Wilderness Adventure South Africa

Sitting at the table of the beautiful Euphoria estate near a little town called Mookgepong in the Limpopo province, everyone is discussing the ride of yesterday and what to expect today.
Yesterday was a day of contrasts, from the bustling streets of Johannesburg to the tranquil wide open gravel roads leading to our resort for the evening. It is challenging riding on the left side of he road, but we all became accustomed to this English trend quite quickly.
South Africa has a vast network of fast flowing freeways and the first leg took us along the outskirts of Pretoria and through the agricultural hub of the Springbok flats, vast open lands where in the days of the voortrekker (pioneers) thousands of springbok, South Africa’s national animal, used to roam. A small side road took us through Warmbaths, a town famous for the natural mineral springs that are reputed to have healing powers.
A beautiful sunny South African day with lots of refreshment breaks to quench thirsts and full tanks.Then the fun started.
Our tour guides stopped at a small road outside Nylstroom and sent the photographers ahead. That’s when you know…A glorious gravel road wound its way into the Waterberg Moutains with sweeping turns and breathtaking vistas wherever you look. Probably about forty kilometres of stunning riding, the guys and girls loved it!After a brief stop to exchange war stories and tales of heroism, we made our way to Euphoria. What a great day in the saddle, topped off by a traditional African braai on the verhanda of our bushveld hotel…More to follow today, we’ll update you as we go along.

Today turned out to be a long day. We only arrived at our overnight stop, the famous Couch House, a grand old hotel buried in the mountains, well after dark. And this was after a ride of only around 300 kilometres…It all started at the gravel road. At the start everyone was game, but as we progressed, the sand monster bit. The guys battled, very tough. The area is so dry and dusty. A few of our riders opted to rather take the tar loop. They were sensible. It took more than two hours to get around 15 of our riders along a forty kilometer section. Glorious bushveld through the nature reserves in The Waterberg Mountains! We saw giraffes, warthogs, wildebeests, monkeys and lots of small antelopes. And the silence when the engines are turned off is absolute… like nothing that we have experienced before.
Eventually we regrouped at the road outside the salubrious Legend Golf estate for well needed refreshments. 32 degrees and the sun was blazing down.
A quick scenic tar route took us to the town of Mokopane for a lunch at one of the famous South African Steak houses. No hurry in Africa! More than two hours for a light lunch…Back on the bikes and out through town, the surroundings start changing, the country became very dry and almost desert like. The tar roads are excellent all the way, to the quaint African town of Total Nobody. We even saw signs to Bolivia guesthouse, we were concerned that we were a little bit lost…After a while we started to climb, past the largest church in South Africa – The ZCC village outside Total Nobody, again the world changes, suddenly the world goes green with huge plantations and alpine like mountains with glorious sweeping mountain passes. Due to water shortages, our hotel has changed – and our GPS got lost. We tried to turn us into gravel roads into the forests and by now the sun is starting to set… Quick pow-wow among the guides – if all else fails, ask directions…
Back on the correct route, we cut through the town of Tzaneen and back up into the mountains, beautiful roads, but quite badly potholed, so you need to keep your eyes wide open. Soon the welcoming lights of the hotel are in the distance… 7pm we arrive – what a day! What a ride.

Baobab trees, Boats and Baboons…The day started early because we had a lot of distance to cover. The route took us from our hotel into some stunningly beautiful mountain passes.The day was sunny and warm, the views coming through the mountains around Tzaneen, breathtaking. After a refuel at the Sasol garage (Sasol is South Africa’s local petrol manufacturer), we took off for our lunch stop in the Blyde River Canyon.The ride was one of contrasts, through poorer rural areas into verdant farmlands and eventually, game reserves all along the roads for as far as the eye can see. Everyone was amazed to see the huge electric fences that are erected round the farms to keep the animals in – and poachers out.A two-hour ride saw us enter the stunning mountains of the Drakensberg (Dragons teeth). Swadini is a nature reserve in the Blyde canyon. The Blyde River runs through the canyon, which is the third largest canyon in the world, after the Grand in the USA and the Fish River also in South Africa. We spent a leisurely hour floating along the river in a barge, checking out the Hippos and listening to our tour guide telling us a little bit about the area where we were. Very beautiful.In the afternoon, our ride took us right up into the high mountains through alpine like passes, forests and mountains for as far as the eye can see.
The last 40 km piece took us down to our overnight at the beautiful Protea Kruger Park hotel, which actually goes into the park. Earlier in the day, they had to chase the elephants away from the dining area. Fantastic. We enjoyed a traditional South African braai (barbeque) under the stars listening to the sounds of a local marimba band….

