Ride Report – South African Cape Tour
So my wife and I packed the bike and headed for the Cape for a week.
Johannesburg is a land locked city of about 6 million people, it’s a big busy place, spread out over a diameter of about 70 kilometers from the most Easterly to Westerly suburbs. A lot of folks would not believe what a rat race this place is, its’ every man for himself and “make hay while the sunshines” The traffic is horrendous, the drivers are lunatics and in the wrong areas it is congested with low cost housing, squatter camps, crime and filth.
We needed a break.
As a rule we try and get out of town as often as possible, and even though we live in the more affluent Western suburbs (in a very nice gated security estate) it is always a pleasure to escape the madness for a while and get out of town. South Africa is a BIG place, and distances tend to be measured in hours not miles or kilometres, having said that we are 600 kilometers from the East coast, about 1100 kilometers from the West coast, 1450 kilometers from Cape Town and 550 kilometers from the Southern border of Zimbabwe. It’s a long way to anywhere!!!
We opted to try something different on this trip, and booked an overnight train trip to the Cape with the bike secured in the goods compartment and the wife and I in a sleeper compartment, the trip is 18 hours long, and South African trains operate on “African Time” which basically means they will arrive when they get there, the schedules mean nothing, and being 3 to 5 hours late is quite normal. This said a train trip was always going to be preferred to a 1000 kilometer ride 2 up. The trip cost only U$110-00 for dinner, a four sleeper compartment, breakfast and the bike, a real bargain
Shortly before we arrived in Port Elizabeth we passed along the boundary of the Addo Elephant park, this one of the few places in Africa where elephants live in the forest and not on the open plains or bush lands. We pulled in to PE only an hour late, I was anxious to see if my bike had survived, and when we opened the goods carriage I was glad to see it there, strapped down exactly as I left it.
Our tour started straight away with away with a visit to the Tsitsikamma Forest and Storms River, this area is known as the Garden Route, the weather is damp and temperate, sub-tropical plants and forests of indigenous African hard wood trees line the roads, it is mountainous and the weather can vary from area to area, at one point it dropped to 19 degrees centigrade, and 30 kilometers later it was up to 39 degrees and humid. There are lots and lots of mountain passes in this area, the road surface is smooth and well maintained with large single span concrete bridges crossing the gorges and rivers. At the Storms river mouth we stopped for a snack and to admire the Indian Ocean. October is the time of year that the Southern Right Whales migrate from Madagascar to the Antartic to feed, we watched the whales breaching, rolling and leaping behind the back line of the surf, it was magical.
As a general rule accommodation in South Africa is cheap and very good, a typical 3 of 4 star motel room can be had for around U$60-00 per person per night, dinner bed and breakfast. The food will always be of a high class, and the rooms neat and clean. South African people are very sociable and hospitable, it is not at all unusual to strike up conversations with complete strangers, and make new friends in a matter of hours. There were 17 people on our tour, and although it was only day one the group had already started to gel and we were all getting on like a house on fire, the evening saw us have a “braai” (pronounced bry) or barbeque as the rest of the world knows it, a couple of cold beers finished the day and we slept sound in the forest motel.
Day 2 was a short day in the saddle, only about 150 kilometers, we toured around mountain pass after mountain pass, visiting the Bloukrans bridge. This is the highest Bungee jump in the world at 216 meters, we were going to nominate a “volunteer” to do the jump, but there was tour bus full of Canadians who had taken over for the morning and booked the facility out for the time we were there. Attached to the concrete arch of the bridge there is a steel platform with 2 separate bungee chords, a jumper leaps off about every 3 minutes, but the funniest thing is the guy who hangs under the bridge in a bosuns’ chair to help recover the jumper as they are hoisted up, apparently he has been doing this job for years, but when asked if he had every leapt off the bridge he was quoted as he is not crazy and prefers hanging under the bridge like a spider, all day, 200 meters above the ground. We spent the second night in Knysna, a delightful little seaside town famous for its’ oysters. Dinner was in a fantastic sea food restaurant, the accommodation was in a Swiss style log hotel.
