The Big 6 Route - Johannesburg to Cape Town

Our motorcycle tour starts in Johannesburg, the financial capital of Africa and ends in Cape Town eighteen days later. After exploring the hub of the South African economy with it rich cultural and historical background, we travel in an easterly direction to the Mpumalanga province, aptly named the "Place of the Rising Sun". Here we shall have the opportunity to join a game drive (optional) in the Kruger National Park in search of the Big 5 - lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo. We explore the region via the Panorama Route with its plethora of natural wonders such as the Blyde River Canyon, Gods Window and the potholes at Bourke's Luck. We'll explore these along with Pilgrims Rest, a historic mining town.

Traversing the rolling hills of Mpumalanga in a southerly direction, we reach the Swaziland border for a one night stay in this tiny monarchy to enjoy true Swazi hospitality. We head for Lake St. Lucia as we continue and enter Kwa-Zulu Natal, also known as the Zulu Kingdom. In the distance the Drakensberg Mountains welcomes us. Named the "Barrier of Spears" by the Zulu's and the Dragon Mountains by the Voortrekkers, these majestic mountains with their awe-inspiring basalt cliffs is one of South Africa's listed World Heritage Sites. Our motorcycle tour continues along the Northern Drakensberg heading towards Bergville in Kwa-Zulu Natal as we say goodbye to the coastal lowlands.

We follow the Maluti Route along the north western border between South Africa and Lesotho as we travel west towards Fouriesburg where sculptured sandstone cliffs dominate the landscape. Cultural and historical icons like Golden Gate and Clarence will bid us a warm welcome before we enter Lesotho. Lesotho is known as the Mountain Kingdom... for obvious reasons. We cross Lesotho from west to east as we traverse roads at altitudes of 3000m+ above sea level. Our short stay in Lesotho will take us to the Katse Dam in the heart of the country. We continue across the plains of the Free State as we head towards the vast open spaces of the Great Karoo. We stay over in Graaff Reinet, the 4th oldest town in South Africa where we visit the Valley of Desolation and enjoy a township tour (optional) with one of the local township residents.

Traveling south though the Great Karoo, a vast semi arid region, you will appreciate the beauty of this flat and arid, sometimes unforgiving, terrain. Our next stop will be on the east coast - Port Elizabeth to be precise, originally home to the 1820 British Settlers and a favorite holiday destination in South Africa. From Port Elizabeth to Cape Town the Garden Route will delight you and outside the town of George we head for the hinterland as we visit Oudtshoorn, ostrich capital of the world, before we head for Cape Town along our own Route62 (R62). Our motorcycle tour will not be complete without spending a night at the southern most tip of the African continent, Cape L'Agulhas. Our last days will be spent in Cape Town, the Mother City, where we enjoy the treasures of the Peninsula whilst preparing for our journey back home.

After 18 days of traveling some of the best routes in South Africa we should take some time to reflect back on the experiences we have lived and the memories that we will treasure as we head back home.