Shipping the motorcycles from South Africa to Argentina

Loïc: After Lesotho we meet Gary in Johannesburg (Aurel was in contact with him through the Aventure Rider forum). He kindly offers to host us until our departure to Argentina.

Aurel: Thank you Gary for your welcome! This week spent with your family was very nice. I will not forget the pounds of Biltong I ate with you, the evening at the Casino with Gary Jr. and Casey, Tiger Park, the hockey game, the museum on mankind history, the biker church, etc.;)

Let Lesotho smile on you

We dedicate this article to Pierre Cochin, thanks for the great kilometers you offered! What a treat!

Loïc: I would like to talk to you about my crush of this trip. A very small country but I loved it: Lesotho.

It's a tiny country within South Africa. As the country is great South Africans tend to take ownership and to consider that Lesotho is a province of South Africa.

Aurel: Lesotho is as they say, a kingdom high in the mountains!

Discovering South Africa

Aurel: After reaching the tip of South Africa we can only go up unless we find oars. So we drive along the Indian Ocean coast. First to Knysna, a small touristic town, and then to Patensie. This is our itinary, in blue where we stayed for the night.

I take this opportunity to remind you that you can keep track of us with the map "Where are we today?", available from the menu just above!

Well, let's return to this road along the coast, a road full of surprises and adventure! The first surprise is turtles crossing the track in all directions and racing with us:)

Small ones.

Big ones!

Very South Africa

Loïc: Well, what is South Africa? Apartheid, football World Cup, but above all violence and crime everywhere. I am not a big football fan so I have some doubts about loving this country. But we stop in a mountain campsite before arriving in Cape Town that we imagine being an urban jungle.

There are wide open spaces here as in Namibia so we can only hear and see the lapping of the river and no other campers. Some still come to greet us and ask where we come from. I find what I loved in the States: an easy, friendly, pleasant and not intruisive contact. I feel like it's specific to lands of immigration.

Aurel: we pitch the tents at Citrusdal in a campsite that has a hot spring. So we've got a pool at 25-30°C at all times!

Loïc: We keep our habits and make a fire to grill meat, a camembert and even bananas! We can be in the nature and still eat something else than a sandwich or a freeze-dried meal.

We head toward Cape Town the next day.

We ride slowly as the chain and sprocket of Aurel's bike are dying. (BMW users have the right to smile)

Namibian deserts

Loïc: Namibia is the least populated African country with only 2,5 inhabitants by km². So I thought that Namibia was a huge desert... but no, Namibia is MANY deserts. We have discovered a country of course desert but not monotonous at all. The variety of landscapes, reliefs and rock-forming have offered us an exciting sight.

Added to this, very few roads are paved and we really feel like being part of the landscape, we enjoy it.

They are like long straight lines covered with gravel or sand.