South Africa - Namibia Itinerary
Day 1
Arrive at Cape Town International airport. Henk and Rene will be awaiting your arrival at the airport to take you directly to your hotel in Cape Town to relax after your flight and get comfortable with South Africa’s beautiful springtime weather. At 4 p.m. we introduce the members of our group and debrief the trip. We will touch on the special rules regarding riding motorcycles in Africa and hand out map books and review the routing. With the formalities completed, a city guide will take us on a tour, filling in the historic details of the Mother City.
0 kms. Accommodation at Winchester Mansions Hotel (4 star)
Day 2
After breakfast we gather the motorcycles and after a proper introduction to them we take on one of South Africa’s most scenic oceanside roads – Chapman’s Peak Drive. Our continued route through the Cape Point Nature Reserve offers quiet roads and panoramas of green fields, rocky cliffs and the legendary Cape of Good Hope. This outcropping of south-west Africa has made sailors nervous for 500 years (and remains the mythical home of the damned Flying Dutchman), but from our landside approach we can admire the cape without discomfort, staring out from the beach to the south where 4000 kilometers of the Atlantic Ocean separate us from Antarctica. We return to Cape Town for another memorable dinner and prepare to head east the next day.
100 kms tarmac. Accommodation at Winchester Mansions Hotel (4 star)
Day 3
Along False Bay we must keep one eye on the road and one eye on the water for Southern Right whales, who calve here from July through November. To break up our day we rest briefly at Monkey Town and take a behind the scenes tour that includes personal interaction time with the tame lemurs and squirrel monkeys. We carry on along the stunning southern coastline, working our way to the most southern point on the African continent, Cape Agulhas. Not far from here we find our rest for the night, in the charming, beachside Arniston Hotel, where we can continue the whale watching from your room or the sandy beach. A short walk south you can explore sea side sand dunes, and massive sea caves, approachable only at low tide. A short walk north are the nationally landmarked Fisherman’s cottages with their whitewashed walls and thatched roofs set off against a turquoise sea and colourful fishing boats, a magnet for photographers and artists from around the world, spurred on no doubt by the proclaiming of Arniston as one of the World’s Ten Best Hideaways by Time Magazine (May 1996).
170 kms tarmac, 50 gravel. Accommodation at Arniston Hotel (4 star)
Day 4
Our tarmac drive brings us up through wine and fruit farms of Bredasdorp, Bonnievale, and Montague, and through the well-named Valley of Wine and Cheese. South African roadbuilders at the turn of the century must have been motorcyclists, as the number of passes, their locations and their views are so finely tuned for us, there could be no other explanation! Today our two major passes are Kogmanskloof and Burgers, with many smaller ones in between. We rest that evening at the Aquila Private Game Reserve, where it is possible to join a afternoon safari to try your luck at spotting Africa’s big five: Elephant, Lion, Cape Buffalo,Leopard, and Rhinoceros (fees apply).
267 kms tarmac. Accommodation at the Aquila Private Game Reserve (4 star)
Day 5
A warm up on the tarmac brings us through the famous fruit town of Ceres, and then we are off to the north and along the valleys and passes of the Cedarberg mountains to the tiny town of Wupperthal which houses a Moravian Church, a tea shop and not much more. This is rooibos tea growing area, and we will of course stop for a fresh pot. We end on a section of the infamous R355, South Africa’s longest gravel road between towns as our private game reserve accommodation is smack in the middle of it on the edge of the Tankwa-Karoo Nature Reserve. This is our desolate, wide open, farm stop. An open fire feast will fill you up before we drag the beds out of the house and set them up in the desert. To be in Africa and not sleep under the stars would be a decision you would forever regret. No chance of rain, no bugs, and a roaring fire to keep the deserts chill at bay through the night.
Accommodation at Stonehendge Private Game Reserve. (1.5 billion stars)
Day 6
A morning at Stonehendge is never complete without Henks fresh, sunrise bread and cowboy coffee before the proper breakfast. This will give us energy to leave the heart of the Klein Karoo desert and head into the Kalahari. A visit to Augrabies Falls National Park finishes off the day before we arrive at Lake Grappa. The owners of our accommodation for the night are old friends of Henks and as his guests you will be treated to a traditional boerebraai (farmers bbq) that you and your stomach will never forget - a just reward for our long day in the saddle.
475 kms tarmac, 95 kms gravel. Lake Grappa Chalets (3 Star)
Day 7
We use tarmac roads to hurry us along our last few kilometres in South Africa and deliver us to the Namibian border crossing at Onseepkans. The borders are normally quick and efficient, and we will take care of all the paperwork for the motorcycles. Our first stop in Namibia is the second largest canyon in the world, the Fish River Canyon. Flora lovers will be fascinated with Namibia’s national tree, the kokerboom, which is actually a large flowering aloe, and exemplifies the beauty that can arise in such an arid place.
