Hi All,

I plan to fly into Capetown and take a month to get to Jo'burg from where I'll fly out. This will be during the July / August time-frame.

Would be most grateful for a suggested travel route.

For the national parks part of the journey I'll be in a car for obvious reasons. ;-)

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Cheers,
Nordkapper

We are planning a 15 day trip there by mid April (could get a very cheap employee flight). Originally, I thought 1 way Jo'b-Cape, but will probably remain around Cape area instead.

I hope we could give you some tips on that part.

btw, who are you renting the bike from?

Happy planning/travels,

Esteban

From Cape Town do the loop to Cape Point southwards on the west coast (Chapmans Peak Drive and back to CT on the eastern road. At Simonstown check out the Penguin colony.
From CT travel north to Tulbagh (beautiful town centre, old dutch-colonial style) then take the "Route 62" via Montague to Calitzdorp. Turn north over the Swartberg Pass (dirt road) to Prince Albert. Now eastwards through the Meirings Poort canyon down to George and Knysna (personally I prefer the route through the mountains to the Garden Route).
Further east is the fantastic Baviaanskloof NP. But the R332 going through the Kloof is pretty rough and not doable on a road bike.
North of Port Elizabeth is the Addo Elephant Park, but here you'd need a car. Very interesting.
From there I'd traverse to Lady Frere and Mount Fletcher, looking for some nice mountain passes. The highest SA pass is the Naude's Nek (2,500m), but it's dirt road again. No probs for large enduros like the 1200GS though, as long as it doesn't rain.
Mind you, July is the coldest month in SA, so you might want to keep nearer to the coast - but again: the mountain roads are a lot more scenic!
If you would like to make a detour through Lesotho, enter at Tele Bridge (south border) and exit at Quachas Nek. This is a tarred road, but exceptionally beautiful. But get local advice regarding snow, before attempting this route in winter!
Otherwise carry on north-east to Kokstad and travel more or less along the magnificent Drakensberg range. Then head for Greytown and try to find backroads leading through the Nkandla Forest NP either to Eshowe or Empangeni. Finally head for St. Lucia to visit the Wetlands (world heritage site. Stay in the town and spend at least one day for a swim at Cape Vidal. Warm up after the cold mountain trails ;o)
From St. Lucia travel north (if time allows via Swaziland) to Nelspruit and carry on to Pilgrims Rest (museum town) and along the scenic road to the Blyde River Canyon NP. You might want to rent a car again for a visit to the Kruger NP.
Well, that's it. From here you'd head straight for Johannesburg or Pretoria.

Just an idea..... Should fit into 4 weeks travel time Oh, that reminds me: The best isn't SA , but the namibian "Windhoek Draught"!!!

Enjoy!

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Excellent suggestions! Thanks so much and we'll definately keep an eye open for Windhoek Draught. :-)

Haven't booked it yet, probably a BMW R1200GS in Capetown. Have a great trip!

Here are some useful links:

[url=http://www.motorbikehire.co.za/]Adventure Motorcycle, Motorbike Rentals Cape Town __/\/

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Sorry, the previous post went corrupt

Here are the links again:
Motorrad Executive Rentals : BMW Motorcycle Rentals - Southern Africa
Cape Bike Rentals

Adventure Motorcycle, Motorbike Rentals Cape Town __/\/������\/\__ Motorcycle hire in Southern Africa, Abenteuer Motorad, motorrad mieten in s�dafrika, Abenteuer Mororradvermietung in Kapstadt, Sudafrika.

www.capebikerentals.com/


Accommodation in South Africa - Where To Stay

Have fun!

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Vaufi, that was really good advice regarding routes and rentals. Thx
Accesories from Capebikerentals (panniers, GPS, etc) seem to be way much cheaper than anywhere else.

I'm considering MotoBerlin: BMW Motorcycle Rental & Motorcycle Adventure Tours, South Africa Any experience?

No, I haven't rented any bike in SA yet. I've been travelling with my own bike or by rented car.

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

One month in South Africa, where to ride?

Sani Pass cuss they are building a new road and if you don't do it now...

Krugar National Park yes you have to rent a car, (something about meals on wheels) but plan on at least three days in the park, fascinating place

Get on to "http://www.wilddog.za.net" and meet up with with the most hospitable people I've found and find hundreds of suggestions on where to ride.

Just came back from two months around southern Africa, blog at horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/thode

RJT

I doubt whether the road construction is planned right up to the Sani Pass itself. I was told that it was planned up to the SA border control buildings, which are only a few kays behind the hotel down in the valley.

Besides that - there is absolutely no economic reason to continue the road further up into the mountains, because the area around Mokhotlong in eastern Lesotho is very scacely populated, no industry whatsoever. The more densely populated areas are in the west (Maseru) and north-west (Butha-Buthe). Even the important Katse Dam is connected by tarmac road towards the north-west, where the country is far less rugged than in the east and south-east.

The Sani Pass road from the SA border post up to the Lesotho border post (Sani Top) has been graded last year, which meant improving it from horribly rough to "still pretty rough". But still I nearly wrecked my mountainbike, when I cycled it in June

Just my two cents worth...

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

OK I rethought Sani Pass, it is going to be winter and it would be doable,maybe, but expect ice and snow.

From what I got from 4X4 tour guides the new road will go all the way to the top. they have been fighting it for years and lost every time. Economically unsound but it is a political issue. Will take ten years to finish but guides have been told they will close the pass next year and start the blasting at the top.

It is one of those places where if you need a challenge to conquer you go. (wife said it was an IQ test and I failed) Road is brutal in spots and up to 28% grade, so steep had to have the wife walk part of it because when I would hit a bolder it would start wheeling, lucky for me one of the 4x4s gave her a ride the last couple of ks so I am still married.

But back to the topic at hand Lasotho is a wonderful place to visit but maybe not in the winter.

Sani Pas is nice, but last time I went to Southern Africa for a few weeks I went a completely different route, something like:

• Cape Town
• Ai-Ais (incl Fish River canyon)
• Luderitz
• Sosus vlei
• Solitaire
• Swakopmund
• Skeleton coast (not possible on a bike)
• Palmwag
• Etosha (not possible on a bike)
• Tsumeb
• Okavango Delta
• Gabarone
• Hermanus
• Cape Town

IMHO the only fault in the route above is that it misses the northern parts of Namibia, but we ran out of time!

.......... and it was extremely nice!

Yep, another nice suggestion - but that's nor SA but mostly NAM....

You're right in respect to northern NAM: From Palmwag northwards the least to visit are the Epupa Falls. Absolutely brillant! Last year I took a friend along to Epupa. His comment was something like: "Seeing these falls I can't understand why everybody travels to the US to see the Niagara Falls."

Besides that, the north-west is still quite underdeveloped. So that region already belongs to what we call "the real Africa". The southern parts are very much westernised nowadays....

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I'll definately research them further.

Cheers,
Nordkapper