The first part of this trip has been absolutely amazing. We traveled from Cape Town along the coast up in to Swaziland.

Our first three days were accompanied by high winds and rain which were only complicated by the fact that my windscreen had broken when my bike was blown over in Cape Town the night before we left. When we returned from dinner I was extremely disappointed to find the windscreen broken and my brand new trail lights damaged. Bertus are chase driver was a fantastic help locating a replacement windscreen that would be sent ahead to Durban. Over the next three days I had the pleasure of riding in strong headwinds without the windscreen. We replaced the windscreen in Durban and continued our adventures.

One of the amazing highlights was our venture up and down Sani Pass and meeting the villagers just on the other side. What an amazing group of people living in such a barren location. I'm including a few pictures from the pass as well as other stops along our way. I could ask for no better host than Helge supported by Harry, Bertus and all the others working behind the scenes to make this trip flow without incident.

Everything has exceeded my lofty expectations. Africa is amazing; the people, the geography, the animals, and the people I am traveling with. It's a great group of people to ride with every day and to go on Safari with.

We have seen some of the most beautiful country in the world and have ridden some amazing roads. I don't know what has been the high light of the trip so far. Although I guess being able to make it to the top of Sani Pass in one piece has to be in the consideration. I'm not an accomplished off road rider like the rest of the guys but I made it to the top of apparently the most technical road that we will ride. So when Helge said at the bottom "Come on Gary. Let's go" I had to go and follow him up the pass. So I can check that off my bucket list.

Riding with Helge has been a real pleasure, particularly after reading his book "10 Years on 2 Wheels". He has an amazing group of people who help support us including his partner in Africa, Harry, and our chase vehicle driver, Bertus. He has suggested places to eat and visit and each suggestion has been a big hit.

Here's just a small sample of pics from the first 13 days.

(Dan) Hello all… what a great adventure it has been.  We were in Cape town for a few days and ready to ride.  When we finally took off it was raining.  We had a few long days of over 300 miles riding in wind and rain – though the sites were outstanding.  Africa is very diverse and there is sooo much to see.  We stood between the Indian ocean and the Pacific ocean – rode over the highest mountain pass and had a cup of coffee at the highest pub in South Africa.  The people here are so nice – always greeting you with a smile.  I was concerned about water and gas – as it turns out that was a waste of time – we are not as of yet in the middle of nowhere.  The group of people that we are traveling with are great – each is exceptional.  We have been on a safari – the animals are amazing.  So much has happened in the last week that I haven’t even gone through all the pics.  This is absolutely an adventure of a lifetime – with so much more to come. 

(Cecilia)  Well, time is going by so quickly.  When I first decided to travel to Africa, I had no idea what to expect and all I can say is it is absolutely beautiful here!  We have seen many waterfalls, rolling green hills, amazing ocean views and exotic animals.  We started our journey in Cape Town.  It was nice in Cape Town but very much like a “tourist” town.  I enjoyed my stay there but was ready to start moving on the bikes!  In the first half of our travels we were hit by quite a bit of rain, but with the proper riding gear it really isn’t that bad.  The climate has been very nice and I have enjoyed it.  Some of my best memories so far are riding up Sani Pass and visiting the Lesotho Village.  The natives to the area were so kind and full of joy, they shared their bread and beer with us, sang songs for us and even got to watch a happy little boy dance his heart out!  It was great fun!  I loved visiting the Zulu Village.  The people were full of life, they greeted us with their native tongue, and just had fun sharing their culture with us!  I even got to dance with one of them in front of the whole group, it was such a fun experience! It was very neat when we stopped at a little stand on the side of the road, it looked like no one was working it.  Then suddenly here comes this young boy running fast towards us, with a huge smile, saying “hello”, “hello”.  He spoke little English, but told us it was his fathers art work.  He then let us take pictures with him but only if we let him wear the motorcycle helmet.  We bought several beautiful little stone pieces that the father made and had a nice time visiting with the boy. 

