Overview of October 24 to November 7, 2015 South Africa Cycling Trip

South Africa

Kruger National Park Safari and

Biking Cape Town & The Garden Route

Overview

October 24, 2015 is departure day for the exciting biking trip to South Africa.  After a 17 hr flight from Dulles, we will be in Johannesburg for a rest stop before flying to Kruger Skukuza Airport for a 3-day safari in Kruger National Park.  Lodging will be at the Rhino Post Safari Lodge and we will have three game drives during our stay.  Kruger is renowned for the wildlife experiences it offers and the diversity of wildlife in the 7,523 sq. mile national part along the border with Mozambique.  Within its border it has an impressive number of species:  336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals.  Kruger is home to the legendary Big Five—lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo—plus an abundance of plains animals and a huge variety of birds.

The chosen mode of viewing these animals is in specially adapted Land Rovers.

Departing Kruger, we fly to Cape Town where we will stay four nights and bike five days in the surrounding countryside of South Africa.  Nestled in the foothills of Table Mountain, which overlooks Cape Town, is the famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which we will visit.  The next day we shuttle to Simonstown, visist the African Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach, bike in Table Mountain National Park and the Atlantic coastline of Scarborough and Misty Cliffs.

The following day we transfer to Franschhoek (the “French Corner” founded by French Huguenot refugees in 1688) and bike through the winelands of the area with a wine tasting at a local vineyard.  On Sunday, we travel inland to Oudtshoorn, which is the ostrich capital of the world, and a town with a Victorian flavor.  This town is located in the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains.  Its economy relies on ostrich farming and tourism.  On the next day we cycle through Meiringspoort.  This ride is in a riverbed flanked by the twisting sandstone formations of the Cape Fold Mountains.  Along the way we will visit an ostrich farm.

Our next day takes us to the scenic coastal town of Knysna with a drive down the Outeniqua Pass and along the Garden Route, which is a spectacular stretch of coastline bordering the Indian Ocean.  We will cycle along the Knysna Lagoon, through Knysna onto Thesen Island and ending at Knysna’s East Head.  In the morning we begin cycling at Rheenendal and travel through rolling farmland, indigenous rain forest, past historic an old goldmine, and finish with a downhill ride into Buffels Bay with great views of the Indian Ocean.

Our last day of cycling is along quiet roads through Nature’s Valley Pass and Bloukrans Pass in the midst of the lush Afro-Montane forest.  There will be views of the Indian Ocean.  Lunch will be in Tsitsikamma National Park that overlooks the Indian Ocean. 

On Friday, November 6^th, we transfer to George and begin our return flight home with an arrival in Atlanta around 10 am on the 7^th.

 

South Africa Trip