Day 3 we headed further West along the South coast, visiting various little seaside towns, more mountain passes, high speed sweeping bends and beautiful coastal spots. This particular part of the country has always been my personal favourite area. The colonial influence is very obvious, with small communities, sandstone buildings and mixed architecture including Victorian English, Portuguese and European. The weather is pleasant in summer, but can be awful in winter when the wind howls and it rains horizontal. South Africa is a relatively young country, and therefore does not have a long history such as the UK or other European countries. In fact the history is only really recorded and obvious from about 400 years ago, nevertheless the various cultures are evident in the population and way of life. Our accommodation for the next 2 nights was booked for a small town just outside Outsdhoorn (tired of the funny names yet?) This particular area is famous for the Ostrich industry, which was sparked many years ago by a worldwide demand for the feathers. Ostrich meat is quite common here, it is very red and extremely lean, personally I like it, but lots of people don’t. There are Ostrich farms everywhere, and the birds tend to run alongside the roads in packs chasing the vehicles, I have heard it said that an Ostrich’s brain is smaller than its’ eye, this I can well believe.
Day 4 we headed back to the coast, Mossel Bay is another delightful seaside town. In the days of sailing ships the Portuguese founded the town as a stop off while rounding the Cape of Good Hope. They would nail the mail to a tree in the harbour for the ships passing in the opposite direction. We chartered a boat and headed out to see to try and spot some whales, but the wind and swells got the better of use and we were forced to turn back just outside the bay, there were whales in the area, we could see them, but they were just too far away and the skipper of the boat was reluctant to take us too far out as the sea was quite rough. There is a very nice transport museum in the area, so we paid a visit there and took a look at the old steam trains, vintage cars, bikes etc. Steam trains still run on some lines over here, and for anyone who has never been on steam train it is a real experience, the power is unbelievable, and they belch soot out of the chimney that is sucked back into the carriages if the windows are left open, a real treat for train enthusiasts. After the museum we returned to the beach front and took a table in restaurant overlooking the waves, there were dolphins frolicking in the swells, and whales breaching the surface only 200 meters from the rocks. We watched for about an hour, enjoyed a warm glass of sherry and returned to the hotel. It was magical.
We woke up on day 5 to an overcast day, there were clouds rolling over the mountain tops, and mist in the valleys. I packed the bike, loaded up the wife and headed for Beaufort West to catch the train home, but not without a few scenic detours on the way. We took a road through the Swartberg Mountains and up to where the tar road ends and it changes to dirt. This area is known as Baviaans Kloof, or Die Hel. The dirt roads winds along through the mountains for 57 kilometers, and it is said to take 2½ hours to cover the distance one way. It is a dead end and there is no real option other than to turn around and come back, personally I would never tackle a ride like this as I had quite a nasty accident on a similar road some 5 years ago, I have never ridden dirt since, and I certainly would not punish my bike on such a trip. Our next stop was Meiringspoort, this simply has to be the most beautiful piece of road I have ever ridden. It snakes through a valley with 1000 foot high sandstone cliffs on both sides, in 12 kilometers the road crosses the river 27 times, there are waterfalls in the cliffs and crystal clear streams running over the rocks, magnificent. I final stop was at Cango Caves, 20 years ago this was the most visited tourist spot in the Cape, but times have changed and tourists seem to now find commercial attractions more interesting, I do not understand why! The caves are limestone, with large formations inside, the artificial lighting makes the formation look like faces, buildings and animals.
Our final stretch of riding was a 150 kilometer haul to Beaufort West through the Karoo, the road was dead straight, and completely flat, the cross winds were howling and the dust and tumbleweed was being thrown across the road, the temperature dropped to 15 degrees as we arrived at the railway station to load the bikes and head home. It was the end of a fantastic trip.
I may sound like a travel writer, but this is exactly my thoughts and recollections of my recent trip, both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and makes us realise just how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful country, we really do have the whole world here, it is all right there, on our doorstep and so easy to access. Would I do it again? You bet, and I would thoroughly recommend anyone who has the chance to come here and see for yourselves, you will not regret it.
Andy
