The Karoo Two Motorcycle Adventure
Baviaanskloof and Die Hell
7 DAY GUIDED OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE TO THE KAROO
- All lodge accommodation.
- R 11 899 per person sharing.
- Single supplement available at R 2 200.
- Breakfast included.
- Guides, medic and support truck on tour.
- GPS tracks and routes supplied.
- Sweep rider on tour.
- Including an optional guided ride to "Die Hell".
- All adventure motorcycle brands are welcome.
- Pillion friendly.
Tour Dates:
1 - 7 May 2023 (Fully booked)
21 - 27 November 2023 (10 of 12 places available)
This motorcycle tour has a Grade 3 rating.
Please see our ride grading system HERE.
Itinerary For The Motorcycle Tour
It's our mission to support the South African tourism industry, which has been heavily hit by the Covid-19 crisis, by bringing much-needed cash flow to the small lodges we'll be staying at on our adventure. If you’re interested in finding out more about this intriguing off-road Karoo adventure, please read through the brief itinerary set out below and book your place on this incredible off-road adventure today...
DAY ONE
The adventure kicks off in the historical town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape Province.
We all meet up at our lavish accommodation at around 5 pm. Here we will enjoy a 5-star dinner at an award-winning hotel, while we get to know our fellow adventure bike riders. The SA Adventure team will give a detailed rundown of the tour we are about to undertake, sharing many years’ experience and tales of off-road motorcycle adventures we've been on. We will also share some of the histories of this beautiful town, which is the fourth oldest in South Africa!
DAY TWO
The fresh Karoo air will have ensured a deep nights’ rest, invigorating your mind and soul for the exciting day of riding ahead. Following a hearty breakfast, we head off towards the beautiful Eastern Cape and the small village of Addo! We ride along some truly striking Karoo gravel roads with lots of stops for photos of the remarkable scenery. The back road that leads us away from Graaff Reinet is absolutely breathtaking. A notable stop is a place we’ve come to call Aloe Valley, where each one of the north-facing hills is covered with medicinal Aloe Ferox. “The amaXhosa have legends about the Aloe warriors that spring up from the Earth by the thousand. Their spears are the flowers, their leaves are their shields, and the stems are their bodies". With a watchful eye, they watch us ride past on our motorcycles. We stop for a wonderful lunch at the Royal Hotel in the quaint town of Steytlerville (try the bobotie and apple crumble). From here on the route becomes even more impressive! We drive through little Karoo towns and wind through mountains until we reach our accommodation on an orange farm on the banks of the Sundays River in Addo. A perfect place to relax after a great day's riding.
DAY THREE
The excitement about the day ahead is not easily contained! The passes we are going to traverse lie beyond imagination! Today we head towards the Baviaanskloof! On the way, we will be stopping in Patensie for picnic supplies. We ride over the old lower bridge that crosses the Van Stadens river with a terrific ant’s eye view of the Van Stadens River Bridge! We will stop for some photos and drone shots and take in the beauty of the Eastern Cape vegetation. What comes next is the almost indescribable Baviaanskloof!
The valley of the Baviaanskloof - derived from the Dutch “valley of baboons”- is just under 200 kilometres in length and a truly fascinating place in terms of its geomorphology and geology. The rocks that form the Baviaanskloof mountains (to the North) and Kouga Mountains (to the South) are sandstones from the Table Mountain group formed when the southern Cape region was still part of the Gondwana supercontinent. We’ll be riding our motorcycles through passes with views of unspoilt nature, plateaus of green, gorges with death-defying drops, beautiful streams and majestic mountains! We’ll stop for a roadside picnic lunch with one of the best views you’ll ever see! Following our awesome ride through the Baviaanskloof reserve, we’ll stop for a quick coffee and a snack at a little shop on the edge of the reserve, before making our way to our accommodation for the night. We’ll be staying in the creases of the Cape fold mountains in a lodge that’s completely hidden away from civilisation.
DAY FOUR
After a hearty breakfast in the mountains, we continue our motorcycle adventure towards Prince Albert via the Swartberg Pass! Spanning from Outshoorn in the South and Prince Albert in the North, and stretching a satisfying 27km, the Swartberg Pass is well known and considered one of the world's bucket list passes to ride on an adventure motorcycle. This road, the R328, runs from East to West, along the Northern part of the Little Karoo in the Western Cape, over the Swartberg Mountain Range. Built by Thomas Bain and opened in 1888, this beautiful twin-track winding climb will quite possibly leave you at a loss for words. The summit is at 1583m asl and we’ll stop here for a while to take in the most unimaginable views before zig-zagging our way down one of the finest exposed fold mountain chains in the world with the most unusual geology.
