TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
PRICES AND DATES
Excludes
Dates
2024
April 11 – 26 | Closed
August 29 – September 13 | Full
October 17 – November 1 | Two spots open
2025
April 10 – 25 | Open
August 28 – September 12 | Open
October 16 – 31 | Open
ITINERARY
DAY 1
Windhoek
No Riding.
Accommodation in historic Windhoek
Our first day in Namibia, Windhoek will be spent getting our paperwork sorted out and the bikes allocated to the riders. An early local dinner will allow a good rest for tomorrow start.
DAY 2
Sesreim
95km / 237km gravel
Accommodation near Sesreim
Our appreciation of Namibia’s excellent gravel roads will start today, our first leg of the tour from Namibia to Cape Town. We exit the city and after a short spell on the highway, we say goodbye blacktop and hello dust. The famous apple strudel in the tiny town of Solitaire is on the menu for today.
DAY 3
Dune Tour, Sossusvlei
No Riding
Accommodation near Sesreim
An early start has us to the sand dunes at sunrise. The dunes in the Namib Desert can rise 1,300’, and are among the highest in the world. We have a personalized tour of Sossusvlei and a walking tour of Dead Vlei, a surreal valley holding 900-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’re back to the lodge by early afternoon and get a well-deserved afternoon off to relax by the pool, read, or rest. If you’re still eager to get out, 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 onto the dunes to the east, the fire is stoked to provide another meal for us.
DAY 4
Aus
5km paved / 270km gravel
Accommodation near Aus
Only 5 kms of paved road today! From morning to night we are on natural surfaced (gravel) roads. Part of the reason they do not tar these roads is because of low traffic volumes. It is not unusual to have hours pass by with no other vehicles on the roads. The group can stretch out and on this day more than most we get that wonderful feeling of riding somewhere very foreign yet welcoming.
DAY 5
Namib Desert
Optional 250km paved
Accommodation near Aus
Across the Namib desert we ride, keeping our eyes open for one of the last herds of feral horses left in the world. We arrive at the coastal town of Luderitz for a tour of Kolmanskop, a diamond mining town abandoned lock, stock, and barrel when bigger diamonds were found further south. The sand dunes are slowly reclaiming the town, but there is still a fascinating story that comes with the old buildings. This is a guided tour. After lunch we return to Aus for our second night. This is an optional (but recommended!) day. It can be extremely windy at the coast, so we have cancelled this days ride before, cross your fingers for calm winds!
DAY 6
Fish River Canyon
167km paved / 109km gravel
Accommodation in Fish River Canyon
We use tarmac roads to hurry us along our first leg of today, crossing the bridge at Fish River in mid morning. Turning south, we get to enjoy some of the best gravel roads in Namibia as we approach the second largest canyon in the world, the Fish River Canyon. Our viewpoint is rarely busy, and we will have a great opportunity to photograph and enjoy the canyon at our leisure.
DAY 7
Springbok, Northern Cape
178km paved / 113km gravel
Accommodation near Springbok
Our last stop in Namibia is the hot springs at Ais-Ais, and after a quick soak we carry onto the Namibian border crossing at Noordoewer. The borders are normally quick and efficient, and we will take care of all the paperwork for the motorcycles. We use tarmac roads to hurry us along our last few kilometres of our day. If the time of year is right, there are massive displays of wildflowers along todays ride.
DAY 8
Clanwilliam, Western Cape
348km
Accommodation near Clanwilliam
Short travel day heading south. We have a drastic change in scenery as we leave the Northern Cape province and enter the Western Cape province. Crossing the Olifants River sees immediate effects of irrigation and large, rolling citrus crops. We normally spend the afternoon working on bikes, while guests visit in town and learn about the health effects of rooibos tea, grown here and nowhere else!
DAY 9
Oudtshoorn
400km paved / 80km gravel
Accommodation near Oudtshoorn
To break up our paved roads of the last few days, we will start to sneak in some of our favourite gravel passes today. This is a big day filled with beautiful passes. Our destination is Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capitol of South Africa. Guess what’s for dinner?
DAY 10
Oudtshoorn
Optional Riding Day.
Accommodation near Oudtshoorn
Day off. You’ve earned it. There are wildlife centers to visit, ostriches to ride, or do nothing and sit by the pool and catch up with your blog and diary. If you are keen on more riding, we have a lovely loop set up that takes in fantastic little towns and the mighty Swartberg Pass, a tremendous and beautiful gravel pass that should really be experienced
DAY 11
Arniston
240km paved / 30km gravel
Accommodation near Arniston
There is a famous drive along Route 62 in South Africa, and we will hit the best parts of it today, ending up at the most southern tip of Africa – a fitting celebration point from where we began almost three weeks ago. Not far from here we find our rest for the night in the charming beach-side Arniston Hotel. Beside the hotel 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).
DAY 12
Stellenbosch
240km
Accommodation near Stellenbosch
Today is a busy day as we get to Hermanus for lunch, the self-proclaimed whale capital of South Africa. We lunch while spotting Southern Right Whales who calve here from July through November. We continue along the coast of False Bay arriving in mid-afternoon to a private tour of Monkey Town, a primate sanctuary. We spent the next two nights in South Africa’s second oldest city—Stellenbosch, famous also for its university and wineries.
DAY 13
Stellenbosch
Optional Riding Day
Accommodation near Stellenbosch
Take a day off, go shark cage diving, go riding, go on a wine tour, or drink coffee and write postcards in the beautiful old city of Stellenbosch. This is a day to do whatever your body is telling you to do. Another favourite spot to visit is the Franschoek Motor Museum – a epic collections of vehicles in a beautiful setting
DAY 14
Cape Town
Accommodation near Cape Town’s waterfront.
Our last day on the bikes in our our tour from Namibia to Cape Town and it is a beauty! As we take on one of South Africa’s most scenic ocean-side 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 land-side approach, we can admire the Cape without discomfort, staring out from the beach to the south where 4,000 kilometers of Atlantic Ocean separate us from Antarctica. Consider staying a day or two after the tour finishes to catch up on all the passes and attractions that we are unable to squeeze into a three-week trip. This is our last night together and we will spend it in Cape Towns beautiful V&A Waterfront watching the harbor life and sharing stories.
DAY 15
Fly out
Our last day, and after breakfast the final paperwork is reviewed, and our trip is officially complete. If you are curious to stay in Cape Town or the surrounding areas longer to do more riding, wine tours, shark cage diving, bungee jumping… let us know and we can get you on the right track
VOICE OF EXPERIENCE
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