I really enjoyed the Chimpanzee Refuge, where we were able to watch rescued Chimps in their natural environment.  Each chimp had a story of where they were rescued from and the tour guide did a wonderful job sharing the stories with us!  We have also been so lucky to have gone on a Safari in the Kruger National Park, where we were able to see amazing Zebra’s, Hippo’s, Elephants, Impala’s, and several other animals.  These have all been highlights so far.  I have also greatly enjoyed hanging out with the amazing group of riders we are with!  Its nice to be getting to know each of them and sharing this experience with them!

We arrived in Cape Town a few days ahead of the group. Wanted to be sure we were fully recovered from the long flight from JFK and adjusted to the new time zone.

Had time to go to Kirstenbach Botanic Garden. Fantastic display of indigenous fynbos plants in an English island bed landscape. The main allee was planted by Cecil Rhodes. Spring is starting here so some of the beds were awaiting maintenance but overall the garden looked good. Many Proteas were in bloom including the King Proteas. The garden is used like a park with many people bringing blankets and picnic lunches to spend the day with friends or family.

We walked around Cape Town including a trip to the Natural History museum which had a display of the San people petroglyths. The exhibit included the first known container used by humans. It was an Albacore shell which held a "chemistry set/paint kit" for working on the petroglyths.

We also hiked up Table Mountain walked around on top and then took the cable car down. Magnificent views of the city. It was great to be able to walk through a native stand of fynbos. The Proteas, Ericas, Pelagoniums and Watsonias were in bloom.

Helge and the other members of the tour arrived and we picked up the bikes from customs without incident. We all had dinner together. Nice group of people with a diverse background but a shared strong passion for riding bikes and traveling. It was as if we picked right up from where we left off in Ushuaia after the recent trip to Central and South America - back on the bike, back with people who love motorcycles with Helge at the helm and back in exotic cultures and landscapes.

The rides have been wonderful - great roads, nice people, new plants, magnificent animals. A treat on the first day was a 30+ mile ride thru mud. The sidecar preformed. Another treat was the ride up the Sani Pass, Lesotho. Again the bike preformed. Had to stop for a herd of goats and lost momentum on one of the final switchbacks. Bill and our terrific chase car driver, Bertus, gave a push start and the rig made it the rest of the way to the top.

We've seen baboons and birds along the way but we saw four of the big five in the Hluhluwe reserve - a herd of elephants (100+) mixed with numerous White Rhinos and a herd (100+) of Cape Buffalo - a single lioness lounged in the grass. Kruger National Park presented more elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, antelope, crocs, birds, turtles.

Tomorrow we see our first Baobab trees.

It is a long flight from Seattle to Cape Town, a journey I never look forward to take. This time I had chosen to fly with Emirates Airline via Dubai hoping that the different rout and air carrier would make the journey a little more interesting. To make a long story short, this will not be my first choice of route next time I head to Africa, well that is unless someone upgrade me to first class.

Despite the rough journey there are no better place than arriving in beautiful Cape Town, such a pretty city. Our bike container had already arrive and custom clearing had been taken care of, now we just needed to go and collect the bikes. Like kids on Christmas Eve the group went to pick up our “babies” and what a pretty site it was to see all of the bikes lined up in the warehouse and ready to hit the road.

Before we left Cape Town most of the group had the chance to visit the top of Table Mountain where you have a splendid view of the city and Robben Island. A visit to the prison island came with a guided tour conducted by a former prisoner; a powerful experience for anyone that takes the time to reflect over South Africa’s history and Nelson Mandela’s life.

It is spring in the Southern Hemisphere as we ride toward the most Southern point on the African continent, Cape Agulhas. It is here that the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meets. We fight rain and strong winds the first days of the tour as we work our way following the coast to Durban. But before we reach Durban we do a side trip to Lesotho and Sani Pass infamous for the rough road to the top.

We end this Chapter 1 of the journal with a visit to a Zulu village where GlobeRiders have been stopping every tour since we started this journey in 2003. This time we were lucky and we were the only tourists to visit the village and for that reason were able to interact on a more personal level after their “standard” program came to an end.

We have a great bunch of people on this journey and as a result the energy in the group is on high most of the time. If you have any questions and or comments to the group please write us at info@globeriders.com

Thanks.

Helge Pedersen