Almost immediately after exiting the pass, we arrive in the special town of Prince Albert. Steeped in history and legend, this little Western Cape town, founded in 1762 is only accessible via the Swartberg Pass, Meiringspoort and Seweweekspoort. The immaculately preserved Victorian, Cape Dutch and Karoo buildings of Prince Albert are mostly considered national monuments and make for great photos in the early evening.
DAY FIVE
This part of the Karoo has so much to offer, and so, for this reason, we’ve decided to spend an extra day in Prince Albert! The many options for the day include a ride out to an olive or fig farm; visiting the cheese factory; going to the museum or galleries; or a guided early morning nature walk in the Wolwekraal Nature Reserve where we’ll learn about the geology, botany, the natural and cultural history of the area. As an added bonus, and we suspect one of the reasons you are signing up for this motorcycle adventure, we will also do an optional guided ride over the Gamkaskloof to the quirky little place known as “Die Hel”! This ride will be around 5 hours through semi-technical terrain and passes, with scenery that will leave you speechless.
As there is a multitude of stories about ghosts in the Karoo and especially Prince Albert, we can’t leave without going on a ghost tour! We’ll set out at dusk with our guide, a local of Prince Albert, who will tell us more about the legends and ghosts of this beautiful town and its inhabitants, including those spirits who don’t seem to want to leave!
DAY SIX
Today, we get to ride on very hidden Karoo dirt roads with the beautiful scenery of the Moordenaars-Karoo all around us! There will be no other vehicles driving on these back roads for hours, and you’ll be very happy to be on an adventure with a group of people, as being stranded in this part of South Africa will make you understand why it’s called the Murderer’s Karoo. We’ll have an incredible lunch in the Karoo town of Fraserburg where we’ve found a Chef that really knows what quality food is! After lunch, we get back onto the gravel roads that will take us towards the picturesque Karoo National Park! Situated at the foot of the Nuweveld Mountains, the Park has a wide variety of wildlife and rich fossil history. After check-in, we’ll go on an optional game drive followed by a walk on the fossil trail where we’ll see some of the most well-preserved fossils of the animals that roamed these parts 250 million years ago. We’ll have a delicious dinner in the restaurant before retiring to our rooms, which will be chalets bounded by the lofty mountains and desolate Karoo desert...
DAY SEVEN
The last day of the tour is generally quite tough, knowing that we’re on our way back to “The Real World” and not being sure how we’re going to adjust back into it, can put a damper on things. For this reason, we’ve ensured that we’ll end this tour with a real highlight! Awesome Karoo gravel roads and spectacular Karoo scenery will lead us to our accommodation for the night: Somewhere between Nieu-Bethesda and Hanover, we’ve found a stunning farm stay with buffalo, hippo and a multitude of game! On arrival, we’ll go out for a short game drive and have sundowners overlooking the Seekoi river and try to spot the last hippo in the Karoo. For tonight’s dinner, we’ll have “Karoo Sushi” as a starter, followed by the best Karoo home-cooked dinner you’ll ever have! Make sure to leave some space for dessert, as you will be treated to the best milk tart you’ve tasted in your life!
During dinner we’ll close off the tour by sharing our favourite moments, lessons and skills learnt and integrate this awesome experience!
You only get one life, you decide how you’re going to spend it.
Fortunately, there is no better place for self-reflection than on an adventure.
Make sure it's with SA Adventure…
why go on a Karoo Tour with SA Adventure?
SA Adventure has been conducting off-road Adventure Motorcycle and 4x4 tours since 2009 all around the world. From the Karoo to Peru and beyond, our track record speaks for itself and the relationship we have with all the lodges, hotels and guesthouses on this off-road adventure through the Karoo, have been built up over the past few years.
We pride ourselves on safety and nothing is more important to us than your well being while on your tour. We have a full support truck, guide and medic on every tour. You can relax on your adventure and know that the SA Adventure team has taken care of all the details to make your experience an unforgettable one!
Andrew Ernst
Very happy with all aspects of the tour. Time on the bike was therapy on two wheels- thoroughly enjoyed myself. Excellent forethought and planning with safety aspects at the forefront. A good alternative plan for rain day situations and/or unexpected delays. Well done SA Adventure team!
Rudy Viljoen
Great tour with excellent guides and staff. I can highly recommend Tim and his crew to take you on your next adventure bike tour.
Thank you SA Adventure, you guys rock
John Edmeston
Totally professional and superbly organised with excellent safety and backup services in place.
Learnt new skills and met new friends and had so much fun.
Cannot fault the tour and would highly recommend it.
The fact that this was my 5th tour with Tim Skelton and the SA Adventure crew, says it all.
Tony Foce
I've done a few motorcycle tours with SA Adventure and I've never come away unsatisfied with the way they run their operation, from safety to good accommodation and food.
I have learnt so much over these motorcycle trips.