Great Train Trips: Namibia

To watch my report on Namibia, click here, and go to 12/12 show. My segment runs from 35 minutes in until the end of the show.

Loyal listeners and readers know this has been quite a year of long-distance train travel for me. In the spring, I had a great adventure on the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  In October, I headed off to Africa to journey on The Desert Express, a little-known upscale train that travels around Namibia.

First, a little geography lesson. Namibia is located in the southwest of Africa. If there is such a thing as a typical sub-Saharan African country (and there's not), this is not it. Yes, there is wildlife, including elephants and giraffe and lions, but what distinguishes the country is the Great Namib Desert, dating back 55 million years. The oldest desert in the world also contains some of the world's highest sand dunes.

There are no non-stops flights from the United States to Namibia. The "easiest" ways to get there:

1.You can travel direct from New York or Washington, DC into Johannesburg on South African Airways and then hop the short flight to Windhoek or
2. Fly to Frankfurt and transfer to Air Namibia.
Either way, you are talking more than 20 hours in flight (from the East Coast), but that's the price you pay for a unique travel experience.

For 11 days, I wandered the country on the
Desert Express. The Namibian-German-engineered train, circa 1998, is a marvel of clever design. The train contains four sleeping cars, a lounge car, and a dining car. Each of the sleeping wagons is nature-themed--there's Springbok, Oryx, Kokerboom (Quiver Tree) and Meerkat. Unlike the Trans-Siberian, which contained separate classes of compartments, the Desert Express offers all guests the same experience, including the pleasure of a bathroom en suite.

Desert Express Bar Car

Speaking of which, you have never seen a more efficient use of space, although I suppose anyone taller than 6 feet 2 or heavier than 160 pounds might disagree. The wee space (so to speak) has a toilet, a shower with a door that prevents water from spraying, and a magnificent rotating sink.

Other features of the interior design include rock sand paneling; extensive use of red golden woods; handmade amber-colored furnishings in the bar car; and comfortable seating areas in the compartments that convert into up to three beds at night.

The Desert Express belongs to Namibian TransNamib Holding Ltd. and is chartered by Lernidee.de for the long-distance trips. For those looking for a shorter ride, weekend trips are available between Windhoek and Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast. The one-way weekender, which includes stops at game lodges and the dunes, starts at $350 per person/double occupancy.

9 Things to Know about Riding the Trans-Siberian

Cyrillic for Train Station 

For those of you who heard my segment this week on Around the World Radio (August 29 edition), here are nine more things to know about the train route that spans the breadth of Russia.

1. Most people think that there’s one train called the Trans-Siberian Express running along a lengthy railroad between Russia’s eastern port of Vladivostok and Moscow. But contrary to popular belief, there is no such train. The Trans-Siberian is actually made up of a network of domestic and international trains crisscrossing countries and borders. Yes, a Trans-Siberian journey can start in Vladivostok. But it can also start in Beijing or Ulan Bator. These itineraries, sometimes dubbed Trans-Mongolian routes, follow Trans-Siberian track once they hit Russian territory.

Lenin's Giant Head in Ulan-Ude

2. You can opt to rub shoulders with the locals on Russian train or you can travel in a private train. The latter is certainly the easier and more comfortable way to go. But it is also the more expensive option.

3. The Golden Eagle runs the classic 5,772-mile route between Vladivostok and Moscow. In 2014, The Golden Eagle 15-day trek across Siberia starts at $15,495 per person double occupancy in Silver Class to $29,995 for top-of-the-line Imperial Suites.  All compartments have bathrooms en suite.  

Tsar's Gold by Lake Baikal

4. The 15-day Zarengold or Tsar’s Gold, running between Beijing and Moscow, is less expensive, mainly because it provides a larger selection of compartment types. 2014 prices start at $9200 per person for a Classic compartment (which share toilet and shower facilities). For a compartment with private bath, prices start at $15,820 in Bolshoi and go up to $19,520 per person in Bolshoi Plus.

5. Don't forget to obtain a visa before you hit the road...or the track. Americans need visas for travel in both Russia and China.

6. I recommend traveling East to West. That way, you end up getting more sleep and more daylight along the way, as you go back in time across nine time zones.

I

It may look cold, but I'm quite comfortable in
Kazan wearing long shorts in May.

7. Load your iPad with lengthy tomes good books and epic movies. Good Russian reads include Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier, The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn , and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (although you may want to skip the ending, where Anna tosses herself under a train). Appropriate flicks include Dr. Zhivago and the lesser-known Transsiberian, starring Woody Harrelson. Cheers.

8. Most Trans-Siberian private trains run between May and early October. Be forewarned: Siberia can be surprisingly hot. Leave your parkas and your mukluks behind.

9. Tsar’s Gold trips can be booked directly through Lernidee at www.lernidee,com; through MIR at www.mircorp.com, or via Smithsonian Journeys www.smithsonianjourneys.org. More information on Vladivostok to Moscow trips can be found at www.goldeneagleluxurytrains.com.