BMW The Ultimate Riding Machine

14-29 September 2013 (2,351miles)

17 days / 16 nights / 15 days R 1200 GS bike hire

Highlights:

• Ride to the legendary Cape of Good Hope and play with the baboons!

• Travel through the remote wilderness of the Cederberg Mountains, home to stunning biking roads

• Explore the vast Fish River Canyon – the world’s second largest canyon

• Visit the surreal, brightly-coloured Germanic town of Luderitz and the ghost town at Kolmanskuppe

• Cross the endless Namib Desert, including the flat salt pans and the high red dunes of Sossusvlei

Namibia is a vast desert nation covering 516,000 square miles, flanked by the icy Atlantic Ocean. It is also home to less than 2.2 million citizens, making it the second most sparsely populated country on Earth. And that of course, means there’s a lot of empty space, perfect for riding! Endless roads stretch out to a distant shimmering horizon, under big skies and the feeling of vast, open space is overwhelming.

This two-week trip starts in Cape Town and winds its way up the western coast en route to Namibia’s capital, Windhoek. The open tarmac roads will be punctuated with exciting gravel track riding as we explore the mountainous Cederberg region, the Namib Desert, the Skeleton Coast and Damaraland.

With both on and off-road sections, which you’ll be tackling on a rental BMW R 1200 GS, this tour is ideal for a more experienced rider looking for a challenging, yet hugely rewarding adventure. It will be an epic journey with near-endless uninterrupted riding, and some truly out-of-this world scenery. With some parts of the tour encompassing gravel track riding you may enjoy it more if you’ve had some off road skills training, such as BMW Off Road Skills Level One GS (see page 18).

Price:Single Rider (Single room)£4,999 •Single Rider (Shared room)£4,599 •Rider & Pillion (Sharing room)£6,699