Our Rovos Rail Gamebird Safaris range from Pretoria in South Africa through the Kalahari Desert, to Kimberley, the Stella District, through Botswana, Zambia and to Victoria Falls.

Most all of our Rovos Gamebird Train Safaris originate from Pretoria, South Africa with our clients flying into and from Johannesburg Int’l Airport. Normally our clients fly into Johannesburg and transfer to Pretoria for a Leisure day and night and board the Rovos Train the following morning for their 12:00 -1:00 pm Train Trip departure.

The African Train-Shoot Safari concept dates back to the colonial 1950s, when Gamebirds founder Peter Johnson watched his father with a party of friends depart on a special train for a weekend of flighted wild duck in a remote area of southern Africa. Recreating those early "train shoot safaris" remained a dream until 1989, when Johnson found entrepreneur Rohan Vos equipping and exquisitely refurbishing an entire colonial era train, steam engines and all, for visitors to tour Africa in the same comfort and style as that gracious period of rail travel. In the winter of 1990 Gamebirds successfully ran their first Train Shoot Safari with Rovos Rail, aboard the train  "The Pride of Africa".

The 1920’s style superbly restored Rovos Rail Train with its air-conditioned “Deluxe and Royal" suites (each with its own spacious bathroom), historic dining saloon and charming panoramic observation car with bar mostly travels between wilderness locations overnight. By early morning it is "parked", at a different rail siding every day, near prime game bird or touring locations. The well-organized program, the comfort of the Train and the superb wine cellar ensure a world-class sporting safari visiting a variety of habitats rich in African wildlife, game birds and waterfowl - with the wonderful convenience of only having to unpack and pack once, during the entire length of the safari.

Capture the romance and atmosphere of a bygone era. Experience the magic and mystery of Africa in a relaxed and elegant fashion. The two beautifully rebuilt 20 carriage Classic trains each carry a maximum of 30 passengers who are accommodated in the most spacious train suites in the world. With fine wood paneling, period Edwardian features as well as every modern convenience and comfort, the air conditioned suites house two people and offer the option of twin or double beds.  The four Royal Suites each have their own private lounge area and feature a full en-suite bathroom with shower and Victorian bath.

The Deluxe Suites each have a lounge area and private bath with shower. The use of traditional furnishings ensures an atmosphere of elegance in the Dining, Lounge and Observation cars. Our 14-coach, 30-bed Edwardian Train is available at certain times of the year for private charter. The coaches, which were collected from the far corners of the country, have been painstakingly rebuilt and refurbished while offering the same spaciousness as the classic trains, are the last word in nostalgic comfort and style.

All food and beverages are included in our Rovos Rail Gamebird Safari packages and include breakfasts, four course lunches and gourmet dinners complimented with our fine wines from our excellent wine cellar, along with afternoon tea at 4:00 pm. Besides our fine dining on the train, some lunch meals will be served at fine dining establishments for those touring, and some meals will be at our private hunting estates where our non shooters will join the shooters for dinner.

Driven shoots in Africa demand large teams of beaters to cover the hundreds of acres in a single drive; to provide challenging and exciting sport for the guns, showing quick or tall birds, requires presenting the widest possible variety of different African game birds (Spurfowl/francolins/quails/pigeons/doves and guinea fowl) in a drive; whilst consistently good daily bags of wild birds are maintained, year on year, by directly relating annual productivity to seasonal off-take.

After a dawn start from the Train, there will be 8 to 12 drives in the day’s driven shooting with a day’s bag expectation of 175–300 birds, depending on season, weather, skill and number of guns. The beaters, 150 or more, start as much as a kilometer away from the gun line, driving the birds on with chanted voice, flapping red flags and beating the bush with hunting sticks.

  Gun lines are long, wide, straight, and cleared of bush, with the butts spaced equally along them (up to 40 meters apart) and numbered 1 to 10 for eight (min) to ten (max) individual guns. It’s always a good walk from one end of the line to the other but, please note, except for those requiring physical assistance, we generally cannot drive you to your butt.       

