A Taste of Namibia...
TOUR DATES
Dates:
21 days
* 5 – 25 October, 2010 - no spaces available
* 13 February – 5 March, 2011
* 18 September – 8 October, 2011
Private tours also available
Contact us to secure your spot on this wonderful tour.
Namibia, known principally for its desert, has so much more to offer the visitor than first meets the eye – endless changing vistas in every colour and hue, one of the world’s deepest canyons, wild coastline and rugged mountains; game parks, abundant wildlife, colonial architecture, rural villages, salt flats and diamond mines; trees and plant life hundreds of years old, prehistoric rock art, rare fossils, dinosaur footprints and even a petrified forest thought to be over 200 million years old.
On this exciting motorcycle adventure, you’ll get to see it all – with the one notable exception of the diamond mines. However, should you be in the market to buy a diamond, or even more than one, you’ll find the best quality at reasonable prices in the many reputable shops in Namibia and Cape town.
Starting and finishing the tour in Cape Town gives you the chance to explore this fascinating and world famous city, with its even more famous and instantly recognisable Table Mountain. We also take a trip down to the Cape of Good Hope – the very name conjuring up visions of the tall-masted sailing ships, tea clippers and pirates that plied the ocean trade routes of the past.
The ride from Cape Town to the Namibian border is through rolling countryside dotted with citrus orchards and sprawling farmlands, but after the border and across the Orange River, there is no doubt you have entered into an entirely different country. As our route takes us along the banks of the river, the previously obvious agricultural lands are replaced by a more rugged, arid and totally arresting beauty.
After the initial taste of gravel roads and wide horizons we arrive at our first accommodation in Namibia. Watching the sun setting over the Orange River while listening to the exotic sounds of an approaching African night and then looking up in awe as the clear sky lights up with a million stars, leaves nobody in doubt that this is the start of a real desert adventure.
The next week is spent working our way up the western coastal regions of Namibia and further into the great Namib Desert, visiting places like Luderitz and the diamond mining ghost-town of Kolmanskop, before heading to Sesriem and Sossusvlei with its picture postcard red dunes and white salt pans.
Further north we head for the coast and the colonial German town of Swakopmund where we take a break for a couple of nights. Although designated as a ‘Rest Day’, there are so many activities and attractions in the area that you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Now going inland and to the north we spend some time at the UNESCO World Heritage site at Twyfelfontein and then it’s off to Etosha National Park and game reserve. Etosha is unusual in so far as it’s an arid region, but still teeming with wildlife and game. Because of the desiccation of the surrounding country, it is one of the few places in Africa where normal waterhole animal protocol is studiously ignored and it is not unusual to see predator and prey drinking virtually next to each other – a truce having been called so everyone stays healthy. The end result is an abundance of food for all – later when ‘the gloves are off’!
Back on the road again it’s off to the capital of Namibia, Windhoek with its interesting mix of cultures and architecture. From there we ride down into the southern Kalahari Desert region, thereby taking in two of the world’s almost mythical deserts. In the Kalahari is the Quiver Tree Forest with some of the trees 300 years old. There’s also a geographic oddity known as The Giant’s Playground – an area strewn with huge boulders and rock totems, relics of molten lava dating back some 180 million years.
The last day in Namibia is spent at the magnificent site of one of Africa’s great natural wonders – Fish River Canyon – the second largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon in Arizona and a fitting finale to this amazing country.
After crossing the border back into South Africa, we complete the circle with a two-day ride back to Cape Town where we celebrate this incredible and memorable ride of over 5000kms!
Click here for the Namibia overviewDon't miss out, join our next tour - contact Phillipa to secure your booking today!
