South Africa...Ever been there?

Hi Dave,

My name's Alex, I'm British and have been living here for the last three years. I work for a BMW Motorrad dealership in Johannesburg (Auto Alpina) and have ridden around almost every single place in the country on more than a few occasions

If you need any help at all in any way with regards to bikes or anything else for that matter, please give me a shout. alex.reid@bmwdealer.co.za

Ciao for now,

Alex :tarka
 
Hi Dave,
My name's Peter, I'm a Saffer recently returned to SA from the UK, and I met the mad bugger - Alex - above in the previous post.... :beerjug:
........... he's a bloody top notch chap who managed to sell me my GSA while still in the UK..... :clap



I flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg to collect the bike from Alex and then took a few weeks to ride back down to Cape Town ........ and what a fantastic ride it was.

Depending on where you fly into SA............ in other words - if in JHB - give Alex a call............ if Cape Town - then a good mate of mine, Joerg Vogel, owns CAPE BIKE TRAVEL, rentals and he's your man (he was selected by Charley Boorman for supplying the bikes for his SA tours)




No matter where or when you come ride......... make the effort to join up with the South African's favourite two Adventure Riders websites/forums. A heap of info and help will be available and a lot of Ex-pats on the forum that would bend over backwards to help....... everything from accomodation to routes to travel......

(Both forums are 100% free to join!)

http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php

&

http://www.roamafrica.co.za/forum/index.php

looking forward to welcoming you to SA :thumb
 
Depending on where you are staying, day trips – rides to a lunch spot might be good.
So here is a list:
1. Pubs – foresters arms in Newlands especially on a rugby day. Close to the stadium. This could be linked to a visit to kirstenbosch botanical gardens and then up to the top of Constantia nek and back through the waterfront area to wherever you are staying.
2. Pubs – La med between Clifton Beach and Camps bay (again both worth seeing and then drive along the coast towards Cape Point over Chapmans Peak
3. The waterfront for a day. Plenty to see and eat and then get the trip to robben Island
4. A ride along the eastern coastline through Kalk Bay – must stop at the Brass Bell pub for lunch (http://www.brassbell.co.za/wmenu.php ). Must.
5. Then on to Fish Hoek for ice cream on the beach. Nice promenade walk and next to train line.
6. Then go further round the mountain driving along the coast to simonstown (navy yard) and old harbor. Go to the waters edge and get the best fish and chips in Cape Town from Salty Dog – Best!
http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/simons-town/Restaurants/Salty-Sea-Dog.aspx.
7. Go for a drive to Long Beach and Kommetjie to watch the surfers at Long Beach and look at the old colonial hotel and lighthouse further around from Long Beach http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...t_Word_Long_Beach-Kommetjie_Western_Cape.html . Great place for a local pizza or sundowner is either the red herring in kommetjie or the toad in the village (owned by Bobby Skinstad the springbok rugby player and commentator on Sky now). http://www.safarinow.com/destinations/kommetjie/restaurants.aspx

8. Blue Peter Pub come restaurant Blouberg. This is away from Cape Town side so book an afternoon for a walk on the beach and then head across at about 4pm for the cold drink and pizza. A must. A must for sundowners and cheap pizza – it gets crowded…! Just across from the sea, nice cold wine and sunset, http://eatout.co.za/Restaurants/3080/Cape-Town/Pizzas-Seafood/Blue-Peter
9. If you go to the Nature reserve way past Simonstown, enjoy the drive. No real need to visit the top of the visitor cente unless you want to look at the 2 currents meeting each other
10. Book the cable car and go up to the top of the mountain
11. Go to the Gardens in Cape Town. Can be combined with your day of the cable car (near our parliament - http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/parks/facilities/Pages/CapeTownGardens.aspx this is a nice flat stroll and you get a good feeling for the old cape town. I used to love going there and it was always relaxing …hope it still is.
12. Hells Bells, it’s a beautiful place, just find a coast road and ride around it. Can’t say more than that!
 
TRAVELLING IN SOUTH AFRICA

I fancy a biking tour of South Africa next year. Theres a company that rents the 1150 GS.
Anyone ever been?.
Are there any dodgy bits to avoid?
Will I have lots of fun with my trousers on?

Hi Dave.

Charles Edwards and I run an adventure bike-tour operation out of Cape Town. We can give you extensive information on touring South and Southern Africa. We have bikes to hire (R 1200 GS, F800 GS, etc) and I am willing to part with my own R 1150GS if you really want to ride a good one. Why not check out our website www.africa4adventure.com and give us a shout? We have plenty of options from self-guided tours to guided tours with back-up vehicles etc. Oh, and security is not an issue for us. We ride country-wide regularly without incident.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Rory McKellar-Basset
Cape Town
 
Wish we were there - ZA

If you fancy ZA - JUST GO!!! It is an amazing country and the roads can't be beaten :) We were there for 3 1/2 weeks last November and went on a 2 week tour with Afria4Adventure. Did the Garden Route and Karoo tour (just 5 of us with guide and back up vehicle) and couldn't have wished for better - hire bikes, roads, mountains, beaches, wildlife, safari, scenery, people, banter, laughs, accommodation, food, drinks:beerjug: ...... Fantastic! Just have a look at their FB page or website to see what you are missing. Definitely will be making a return visit asap!
 


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