231 kms tarmac, 302 gravel. Accommodation at Bethanien Guest House. (3 Star)
Day 8
Our last full tarmac day whisks us to the coastal town of Luderitz, avoiding the creeping sand dunes that threaten to cross the road from the blowing wind. Luderitz is a German town hanging on to its colonial past much better than Kolmanskop, its neighbor 14 kilometers to the south. Kolmanskop was a diamond-boom-town, and when the diamond harvesting moved south, only the dunes of the Namib desert were interested in staying in town. The town is located within the extremely-restricted Diamond Area 1, and we will acquire all the permits to allow us to enter and tour the ghost town. We return 125 kilometres inland to Aus for our hotel for the night. On the way there it is important to keep an eye on the horizon to try and catch a glimpse of the small herds of feral desert horses that live between Luderitz and Aus.
350 kms tarmac. Accommodation in Aus. (3 Star)
Day 9
Back onto the gravel. You can lower the air pressure a bit in your tires if you wish, as today you are on Henks favorite and arguably Namibia’s most scenic gravel road. This leg will take longer than we all expect, mostly due to the number of exceptional photo op’s that keep revealing themselves. We skirt the western border of the Namib-Naukluft National Park that houses part the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world. If we manage to keep the cameras away long enough to arrive at the Desert Homestead before dark, we can walk the Sesriem Canyon before sunset falls.
129 kms tarmac, 365 gravel. Accommodation at the Desert Homestead (4 Star)
Day 10
An early start has us to the bottom of Dune 45 before sunrise, so the eager ones can scamper to the top and enjoy one of the most spectacular sunrises that Africa can offer. Back at the bottom we will drink coffee to ward off the chill of the desert morning until the rising sun takes care of it for us. The sand dunes in the Namib Desert can rise 1300’ high, and are the highest in the world. Boesman, the most famous of the local guides, will take our group on a personalized tour of Sossusvlei and a walking tour of Dead Vlei, a surreal valley holding 500-year old standing tree skeletons, burned black from the sun, and anchored lifeless in a valley that is too dry for them to decompose. The movie “The Cell” had several scenes shot here, allowing nature to deliver scenes of haunting solitude and isolation that not even Hollywood could dream up. We are back to the lodge by noon, and get a well-deserved afternoon off to relax by the pool, read, or rest. If you are still eager to get out, self-guided walking trails bring you into the small mountains nearby where you can enjoy the intimate sounds of the Namib’s bird and insect life that is normally blocked out by your motorcycle helmet. As the sun begins its fall into the dunes to the east, we head to the stables to get the horses that will take us into the hills to enjoy our last sundowner with the dunes of the Namib.
79 kms tarmac. Accommodation at Desert Homestead (4 Star)
Day 11
We don’t get far from the Desert Homestead before we stop for the best apple pie in Namibia at the quirky fuel stop of Solitaire. Soon after we cross off another geographic milestone as we cross the Tropic of Capricorn on the way to the Kuiseb Pass and ultimately to the turn-of –the-century port towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Swakopmund has become Namibia’s adventure sport capital and tourist hotspot. There is good shopping, internet, laundry, and good pubs. It is also possible to burn your photos onto DVD’s here and free up your memory cards. This evening is left open for you to fill as you wish. As such, this is the only dinner is not included in the tour price.
30 kms tarmac, 350 kms gravel. Accommodation at the Hotel Garni Adler (3 star)
Day 12
Switching your two wheels for four. You have been staring at the massive sand dunes for the last few days, wondering if anybody would notice if you snuck off the road and went for a spin on them, but then thought better of it. As part of our day off the motorcycles today, we treat you to two hours on the quads, which will allow you to get all of that sand-dune madness out of your system! The rest of the day is yours to relax and wander around this very picturesque German town. Thrill-seekers may want to investigate the popular sky-diving options or sand-boarding. Dinner is as a group at the hotel.
5 kms tarmac. Accommodation at Hotel Garni Adler (3 Star)
Day 13
We begin the ride to the capital city of Namibia, Windhoek. But we are not ready to give into the asphalt highway just yet. Our special route through Khomas Hochland keeps us on Namibia’s splendid gravel roads the entire day, staying away from the busy traffic and keeping us close to the scrubland that has been our companion for a week now. After checking in and washing up, we head into Windhoek to eat at Joe’s Beer Garden in Windhoek. We will take the Land Cruiser to the restaurant so you can enjoy a few of Joe’s beers and not worry about driving back to the lodge.
318 gravel. Accommodation at the Windhoek Mountain Lodge. (4 star)
Day 14
Before the sun rises the bikes are on the trailer for their trip back to Cape Town. Until your flight leaves for Cape Town, the day is yours to wander the historic city of Windhoek or relax at the lodge.
Still want more?
This tour has been timed to give those with limited time off a chance to experience the wonders of southern Africa. For those lucky enough to have more time available to them, we offer a 1500 kilometer ride back to Cape Town over an additional 4 days.
Costs start at +1396.00.
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