South Africa

12 Day South Africa Tour

Each leg of your Ultimate African Adventure has been highlighted on the map and the numbers in [square brackets] refer to these.

Day 1.
Arrive at Cape Town Airport early am where SAMT meets guests and conveys to your Cape Town hotel. We suggest you rest, unwind, swim in the pool or catch up on sleep until 2 PM when we pick you up in a mini bus, take you to our base, issue the bikes and guide you on an 'orientation' tour of Cape Town. This ends at 5pm back at your hotel. This evening Tony France joins you for dinner and a chat about South Africa and the tour.
Overnight in Cape Town.

Day 2.

We leave the hotel at 9.30am and head for the exhilarating and spectacular drive round False Bay via Gordons Bay, Betty's Bay and on to the historic coastal resort of Hermanus where we lunch. After lunch the route continues through rolling wheat fields with long sweeping bends - ideal bike country.
Finally we arrive at Cape L'Agulhas, and there visit the southern most point of Africa. Our accommodation for the night has a superb restaurant specialising in locally caught fish.
Overnight in Cape L'Agulhas.

Day 3.
Again traversing the rolling wheat lands with magnificent views of rich farming country we head for the picturesque town of Swellinghdam and then leave the coastal lowlands via the rugged Tradouw Pass which crosses the Langeberg range of mountains. Immediately after the pass we are in the arid "Little Karoo" where ostriches and tobacco farming are the main occupations. Passing through the area's main town of Oudtshoorn we leave the Little Karoo via the huge Outeniqua pass which brings us back to the coastal plain and on to the "Garden Route" . Our overnight destination, Knysna surrounds as tranquil lagoon which empties into the Indian Ocean through the turbulent waters of the "Heads".
Overnight at Leisure Island Lodge, Knysna. Tel: 044-384-0462

Day 4.
A 'rest' day. We suggest you take the steam train which skits the coast on a fantastically picturesque route to George in the morning and visit the Blue Hills Wild Life Park in the afternoon where you will see buffalo, rhino, giraffe, zebra, kudu and possibly even leopard. An alternative is just to laze around the resort's swimming pool or get a tan on the beach.
Overnight in Kynsna

Day 5.
Today, after an early start we continue along the 'Garden Route' and pass through the Tsitsikamma forest where the indigenous forest includes stink wood and yellow wood trees. Along the way we leave the main road to do the Grootrivier Pass and Bloukrans Pass on the twisty old road under the ancient forest canopy .Passing through the industrial town of Port Elizabeth we turn inland, encounter typical "African bush type country" with huge thorn trees and arrive in Addo in time for dinner which is followed by the evening safari on trucks in the Addo Elephant National Park.
Overnight in Addo.

Day 6
Heading farther inland we traverse the Olifantskop Pass and spend the entire day on magnificent roads with hardly any traffic in remote African bush type country. We pass through the frontier towns of Cookhouse and Cradock before crossing the Sneeuberg (Snow Mountain) range via trhe Wapadsberg and Nauderberg passes and finally descend to the historic town of Graaf-Reinet. Before or after dinner (depending on the time of year) we take a short trip to the Valley of Desolation to watch a truly magnificent sun set of the Great Karoo. In Graaf-Reinet our accommodation is in the much revamped old slave quarters of the area governor's former residence
Overnight at the Drostdy Hotel, Graaf-Reinet Tel 049-892-2161

Day 7.
Today brings an entirely new sensation - passing through the endless flat plains of the Karoo. At times it is as if one is biking across the sea, vistas are so enormous, the horizon so vast and far away. Distant mountain ranges subtly change colour and only an occasional car or truck is encountered. WE lunch in the little hamlet of Willowmore (there being no where else to stop !) and finally reach Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world.
Overnight at Die Oude Meul Country Lodge, Oudtshoorn. Tel 044-272-7190

Day 8.
A 'rest' day. Either visit the world famous Cango Caves, an ostrich show farm, the Wild Life Ranch (cheetahs, lion, tigers, crocodiles and alligators), explore locally on your bike or just laze round the pool.
Overnight at Die Oude Meul Country Lodge, Oudtshoorn.

Day 9.
We recross the Little Karoo , again through wild and rugged country passing through Calitzdorp, Ladysmith and Barrydale arriving back in the Western Cape at Montague, an attractive spa town with natural hot water springs hidden in a mountain cleft. On leaving Montague we pass some of the most contorted and folded mountain strata you will ever see and finally enter the fertile fruit growing area of Robertson. Our guest house for the night is on a long established wine farm in the gracious old homestead.
Overnight at Nuy Valley Guest House, near Robertson. Tel 023-342-7025

Day 10.
Today we do the "7 Passes Route", some fast and perfectly engineered, some tortuously twisting, others over 4000' high. During the day we circle the Hex River mountains (where wee have a ski club !), always on good tar roads.
Overnight at Nuy Valley Guest House, near Robertson.

Day 11.
Return to Cape Town via Du Toits Kloof pass and the main N1 road. Proceeding on from Cape Town we tour the picturesque Cape Peninsular with the Atlantic Ocean on the one side and Indian Ocean on the other. Visit the a penguin colony at Simonstown and lunch at Cape Point ( don't let the baboons steal it!)
Overnight in Cape Town.

Day 12.
In the morning we suggest you either visit the famous shopping area at the Waterfront or ascend Table Mountain by cable car. In the afternoon return the bikes and we bus you to the airport

[The entire tour is about 3000 kilometers or 1875 miles