Stimela Star

• NOTE CURRENTLY RUNNING AS AT LATE 2021
• Sleeper train from Victoria Falls to Hwange
• Restored 1950s carriages
• Dinner, midnight snacks, breakfast and drinks included
• Compact cabins
• Maximum of 24 passengers

Stimela Star provides an excellent way of travelling from Victoria Falls to Hwange National Park. From the moment you board you are treated to fine hospitality, as you are served welcome drinks while staff take your luggage to your cabin. With dinner, drinks and breakfast included, all you need to do is relax and enjoy the ride.

The name 'stimela' means train, and is onomatopoeic evoking the rhythm of a steam train. This is especially apt as the train is made up of restored 1950s rolling stock, giving it an authentic vintage feel. Nothing is hurried on board. After the initial welcome you are shown to your cabin, cosy and compact, yet with ample storage room, and access to the toilets and shower at the end of the carriage. Pre-prandial dinks and nibbles are served following the train's departure from Victoria Falls, as you get to know fellow passengers, after which you sit down to a leisurely three course dinner in the dining car. Later you make your way to the lounge car for coffee and a nightcap, where you hear stories about the heyday of train travel in Zimbabwe.

Retire to your cabin and enjoy the restful sound of the train as you drift off to sleep. By the time you awake you are at the historic railway station at Dete near Hwange National Park. Breakfast is a combination of hot and cold dishes to set you up for the day ahead, and all too soon you are on your way to your accommodation in the park, and the next stage of your holiday.