Tour 4 – Mpumalanga – North Coast – Drakensberg Circle
Itinerary and Summary
This is a 14 day tour which leads us in a circle from Johannesburg to the beauty of the Lowveld of Mpumalanga including the Kruger National Park, further through the winding roads of Zululand before touching St. Lucia at the North Coast. After a leisure day at the beach we continue through the valley of a thousand hills crossing over to the Drakensberg range and finally back to Johannesburg. A total distance of approx. 2.600 km, most of it on tar and it is suitable for new riders as much as experienced ones.
On your arrival day we will pick you up from Johannesburg’s ORTIA Airport and take you to your hotel in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. After the long flight you can relax and stretch your legs next to the swimming pool. For the energetic one’s we can organise a tour to the Apartheid Museum or the Cradle of Humankind. At dinner the tour participants will have time to meet each other and we will do a briefing of the tour routing, hand out maps and explain what to be aware of when riding a motorcycle in South Africa.
After a short briefing on the morning of the second day, we will collect the bikes and make our way east direction Bronkhorstspruit. Our final destination for the day is the Loskop Dam Nature Reserve.
Day three continues eastwards via Belfast and Dullstroom, where we stop over for lunch. You may want to try the chocolate mousse pancakes which are out of this world. The afternoon is spend riding via Mashishing (Lydenburg) over the Longtom Pass to Sabie, from where we ride the locally famous “22”, a road made for bikes, to finally reach our Hotel in Hazyview.
On the fourth day we take a break from riding and instead take a Safari trip into the Kruger National Park to watch the Big Five and everything else which this piece of paradise offers.
Day five leads us north to Klaserie and then to the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. We continue the road around the Blyde River Canyon to descent from the plateau via the Abel Erasmus Pass to end up the day at the Blydepoort Resort.
Day six is packed with beautiful scenic routes with visits to Bourke’s Luck Potholes, a rain forest, God’s Window with stunning views right through to the Kruger National Park. Our overnight accommodation is near the little town of Graskop.
In the morning of day seven we make our way to Pilgrim’s Rest, a historical village from the old mining days of that area. Going south we ride past Sabie down to Mbombela (Nelspruit) on a very scenic road to Barberton from where we carry on alongside Swasiland to reach Piet Retief, our destination for the day.
The eighth day leads us through Zululand with its flowing hills, past South Africa’s battlefields, where the Voortrekkers fought the Zulus. The route carries us past Vryheid, Melmoth and Empangeni from where we move north to our next target, St. Lucia (part of the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park).
On day nine we take a break from riding and keep the day open for beach activities or simple relaxation.
Day ten will see us going south via Stanger and from there up north towards Greytown, cruising through the valley of a thousand hills before crossing over to Mooi River and working our way to our accommodation close to Nottingham Road.
Day eleven promises beautiful vistas along the Southern Drakensberg, the route carrying us via Rosetta to Kamberg, Estcourt and on to Bergville. From there it is only a short distance alongside the Drakensberg range to Hlalanathi, our final destination of the day with it’s beautiful panoramic view of the Amphitheatre.
The next day will be short, but nevertheless rewarding due to the scenic part of the country we will be traversing. From Hlalanathi we wind our way via the Oliviershoek Pass and alongside the Sterkfontein Dam. We will then go through the Golden Gate Highlands National Park – which will be spiked with stopovers for taking pictures, before we reach the small town of Clarens. Time should allow for a relaxing afternoon to go shopping or try the craft beer of the local brewery.
Day thirteen will lead us to Fouriesburg, Senekal to Kroonstad and after our lunch break we will make our way to Vredefort, a place where a meteorite struck earth long time ago. Our lodge is situated along the Vaal River and is ideal for a relaxing evening before returning to Johannesburg.
Our last day provides a short stopover in the small town of Parys, before taking the road to Vereeniging after which we approach Johannesburg again to return the motor cycles.
Tour price: ZAR 58 600.00 with BMW F750GS
Add ZAR 1 300.00 for BMW F850GS
Add ZAR 9 100.00 for BMW R1250GS LC
Included: 13 night’s accommodation, all dinners and breakfasts, tour guide, Kruger National Park Safari, back-up vehicle
Minimum: 5 participants