Up bright and early – for a game drive through Kruger park.It was cold, so we all huddled up in our Hevik Riding jackets under our blankets in the trucks. We saw lots of animals – Elephants, Rhinos, Lions in the distance, Giraffes, Hippos, Monkeys, and Hyenas – a fabulous, unspoiled piece of Africa… We were lucky enough to be able to stop in the park on a rocky Koppie to just take in the peace of the place. Really something special.Day 4 was a rest day, so some stayed at the hotel while others took off for a scenic ride around Mpumalanga lowveld, stopping at the quaint mining town of Pilgrims Rest. Mountain passes, great sceneries and the roads are all in pretty good shape bar the few potholes here and there. At four, we went for a second drive into the park, Buffalos, Civets, Hares, Jackals, Honey badgers, Elephants, Rhinos… and the vast African night under a full moon.Dinner in the lapa and everyone was in bed really early quite well worn out for the day, tomorrow, we head on our final leg … we are told it’s another great ride, so far, a really great African adventure…

All good things come to an end and it was with sad hearts that we bid South Africa’s largest game reserve farewell.A quick photo under the brooding bust of Paul Kruger, South Africa’s first state president and the founder of the park and we were on our way back up the mountains. Awesome views and sweeping mountain roads greeted us. It was amazing to see all the other motorcycles on the routes, it turns out that the Economy run, a time trial to measure fuel usage on motorcycles, and a rally – a gathering of motorcyclists was happening that weekend.There were bikes of all shapes and sizes enjoying the balmy weather and great roads.
A stopover at South Africa’s famous Long Tom Pass was arranged – one of the last places where a Long Tom Cannon saw action during the Boer war. Fascinating place, great photo opportunity with breathtaking views in every direction.Quickly, wide roads took us all along the escarpment and into the Lowveld city of Nelspruit. A quick lunch stop at a seafood joint gave everyone a breather… and then we were off again.Here there is something interesting. A mountain pass took us up to the little settlement of Kaap se Hoop, a remote village where wild horses roam free. We saw the horses, fat, sleek and free roaming the forests. Very beautiful.
Our refuel was at the bottom of the mountain – a blot on the landscape is the huge paper mill that belches smoke and bad smells into the air… from there it was a quick ride to our overnight stop at the very friendly, comfortable Malaga hotel.The farewell dinner was hosted, with a video and photographs of all the highlights of the trip. People were in high spirits, although there was a bit of sadness that the trip was almost at an end…

After a good night’s rest our first group departed for the route back to Johannesburg and OR Tambo International Airport. South Africa’s freeways are really good and well surfaced. Once again we were joined by a multitude of motorcycles making their way back to the big city after a weekend of riding.There was one small glitch. Our illustrious tour organizer Mr Givi, Joseph Perucca managed to run out of fuel, having not filled at the previous day’s top-up… when his bike grounded to a halt on the freeway, there was steam coming out from under his helmet…. anyway, all part of the fun.Reserve fuel was procured and we continued along without further incidents to Johannesburg.What a ride! What a fabulous event and a beautiful country. If you want to visit South Africa, we can recommend it very highly.
The hotels and infrastructure that we experienced are world class. The food is great, the people are so friendly.
This was a great experience…The Yamaha’s are available for rental from Linex Yamaha: fni@linexyamaha.co.za
The Givi South African Wilderness Adventure was arranged by The Adventure Company: familyadventures@mweb.co.za