Here are some of our favorite photos from the motorcycle tour:
1) The second day of riding was along the southern coast. This was a great road twisting alongside the blue of the Atlantic Ocean filled with crashing waves, picturesque rocks and swimming seals.
2) One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the town of Hermanus on Walker Bay. The bay was full of Southern Right Whales many of which, like this one, were visible from the overlooks on the edge of the bay.
3) In addition to visiting Hermanus on the second day, we also rode down to Cape Agulas. Despite the Cape of Good Hope being more famous, Cape Agulas is the real southern tip of Africa and thus the actual point where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet. Before visiting the point we stopped at the Cape Agulas Lighthouse.
4) It is great when you get to the end of the road and it looks like the end of the world. The rocks at Cape Agulas look like they were just spit up out of a volcano. Add in the crashing surf and a wind blowing dust and mist around. It was a dramatic place...a perfect place for two great oceans to meet.
5) One of the striking things about South Africa was the diversity of landscapes. Our third day started in a lush river valley, then went up into these mountains and finally ended in the desert.
6) By mid-day, we were riding through the Little Karoo desert. This is Route 62 outside Barrydale. Route 62 has a reputation in South Africa just like Route 66 has in the US...it's a destination itself.
7) The most famous stop on Route 62 is Ronnie's Sex Shop. Despite the provocative name, it is just a bar out in the desert. However, it has become famous enough to now have a small gift shop attached so you can buy a "Ronnies Sex Shop" T-shirt or other tourist...ummm...collectibles.
8) Over the years, visitors to Ronnie's have left behind curiosities like these.
9) In addition to people leaving their clothes at Ronnie's, visitors are also encouraged to sign the walls.
10) The fourth day on the bikes started with a ride over the spectacular Outeniqua Pass...short (maybe 15 miles long) but fantastic riding.
11) Since we had BMW F650s for bikes myself, Jonna and Corinna decided to do a little offroad riding. Rather than ride along the coast, we took the dirt Seven Passes Road between George and Knysna. This ended up being a beautiful road, though we did have a minor "incident" at the final pass.
12) Marco and Marcus making early morning repairs on Corinna's bike in Port Elizabeth the day after the "incident". Our group provided a constant series of challenges for the guides and both guys were fantastic in dealing with them.
13) The fifth riding day was again along the coast but with two loops inland. This photo was taken in the fertile green hills between Port Elizabeth and Port Alfred. This area finally shattered my pre-conceptions of South Africa as the just being a land of deserts and savannahs.
14) After a ride up to Grahamstown, we headed back to the coast through Bathurst where we found this: The Giant Pineapple is not Sponge Bob's House but is instead a gift shop for a pineapple farm.
15) We finished our fifth riding day watching the sunset from our hotel room at the Mpekweni beach resort. This photo was taken straight off the back desk of our room. You can't get any closer to the beach without getting wet from waves!
16) On the way to breakfast the next morning we noticed the trees at the resort were full of weaver bird nests. Here is one of the weaver birds just starting a new nest. It was mesmorizing to watch this bird frantically work on constructing the nest.
17) Here you can see a whole group of nests which is actually just a small section of the toal number in the area. We examined a nest that had fallen from a tree and it was tightly woven which resulted in a surprisingly sturdy nest.
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