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  1. How will it be possible to offer two German friends the best bike trip in South Africa and in only four days? It is not a lot of time to even remotely show anybody the staggering diversity of Fauna & Flora, wildlife, quant little rural towns and a country made up of such a diaspora multifarious group of humans. Never mind getting into our local customs of braai’ng, (bbq) talking all sort of manure and quaffing down local beers. Erik my brother-in-law, Castle Milk Stout (local beer) devotee and front runner, had his job cut out to conjure up a mind numbing trip that will leave the Germans in need for more. Which, while in Africa is not at all that difficult to do, but how to make it truly memorable in an African way? We have places in the Eastern Cape province like Addo Elephant national park and a few private nature reserves with public roads cutting through them. As far as I am aware there are not many places in Africa where motorcycles are allowed in game reserves or national parks. In Uganda it is still possible to ride a motorcycle in Murchison falls national park and Queen Elizabeth national park in, but not really anywhere else. It’s an unforgettable experience and honestly a bucket list must do. With a bit of luck, we would be able to ride through some of our local parks and do some game viewing. How much better can you get than that? Riding bike while game viewing? Off-road riding in Europe are not allowed anymore. Germany one of the worst when it comes to riding dirt, banned it outright except for designated approved places. Our German friends obviously do not have the luxury cruising dirt roads like South Africans and with that their skills are not Dakar-god like, okay not like we have those skills. They are proficient enough to ride nice dirt roads. Now, this is Africa and we can still enjoy an epic variety of dirt roads. Eventually Erik was able to jumble up a loop starting in East London to Addo Elephant National park and through Baviaans Kloof private reserves and back to East London. This is a slow sight-seeing-stop-often for a beer and biltong we prepped our Suzuki DRZ400’s for them. Perfect for such excursions. Excellent for enduro, dirt roads, falls, spills and okayish when needing to endure the odd highway. They also make pretty damn cool long trip bikes. Gerry and his son, Manu, quickly adapted to the bikes. Coming from BMW1200GS and a Sertao650GS the lightweight and nimbleness of the DRZ quickly bolstered their confidence. Gerry at over 2 meters lighting pole height looked a bit odd on the Suzuki with his knees sticking out while riding. So the four intrepid overlanders hit the dirt to Double Drift national park just out side East London. Only 30 km from Alice and about 15km from Peddie, the 23000ha Double Drift Game Reserve is situated on the Great Fish River. There is a look out point with a breathtaking view over the Fish river. This reserve’ rich history includes several forts bearing witness to the frontier conflicts between Xhosa and Settler. It conserves one of the best examples of the succulent Valley Bushveld. It is possible to view buffalo, rhino, giraffe, hippo and zebra while riding through the reserve. It is a beautiful reserve and it is possible to sleep over in their bungalows. On a small bridge crossing the Fish river, Manu, Gerry’s son, learned the hard way how slippery the moss covered surface of low water bridges can be. After lots of laughs and a wet, smiling Manu, we carried on towards Boesmans river mouth for dinner. “Boesmans Bar and Grill” a groovy restaurant with a stunning view overlooking the Boesmans river provided a much needed cold one. Boesmansrivermounth is a quite coastal holiday town next to Kenton-On-Sea. You have been warned The first day was a decent 300km trip and with the DRZ’s narrow arse-eating enduro seat, something to get used. We still had a few solid days riding ahead totalling around 1400km. The next day we took a left from the R72 just outside Boesmansrivermouth going pass Cannon Rocks. It is a dirt road which winds it way through the Woody Cape Nature Reserve next to the coast. It is still an unspoilt stretch of the coast with moss covered trees. The road eventually snakes back inland to the small farming town of Alexandria. The Germans have settled in nicely on the dirt and sticking to a leisurely speed we stopped for biltong and some pies at the famous Nanaga farm stall. It is one of the best road side eateries in the country. I am sure they make the best venison and lamb & mint pies in the country! Strues bob!! Nothing was said to the Germans about Addo and that we might see Elephants while riding through the park. Only when we got the manned big gate on the dirt road to the park did we give them a bit of advice. Stay clear of the elephants at all cost, keep the noise, speed and the rev’s low and be prepared to make a U-turn in double kak quick speed! Gerry and Manu’ eyes grew wider while uncomfortably moving their arses around on their seats. We knew we had a good chance of seeing elephants as the one water hole is quite close to the road and having had weeks of damn hot summer days there would most probably be some vegetating going on at the water. As we came around the corner there was not just one or two lonely Elephants as usual, there must have been a heard of 20 or 30 hanging around the water. Some with stupefying big tusk and others closer to the road than what we thought comfortable. It was such a big frill to sit on a motorcycle unprotected from the security of a car viewing these magnificent animals. It was as if the smells and the noises from their eating and drinking are more pronounced. You are really part of the experience; this was as real as it can get. The look of amazement on the German faces was memorable. They could not contain their excitement and the normal straight faces cracked into huge smiles. Our aim was to stay over at the Steytlerville Royal hotel. It dates from the 1890’s, an old fashion hotel in a real small charming farming town. Our route took us out of Uitenhage along the back of the Baviaans Kloof National Park and Klein Karoo. The Elands River Valley gravel road is a small piece of nirvana for adventure bike dirt road weaving up and down hills to where we reached a crest of the Winterhoek Mountains, past Coxcomb Mountain peak. There are some pretty spectacular views back to the Jeffreys Bay wind farms in the far distance. At the top there is a turn off to the right to Groot River Poort, a fun gnarly 4x4 offroad route through the Dorings River and Antonies berg pass. It is slow going but we were rewarded with stunning views and groovy rocky riding on a two track road. In the wet that road will not be as much fun though. The Germans handled the 4x4 track quite well and thanks to the DRZ’s ability to eat such terrain for breakfast. We rolled into Steytlerville late the afternoon, thirsty and dried out like Bokkoms, ready for a swim. Such a great feeling opening a cold beer sitting on the stoep of an old hotel watching the locals go by and sharing the day’ experiences. By the time we got going on the dirt road to Willowmore the sun was already cooking and numbing the faculties. The Germans have heard of Baviaans Kloof and definite bucket list ride for them. I have been to Baviaans Kloof Nature Reserve a few times and every time we ride there I see and experience new things. A magnificent piece of earth, it never ceases to amaze with views and riding in near equal measure. Smiths Kraal water crossing was fairly low and easy going. The low water level allowed us to cool off in some of the rivers on the way to Patensie. The Ripple Hill Hotel in Patensie with its 1930’s décor makes for a great stop over, welcomed us with chatty friendly staff. Prices are actually quite affordable. The second last day and we would had to make fewer biltong and drink stops to get back to Boesmansrivermouth. The Germans arse cheeks were settling in nicely, forging close friendships with the hard narrow DRZ seats. We still want to go through some private reserves and forecasted a 350km day. The planned route would take us over the Zuurberg Pass with bewildering views and drop offs, then riding back to Alicedale. The best part of the day’ riding was being able to pass through Shamwari, Sibuya, Kap River and some other private natures reserves. Lady luck was on our side and we got to see giraffes, baboons, eland, kudus, impala, zebras and many other small antelopes. Truly wonderful that we are still allowed to ride through all these places. The going was slow through the reserves and we got back to Boesmansrivermouth late the afternoon. The next day we took dirt roads back to East London via Andries Vosloo Kudu reserve. Some of the best dirt roads in South Africa, game viewing on a bike, biltong (dried cured beef) and small towns all in 4 days, where de hell else can you do that? Only in Africa!
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