Ride Africa!

	________________________________________________________
	Waterfalls and Wildlife $7050 14 Day - 3,400 kms 99% Paved Roads 2013 - July 27 to August 9 2013 - August 13 to 26 2014 - July 17 to 30 2014 - August 3 to 16
	________________________________________________________
	Victoria Falls to Cape Town $10,500 21 Day - 4700 kms 25% Gravel Roads 2013 - September 1 to 21 2014 - August 21 to September 10
	________________________________________________________
	Spectacular South West Africa $6,450 14 Days - 3,050 kms 40% Gravel Roads 2013 - September 25 to October 8 2013 - October 11 to 24 2014 - September 21 to October 4 2014 - October 8 to 21
	________________________________________________________
	The Garden Route & West Coast $6,650 14 days - 2,900 kms 10% Easy Gravel 2013 - November 24 to December 7 2014 - November 19 to December 2
	________________________________________________________

Why Africa? I have been fortunate enough to talk to many people about my travels and the one thing that continues to interest me is the depth of experience, money, time, and frankly, guts that many riders think is necessary to ride in a foreign country. Among overseas destinations, Africa consistently raises an eyebrow as a tricky place to be, doubly so on a motorcycle. At the risk of losing some cool points in the pub, I can tell you that the benefits of riding in Africa - the endless empty roads, massive skies, crossing elephant footprints with your tire tracks, hearing lions at night, talking with new friends around campfires, spotting giraffes and zebra and buck from the road, the lack of fences - all of this FAR outweighs the cost and worries of getting there and it is easier to get there than you may think. As with any destination, there will be concerns with routing and safety, but with professional and experienced people making the arrangements, the actual risk is mitigated greatly.

We are now into our fourth year bringing riders to Africa. We do not run tours anywhere else on the planet - Southern Africa is our stomping grounds. And that's important because Africa, like few other places I have riden motorcycles, relys on a system of 'who you know' to get things done. We think that riders who want to experience the ride of a lifetime in a land as mythical and wonderful as Africa is do not want to risk the organization folks who run one tour a year there.

I met Henk van Niekerk on a beach in Namibia when he insisted that I join his group campsite instead of setting up my small tent on my own. I learned that he ran an overland travel company and we passed the evening exchanging stories about Namibia's dirt roads, and so began the longest friendship of anybody that I met in my 17 months in Africa. He made sure my solo travels went on his favourite motorcycle roads, and as a lifelong rider himself, his advice was entirely applicable to me and appreciated. I visited South Africa again in the spring of 2009, and Henk filled me in on the success of one of his recent guided motorcycle tour to Namibia for his riding buddies, and we realized we could offer the same to winter-weary riders in the north as well.

Spending time out of doors in Africa rekindles something in us that can only be described as correct and appropriate. Henk and I invite you to experience it for yourself. It's easier than you think!