Winding our way south we reached the southernmost tip of the African continent and the meeting point of the Indian & Atlantic oceans at Cape L’argulhas. The seas were pounding with a huge swell, you could see a shelf, a remnant, of the Africa continent disappearing under that mighty swell, the remainder of the day was spent hugging the stunning coastline as we made our way into the renowned Cape Town. 

Our hotel was perfectly located on the V&A waterfront and gave us plenty of opportunity to explore this vibrant part of Cape Town, but it wasn’t long before we were back on the road heading north. 

We hit the dirt of the incredibly scenic Cederberg’s, a mecca for all adventure riders, and visited an amazing 1000-year-old San Bushmen rock art site and a breathtaking series of caves. 

The nature and very purpose of a research trip is to do exactly that, research, and we “tweaked” the Safari Africa ride a little by managing to include a superb farm homestay in the remote Northern Cape. This farm offers stunning accommodation inside the original homestead built, incredibly, in the 17^th Century, it has been in the same family for 6 generations. Another thrill of this location is the spectacular 7k ride to a private canyon that simply defies apt description, it blew us away, anywhere else in the world it would be attracting the usual Grand Canyon comparisons!!

Dragging ourselves away we spent our last day in South Africa visiting a very quirky motorcycle museum, or more truthfully a garage stuffed full of over 150 dust covered motorbikes before reaching my favourite African destination, Namibia.

We crossed the border and entred a remote empty desert landscape of the Ai Ais / Richtersveld National Park. We followed the Orange River for a time before turning inland into the a landscape of immense dunes and mountains of ancient rock, it was breathtaking stuff. We stopped at Ai Ais only to have a baboon sneak in between Veronica & I, brushing up against me, and making off with a full loaf of bread, “naughty baboon” exclaimed the park officer!

The afternoon was seen out at the mighty Fish River Canyon, generally considered to be the second largest in the world, the views disappeared over the horizon, so it isn’t hard to believe. We drove amongst the random quiver trees and epic desertscapes to reach one of my favourite accommodation destinations in Africa, the Canyon Roadhouse, not long before the setting sun set the landscape aglow and set ablaze the many old car and truck wrecks that lay about at this motoring themed roadhouse. It was a magnificent end to a superb day and reminded me why I love this continent so much, we felt so alive and grateful to be back doing what we love the most, travelling! 

We enjoyed unrivalled hospitality, Namibian style, at the Burgsdorf Guest Farm before embarking on one of the most scenic drives thus far. We wound our way along some epic desert scenery with golden savannah in stark contrast to red sand dunes and black rock mountains, all the while Oryx took shelter under the sparse trees that dotted the landscape. 

Consistent with our forensic research for something “off the beaten path” we took a detour out to visit Duwisib Castle, an amazing sight in a secluded valley that was built by a German baron in 1908, according to the sole caretaker we were the first Australians to have visited here in his 7-year tenure.

We continued on through the fabled Namib – Naukluft National Park, a stunning landscape of immense red sand dunes, skeletons of sunburnt tress in a dried claypan all contrasting magnificently against a backdrop of dunes and pure blue skies, it’s a scene that features on just about every tourist brochure ever released about Namibia

Week three has drawn to a close and impossible as it might seem, Africa just seems to be getting better!