In the closing pages of his book The Full Circle, Dave Varty lays out an inspiring vision for the largest wildlife corridor in Africa. Running from South Africa’s Western Cape straight through to the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, this continuous corridor would be a game-changing development in the history of the continent, reopening millennia-old migratory routes and restoring freedom of movement for Africa’s wildlife.
As I reached the end of The Full Circle, I imagined a safari up the same corridor Dave describes, stretching across the whole of southern and eastern Africa and encompassing a breathtaking variety of landscapes, wildlife, and natural wonders. Though the Cape-to-Selous wildlife corridor is still a work in progress, there is indeed a different type of corridor linking the Cape with the Selous and beyond: the railway. Following the rail line north from Cape Town alongside (and in some cases through) Africa’s existing national parks offers a window into the size and scope of Dave’s vision for a Cape-to-Tanzania wildlife corridor.
Today, the only way to ride these rails continuously from South Africa to Tanzania is onboard Rovos Rail’s luxury cruise train, which runs between Cape Town and Dar es Salaam a few times each year. But for the people who call this corridor home, public train service remains as fragmented as the national parks that sit astride the tracks. The building blocks are there for a transport network connecting hundreds of millions of people; all it takes is a vision for a future that’s greater than the reality of the present.
The largest Transfrontier Park in the world. The Sabi Sand Reserve – of which Londolozi forms a part – can be seen way down in the bottom left, just above Skukuza.
As Boyd Varty says, the source of most animal species’ troubles boils down to lack of space and inadequate freedom of movement. As humans we feel this acutely in cities, in tight office spaces and crowded subway cars, and we feel that stress melt away the moment we touch down in the natural openness of Londolozi. Having stuck my head out the window of the Bulawayo-Vic Falls sleeper and experienced the magic of flying through the African bush on a moving train, I hope to see Africa’s vital transport links revitalized and brought into the modern age. It’s a dream that mirrors Dave’s vision for Africa’s wildlife: restored networks of movement for Africa’s people and animals, linked by symbiotic economies of wildlife, together moving the continent into a new era of connectivity and prosperity.
As Dave says in The Full Circle, time will tell whether this vision becomes a reality, but living at Londolozi in harmony with animals and each other is a constant reminder that this is a dream worth chasing and a train worth jumping on.
What a fantastic dream! Not only do the animals and humans, but also trains do not pollute the way cars and planes. This would open a grand area for people to come together and begin to understand how interdependent we are on this planet. Victoria
What a pity the book is not for sale yet in NL……..
Fascinating! And keep in mind, all great inventions, improvements, research, etc began with a dream……
Michael what a wonderful blog
I would definitely ride trains through Africa. On my bucket list for years has been the Cape Town to Dar trip
Mine too, Judith – and with the right mix of planning and flexibility (and a few cross-border hops) it can still be done by public train, at least at the moment: Cape Town – Johannesburg – Mafikeng / Lobatse – Francistown – Bulawayo – Vic Falls / Livingstone – Lusaka / Kapiri Mposhi – Dar. Some day… 🙂
We lived in South Africa (Secunda ) from ‘81 to ‘85. Rode trains as often as possible. The Blue Train and the Shongololo and steam trains. Never got past Pretoria on a train but to go from CT to Dar. I’m going to keep your outline and see if we can make that happen. Mahalo and Mele Kalikimaka from Hawai’i.
This is so exciting and my hope is that the dream becomes a reality. It’s truly a win-win situation. Wondering what the beginning next steps are to get this train moving?
What a beautiful vision. The Vartys have done so much, and we all must do at least one thing to make these visions, for Africa and the world, a reality.