Gourmet Self-Guided Tour

SA - GourmetSG1 Our Gourmet motorcycle tour is a unique blend of great riding, but also on good dining, one of South Africa’s unsung strengths. We take you on open, challenging roads, over mountain passes, through both semi desert and fertile coastal regions in a perfect climate for biking on one of our fleet of BMWs. Our tour stops each night at one of the country’s finest country lodges or guest houses where gourmet meals are individually prepared.

You will sample the country’s finest sea food at Plettenberg Bay, musselcracker and Cape Salmon straight from the sea at L’Agulhas, quail and ostrich at Graaf Reinet, all accompanied by award winning South African wines.

Exclusive accommodation, truly mouth watering dinners, superb roads and cultured guides all contribute to this unique motorcycling experience. It is not cheap, we did not intend it to be, we want to show you the very best this country has to offer.

Tour highlights

The warm air and sun on arrival at Cape Town
Perhaps the country's finest fresh fish dinner at the Agulhas Country lodge near the southernmost point of Africa
Game viewing at Addo Game Reserve and the sheer luxury of your accommodation there
Ostrich steaks in the world’s ostrich capital, Oudtshoorn
The spectacular Swartberg Pass on a gravel road

Itinerary

Day 1 Depart UK.

Day 2 Arrive Cape Town. We meet you at the airport and convey by bus to your luxury hotel in Cape Town’s famous “Waterfront” area. After a rest and lunch we take you to our Cape Town base to issue the motorcycles and instruct in their use. You can then take a tour of the picturesque Cape Peninsular visiting Cape Point, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, and the Boulders, to view a penguin colony. The short tour includes the truly spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive with magnificent photo opportunities.

This evening you can either dine in the hotel or at any of the more than 30 restaurants in the Waterfront area.

Day 3 Cape Town – Cape Agulhas. Today you leave Cape Town via the up-market southern suburbs, arriving at the False Bay coast at Muizenberg and then ride around the bay, first on a road right next to the mile upon mile of pristine beach and then between mountain and sea with views to match any in the world. Lunch at the coastal resort of Hermanus.

During the afternoon you strike inland through rolling wheat fields with fast, sweeping bends and reach the sea again at the picturesque fishing village of Struis Baai, just a few kilometres from yur destination at Cape L’Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa. Agulhas Guest House.

Day 4 Cape Agulhas – Plettenberg Bay. Re-crossing the wheatfields you arrive at the historic town of Swellendam with beautiful Cape Dutch style buildings. Farther along, a quick stop at the aloe factory shop at Alberton is worthwhile. Aloe extracts for every conceivable use from facial beauty to rheumatic joints are available.

After Mossel Bay the truly picturesque “Garden Route” really starts. You pass beautiful lakes just inland from magnificent beaches, huge forest plantations and fertile agricultural land. Possibly the highlight is Knysna’s tranquil lagoon which spills into the Indian Ocean through “The Heads” and shortly after this you reach your destination, Laird’s Lodge.

Day 5 Plettenberg Bay – Addo. Continuing on the N2 highway you soon divert onto the original old road which twists over sinuous little passes through ancient indigenous stinkwood and yellowwood forests where you are likely to see monkeys, but unlikely to see a small herd of elephants last sighted many years ago.

After passing through the industrial city of Port Elizabeth you turn north and for the first time enter the typically ‘African’ environment of rolling hills, huge thorn bushes and distant horizons. This is big game country and our overnight destination, SA - GourmetSG6 Woodall Country Lodge is within minutes of the Addo Game Reserve.

Day 6 Addo (free day). A full day’s safari experience! There are 3 game drives a day plus an evening ‘Sundowner’. And if that is all too much, you can relax by the pool, work out in the gym or get spoilt in the health centre. Woodall Country Lodge.

Day 7 Addo – Graaf Reinet. Today you pass through the Eastern Cape where bitter wars were fought between the Africans arriving from the North East and the British settlers arriving from the South West. They met at the Fish River not far from your route and towns such as Cradock which you pass through were made famous at the time.