As retrieving gundogs are few and far between in Africa each gun is allocated, and then accompanied by, two “picker-up” fellows for the day – they will be with you at your butt to mark down, retrieve and carry all your birds. A busy day of active shooting is in store for you. Lunch, always superb cuisine, is often a traditional “braaivleis” (barbecue) and served in the field or at your host’s home on the estate. The most attractive aspect of driven shooting on Gamebirds private estates is that it’s all totally wild and indigenous, personal and private, as you will see. The birds and wildlife, the landscape and atmosphere, the hospitality. But, best of all, it is sustainable. Driven shooting in Africa provides an exciting day afield – woe betide the gun who nods off in the middle of a drive!

Upland Game Birds of Helmeted Guinea fowl, Natal Spurfowl, Red-billed Spurfowl.  Red-necked Spurfowl, Swainson's Spurfowl, Coqui FrancolinSpurfowl, Swainson's Spurfowl, Coqui Francolin, Crested Francolin and Harlequin Quail.  

Other species occurring on Gamebirds driven shoots are Orange River and Shelley's Francolins (Partridges); African Quail; and (see 2 below) Cape Turtle, Laughing and Red-eyed Doves.  It took Gamebirds and its associates many seasons to develop all wild bird driven shooting in the African veldt to the point where, for the past 12 years, it has been the highlight of bird shooting safaris through Africa for many sporting visitors. Although the principles of driving game birds are the same in Africa as they are in the UK and Europe, the practice is somewhat different. The biggest difference being that all African game birds are wild.  

Driven shoots in Africa demand large teams of beaters to cover the hundreds of acres in a single drive; to provide challenging and exciting sport for the guns, showing quick or tall birds, requires presenting the widest possible variety of different African game birds (Spurfowl/francolins/quails/pigeons/doves and guinea fowl) in a drive; whilst consistently good daily bags of wild birds are maintained, year on year, by directly relating annual productivity to seasonal off-take.

For non-shooting companions, the sporting safari is combined with game-viewing in remote national parks and private game reserves, tracking big game on foot, bird-watching some of southern Africa's nearly 1000 different species or simply meeting local communities and enjoying spectacular wilderness scenery. The program includes flights over the Victoria Falls, boating on the Zambezi, visits to diamond diggings and travel to sites of historical or cultural interest and, where time allows, even big game-viewing from the deck of a yacht on Lake Kariba. There will also be plenty of time to shop for African art and artifacts in the main towns and larger villages.

Our Rovos Rail Gamebird Safaris are normally conducted from late June through mid September and consist of 6 -8 day Train Safaris for 8-10 guns per train trip with 3-5 days of driven, flighted and walk up shoots.

You may bring two (2) guns if you want, but you will have to do your own loading of the second gun. (Your butt assistants are specifically forbidden from touching or having anything to do with your gun(s) other than to carry them for you when secured in a padded sleeve) Gamebirds special padded gun sleeve, leather cartridge bag & light folding portable chair. (All 3 items are provided for your personal use for the duration of your safari) Gloves/gun barrel guard in case of hot barrels.

NO REPEATING, AUTOMATIC OR PUMP ACTION SHOTGUNS ARE ALLOWED ON ANY BIRD SHOOT. ONLY SIDE BY SIDE OR OVER AND UNDER GUNS OF 12, 16, 20, 28 OR 410 CALIBRE.  Cartridges (supplied & all-inclusive) for a day of driven shooting Gamebirds provides each gun with 150 rounds of No. 5s in 32gm lead shot load.  Cartridges supplied by Gamebirds are for 12 and 20 bore guns only.

Clothing should consist of stout walking/shooting boots or shoes. It’s sandy and dusty in these areas. The landscape is generally flat or gently rolling countryside with thorny bushveld. However, as it is driven shooting, you may be more comfortable with just stout shoes and thick socks. If you want to walk with the beaters (by arrangement) be ready for thorn bush and tangle. You’ll also need a good hat, sunscreen, binoculars and your personal items for the day.

The weather is usually clear and cold in the mornings and evenings and warm during the day. Be ready to shed warmer clothing as the day goes by. There can be a very small chance of damp weather which, if it happens, will not disrupt the shooting.

Our driven shoots do not require any great deal of walking, plus you have an attendant to carry your gun so they are only slight to moderate in difficulty and health problems are not an issue.