On this unique tram trip we travel to Addis Ababa, stop in Port Luis on Mauritius, enjoy Franchhoek´s wine tram in South Africa and end the trip on a tram at Victoria Falls.
The exact itinerary is still being worked on, but one thing is already clear: a majority of potential passengers would like to include a lot of tourism in their tour program. And since there are also many tram fans who would rather just look at the railway in Addis and maybe also in Mauritius without spending too much time on other things, there will, as always on my trips, be options for an individual design of the tour, too.
In my current planning, the tour starts in Addis Ababa, where we will devote ourselves to the Light Railway, where a total of 41 trams from China ply over 31 km of track. We shall also visit the standard gauge railway line to Djibouti, built by the Chinese. Ethiopia is considered the "cradle of humanity" and is also blessed with natural beauty. It is difficult to make a compact selection. I am thinking of Addis Ababa, the Awash National Park, the "white city" of Harar, Debre Libanos and of course the waterfalls of the Blue Nile at Tis Abay.
Onward flight to Port Luis on Mauritius: here Urbos trams from CAF run on a network of around 33 km. In addition to the capital, we can experience one of the most beautiful beaches on the island at Flic en Flac and visit the legendary Le Morne Brabant and the Black River National Park.
We continue on to South Africa. Our main goal is a visit to the wine tram in Franchhoek. Various new trams in one and two-story versions run here to safely transport the occasionally tipsy visitors to and from the wineries. Wine tasting is very important in the area and we will be there too! The metropolis of Cape Town, a national park and the beautiful landscape are also worth a visit!
At the end of the trip, we head north to the Victoria Falls. On the railway line from Livingstone in Zambia, a tram runs over the famous Victoria Falls Bridge to the Zimbabwean side. A champagne ride on the tram and a stop on the bridge to watch the sunset is simply beautiful. In addition to the tram, regular freight trains and the occasional steam locomotive rumble over the bridge.
The Victoria Falls are only a tiny part of the incredibly diverse range of attractions: there are river cruises on the Zambezi, a visit to the Zimbabwean Hwange National Park or the Okavango Delta in Botswana, of course the famous helicopter flight over the falls, and so on.
As you can see, in addition to the usual tram activities, there are also a number of tourist highlights during the tour. I imagine that we will be traveling on the basis of 4-5* hotels. However, I will also try to offer an inexpensive version of the trip that only includes Addis and Mauritius and does not include the tourist extras.
I am very happy to receive feedback and ideas - if you have any suggestions for the tram or the tourism program (along the lines of "you have to see it"), please send me an email!
© Photos on this page: Franchhoek Wine Tram, Bamba Tram, Y. Yakulu, Maurice Express