ride to Featherbed Nature Reserve awaits non-golfers today while others have a round at the Oubaai Golf Club. Designed by world champion Ernie Els with support from Jack Nicklaus’s design team, Oubaai has been superbly moulded to the existing landscape. Each shot must be intelligently positioned to make the most of this challenging links course.rnrnBy afternoon, everyone has reboarded for the journey along the Garden Route from George to Riversdale.

The spectacular Cape Fold Mountains provide a fitting backdrop to your last day on Rovos Rail before you glide into Platform 23 at Cape Town Station.