Windhoek - Cape Town - Motorbike tour

Arriving in the early morning at Hosea Kutako International Airport, our tourguide will welcome you. After a one-hour journey you arrive at Windhoek Mountain Lodge. This comfortable lodge, located at the southern foothills of the Auas Mountains, is the starting point for all our Gravel Travel tours in Namibia. After a hearty breakfast, there is space for acclimatising and relaxing at the pool. The Windhoek Mountain Lodge offers a beautiful view of the surrounding mountain ranges and wide bush savannah. We have a general tour briefing in this afternoon and give introdution to the bikes and GPS devices. Subsequently, we go on an introductory ride (approx. 100 km) where you can familiarise with the road conditions and the technology. Later on you can enjoy a first sundowner at the viewing platform near the lodge before our legendary bushman fondue is served for dinner …

After breakfast we meet for a short morning briefing with some specific hints for this day stage – and off we go: Today’s destination is the “Namib Desert Lodge”. We pass Windhoek on the brink and leave the tarred road fairly quick to submerge into the hilly Khomas-Hochland. We travel along wide and fairly solid gravel roads across this central highlands into the south western direction until we reach the gigantic lookout point of the Spreetshoogte Pass where the view opens up from high above over the Namib Desert landscape. Further down the pass the gravel roads lead through open plains along the Naukluft Mountains where Zebra, Sprinbock and Oryx antelope roam. Finally the lodge is reached – on the edge of the famous fossile dunes.

The destination for today is the small dreamy harbour town of Luderitz. Via Aus the one and only tar road through the „Sperrgebiet“ takes us through Namib desert plains towards the coast. It seems as if time has come to a standstill here. The majority of houses stem from the German colonial era and even the deserted diamond towns like Kolmanskoop with its well preserved buildings, reminds you of the past. We spend the night at the “Nest Hotel” at the waterfront overlooking the Luderitz bay. The Benguela Current causes the coastal temperatures to be significantly colder than inland temperatures.

Today we leave Namibia and enter the Northern Cape of South Africa. The border formalities are usually not that complex and we are soon on the track again travelling westwards along the river bank of the Orange river. The journey continues along smaller more remote tracks that lead us through the rocky deserts of the Richtersveld. We pass ancient, often deserted diamond mines and in the afternoon we reach the small harbour town Port Nolloth. After a coffee-break we continue across the diamond area parallel to the Atlantic coast until we reach our destination ‚Die Houthoop‘, a remote guest farm on the edge of the Namaqualand. The fish specialities prepared on the open fire are out of this world.

Today we leave the Atlantic coast behind and head east towards inland. We reach the wine growing regions of the Olifants river shortly afterwards. Curvy gravel roads take us into the Cederberg mountains, whose sensational viewpoints consistently motivate us to stop and take a deep breath. In the afternoon we reach the small town of Clanwilliam, which is known for its fruit and rooibos tea plantations. We stay at the ‚Saint du Barry’s Country Lodge‘ a small colonial style guesthouse which is known not only for its unforgettable dinners.

Today’s stage takes us across the “Franschhoek Pass” to the east. We then pass the “Theewaterkloof Dam”, a massive water reservoir for Cape Town, and have a great coffee break in the tiny artists town of Greyton, where houses and ancient trees remind you of times long gone by. From here we head straight down to “Cape Agulhas”, the southern most point of the African continent. “Cape Agulhas” is also the geographical border between the Indian and Atlantic ocean. We continue on small gravel roads along the coast until we reach our destination, the famous whale watching town Hermanus, towards early evening. Our hotel is located directly in the old harbour area flanked by the seaside.

The objective of today is to get acquainted with Cape Town. The selection is very diverse and the time is actually not enough. There is much to discover. Take the „Hop on and hop off“ double-decker bus, or visit the amazingly restored Waterfront at the harbour nearby, or the Green Market Square with its many African street traders/hawkers – or Robben Island, the prison island where Nelson Mandela was held captive for more than twenty years… We meet up again for our last evening and visit an interesting restaurant.