* The Malawi Meander — a new 16-night luxury journey connecting five Southern African countries, with Lake Malawi and Liwonde National Park among its key highlights
* Following its inaugural journey in April 2026, further departures have been confirmed for 2027 and 2028
* The majority of the itinerary takes place aboard Rovos Rail’s luxury train and the Malawi section currently involves air and road transfers
* With plans to eventually extend the rail journey into the country
By Duncan Mlanjira
South Africa’s Rovos Rail, which Maravi Express reported on in 2022 as the most luxurious tourism train hotel in the world, inaugurated a route into Malawi in April 2026 and now plans have been extended to create the Malawi Meander from next year.
The Malawi Meander will be a 16-night luxury journey connecting five Southern African countries, with Lake Malawi and Liwonde National Park among its key highlights
The majority of the itinerary takes place aboard Rovos Rail’s luxury train and the Malawi section currently involves air and road transfers — with plans to eventually extend the rail journey into the country.
According to Rovos Rail website,
the Malawi Meander is a 3,600km expedition for 16 nights through the heart of Southern Africa — traversing South Africa, eSwatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
“The journey combines remote landscapes, rich cultural heritage and wildlife experiences into one remarkable adventure.”
Rovos Rail adds that the trip either begins or ends in Pretoria, South Africa, or Lilongwe, Malawi, depending on the direction preferred by the travelers.
From Pretoria, it descends the spectacular Drakensberg Mountain escarpment to the world-famous Kruger Park for game viewing.
In eSwatini, the tourists explore the mountainous Kingdom and before getting into Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, “a city of contrasts and mixed cultures”.
It then crosses the Limpopo River and Gonarezhou National Park – the place of elephants – to the Great Zimbabwe Monument — the largest precolonial monument south of the Egyptian pyramids.
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The stretch in Zimbabwe tours Antelope Park, Harare’s galleries and markets and the Mutare Museum, “which covers a range of themes such as archaeology, ethnography, transport and natural history with a collection of vintage vehicles”.
In Beira, it is a visit to the busiest port in Mozambique, and an open-pit coal mine followed by sundowners on the banks of the Zambezi River.
From there then there is a flight connection “to the palm-fringed southern shore of the renowned Lake Malawi for an overnight stay before travelling to the woodlands of Liwonde National Park”.
“After game viewing and a boat cruise on the Shire River, fly to journey’s end in Lilongwe,” entices Rovos Rail on its website.
The development has been confirmed by Malawi Tourism, attesting to that “throughout the rail portion, passengers travel aboard Rovos Rail’s beautifully restored carriages, enjoying private suites, fine dining, observation lounges and the traditional elegance for which the operator is renowned”.
“The Malawi section provides a fitting finale to the northbound journey, showcasing two of the country’s most popular attractions.
“Travellers fly from Tete in Mozambique to Makokola Retreat, situated on the palm-fringed southern shores of Lake Malawi.
“Here, guests can unwind beside the lake and enjoy its beautiful surroundings.
“During the inaugural journey, a sunset boat cruise proved a particular highlight, with African fish eagles swooping down to catch fish beside the boats.”
Malawi Tourism adds that the journey continues by road to Liwonde National Park where guests stay at Mbuku Lodge on the banks of the Shire River, “enjoying a boat safari and game drive, with opportunities to encounter the park’s remarkable wildlife.
“The northbound itinerary concludes with a short flight to Lilongwe, while those travelling southbound begin their adventure in Malawi before continuing towards Pretoria.
“Although the inaugural itinerary used air and road transfers for the Malawi section due to restrictions on railway access, the original plan remains to have the train travel up to, and through, Malawi – hopefully in the very near future.
“The Malawi Meander represents an exciting addition to the ways international travellers can discover the Warm Heart of Africa, introducing visitors to Malawi’s combination of lake, wildlife and scenery as part of an extensive Southern African adventure.
“Fresh local ingredients and traditional dishes are a speciality and meals are served in one sitting in the dining cars and are complementing phenomenon train-hotel epic journey.
Rovos Rail is a private railway company operating out of Capital Park Station in Pretoria, and had been operating the journey to Dar es Salaam for over 20 years, running its train-hotel to a regular schedule on various routes throughout Southern Africa to Namibia and Tanzania.
The trains consist of restored Rhodesia Railways (NRZ) coaches with two lounges, two restaurant cars, and private sleeping compartments, each with private ensuite facilities.
The original route
Of the three types of accommodation on board, the smallest is a Pullman, at 76 square feet and the largest being the Royal Suite, which is half a train car, and 172 square feet.
“All types of cabins have ensuite shower, sink, and toilet. The Royal Suite also has a Victorian-style bathtub.”
Wikipedia records that the company was started in 1989 by Rohan Vos and is still family owned and every two years, Rovos Rail runs a Cape to Cairo route — using private chartered aircraft and lake cruiser for parts of the journey — that offered for the first time in 2008.
Its seven steam locomotives were purchased between 1987 and 2007 with the oldest built by Dubs & Company in Glasgow in 1893 — a Clara 6 locomotive which Rovos Rail named 439 Tiffany(after the youngest daughter of Rohan Vos).
The remaining locomotives are Class 19Ds and Class 25NCs built by Borsig Lokomotiv Werke, Henschel & Son and North British Locomotive Company.
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