Prior to arriving in Graaf Reinet you ascend and descend the Sneeuberg (snow) mountains via the Wapadsberg and Naudeberg passes which are often snowbound in winter. Graaf Reinet is a beautiful and historic frontier town well worth a walk around. Andries Stockenstrom Guest House.

If you’re feeling energetic, ride into the mountains via the ‘Valley of Desolation” to watch the sun set over the vast Karoo, it can be quite a sight!

Day 8 Graaf Reinet – Oudtshoorn. You will get a feeling for the enormity of Africa today. At times the topography is so open, the road stretches so far into the distance and the sky is so huge that you may feel as if you were driving across an ocean. For one stretch of 105 km there are literally no towns and at the end of it you have to take lunch at the one and only habitation of Willowmore.

SA - GourmetSG9 As you approach your destination of Oudtshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world, you see literally hundreds and hundreds of these weird birds.

Day 9 Oudtshoorn (free day). After a week on the road most people appreciate a day out of the saddle and there being so much of unusual interest around Oudtshoorn, we decided this would be the best place for a rest day.

Should you opt to explore locally on your bike, a round trip over the huge Swartberg pass (gravel) and back via Meirings Poort makes a truly spectacular day’s ride. More local activities could be:

A visit to the Cango Caves – we suggest the medium tour
See an ostrich show farm – we suggest either Highgate or Safari farms
Tour the Wild Life Park where they have leopard, lion and crocodiles

Your hosts at Montana Lodge will be pleased to arrange any of these trips for you. The Swartberg Pass is only rideable on a BMW R1200GS, and before tackling it you must seek their advice because should it have rained recently this pass is NOT suitable for motorcycles.

Day 10 Oudtshoorn – Paarl. Departing Oudtshorn via the Little Karoo, your route then follows a quite superb road through really wild, rugged and mountainous country with few habitations. After Calitzdorp you climb the Huisrivier Pass, pass the German mission station of Zoar, Ladysmith and Barrydale where we recommend you lunch at the last restaurant on the right where motorcyclists are given a great reception. Just before Barrydale a quick stop at “Ronnie's Sex Shop” is a laugh!

After Barrydale and the beautiful Tradouw Pass you suddenly enter the more fertile side of the mountains and the rich fruit and grape growing regions of Robertson and Worcester. Just before your destination of Paarl you ride the last big pass of the tour, Du Toits Kloof Pass, going over the top on the original road and not through the tunnel. Watch out for baboons on the road (never feed them and if

Day 11 Paarl – Cape Town. An easy hour’s drive along the N1 brings you back to Cape Town’s Waterfront. A few suggestions for today are:

A 2-hour ride north on the R27 to Saldanha Bay, where Langebaan with its nature reserve and yacht marina and Churchhaven with pristine beaches are worth visiting.
A visit to Robben Island and (political) tour of Nelson Mandela’s old prison. This takes at least a half day and the ferry leaves from near the Old Clock Tower on the Waterfront.
Ride to Kloof Neck and then the lower cable station on Table mountain and a trip up the mountain. There is a small restaurant on the top if you want to walk down the only safe way is via Platterkloof Gorge which takes about 2-1/2 hours.
Ride to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, about 15 minutes from the Waterfront. These gardens are truly beautiful and even for the non botanically inclined, quite fascinating.

Day 12 Depart Cape Town. Depending on the time of your departing flight, there should be time for last minute shopping before returning the bikes and we bus you to the airport for your flight.

Day 13 Arrive UK.

Total distance c. 3000 km

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Price includes: 10 days motorcycle hire, insurance, unlimited mileage, 10 nights 2-3* hotel accommodation with breakfast, airport transfers, storage, winery tour, maps and daily information pack; luggage storage; biker’s rucsac.

Price excludes: Fuel, meals other than those specified, park entry fees, personal items. Security deposit ZAR12000-20000. Flights, travel insurance and tour extensions can be arranged by H-C Travel.

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Gourmet self-guided tour

BMW F650GS

BMW F650GST

BMW R1150GS

BMW R1200GS

Passenger

Sgl rm suppl.

£1,545.00

£1,675.00

£1,695.00

£1,845.00

£945.00

£195.00