Member Since Oct 2011
for true adventurers
The idea of the expedition tour from the southernmost point of Africa to below the equator came about when we were planning the Trans Africa Enduro Expedition. Due to the extreme challenge and distance, we have split the Trans Africa tour into two stages. This (first stage) takes you through the most exciting part south of the equator in three weeks, on some very civilized stages. On and off-road, this motorcycle tour is anything but a "package safari" for road riders, but exclusively for "enduro riders".
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Thierry Sabine, founder of the Paris to Dakar Rally, was known for his motto "if life gets boring, risk it" and led his participants on a 6,000-kilometer journey from Europe to Dakar. The upcoming Equator Expedition is not quite as spectacular and dangerous but is similarly adventurous with nearly the same distance. On this motorcycle safari, we will traverse southern Africa in just three weeks, covering around 6,000 kilometers. We guarantee you dusty and muddy miles full of hardships, exertions, and fascinating experiences that will stay with you for a lifetime!
Motorcycle Safari with the team of OVERCROSS Tour Operator!
Not as extreme as the second part of the Trans-Africa Expedition, this first part of the motorcycle expedition is only suitable for participants ready to "enjoy" dust-filled lungs, mud-filled pockets, and pure adventure in their weary bones. This road and gravel "combo tour" leads through South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya, featuring 6,000 dangers, sights, impressions, and adventures that would ideally take three months to experience. However, time is a luxury we don’t have on this expedition. As the sun rises over Africa, a new day of adventures begins for us, ending at sunset only to start again hundreds of kilometers away with the first rays of the sun.
.JPG "Motorrad Reise anbieter Süd Afrika")
Motorcycle Travel Provider Joe Küster on Table Mountain in Cape Town
The typical participants of such an expedition are men in or approaching their "midlife crisis" who find the idea of a motorcycle expedition without luxury, filled with dirt and mud, sexy, packing just a few T-shirts, underwear, socks, boots, and a little whiskey for brushing teeth. Thus, the participant group and equipment are already settled!
Trans-Africa Expedition with the BMW 1200 GS motorcycle
The sun rises, and beneath us is the Rainbow Nation of South Africa. At 07:00, we touch down at OR Tambo Airport for breakfast, where we meet the team. We then head to Cape Town, landing at 11:00, and take a bus to the camp, where we just need to clear customs. After checking the papers and motorcycles, we have a "lekker" meal. Check-in at the Cape Grace Hotel at the Alfred and Victoria Waterfront for a five-star meal and a wonderful night? Far from it, we drink beer, eat crocodile, and sleep in a tent with our bikes "at the gates" of Cape Town!
Cape Town / South Africa, Start of the Trans-Africa Motorcycle Tour
At the Cape of Good Hope, we take the "start photo" after sunrise! We’ll never be this young and fresh together again.
Kilometer 0: At 9:00, it begins: Once across southern Africa!
We stop briefly at Joe's Safari Camp in Somerset West for a "to-go" breakfast or rather "to-drive" breakfast before heading to Chapman's Peak Drive. We’ll likely take the first pictures and recordings of the long day on this route before reaching Mosel Bay along the legendary and relaxed Garden Route for a meal. For the next 21 days, breakfast and dinner will be our only meals. A benefit for those carrying a few extra pounds which will be shed day by day on the journey. We reach George before sunset, concluding our first travel day with a South African sundowner.
Safari with a closing sundowner at the Knysna Elephant Park in South Africa
We pack the tents for the first time and start again. Enjoying reflective conversations with the visor along the Garden Route, we savor the conversation without hesitation. That’s life, if we’re still alive? Life is boring...... After about 500 kilometers of asphalt and gravel, we reach Harry Potter’s grave. Time for a memorial service and rest, for tomorrow is a new day with new adventures in South Africa.
Harry Potter’s grave in South Africa
Sunrise: We break camp and head to the town of Hofmeyr, 60 kilometers away. In this bleak transit town, we stop for breakfast and fill up tanks and food bags for today’s marathon day. The 650-kilometer distance will be one of the toughest stages of the first week. Over federal highways through the KwaZulu-Natal province, we reach the border of the Kingdom of Lesotho after about 250 kilometers.
Off Road through the Kingdom of Lesotho
Early morning, we ascend the famous Sani Pass. At the highest point of our Trans-Africa-Expedition-Safari, we enjoy a cold morning with a hot coffee on a high plateau that has a lot to offer. Like every morning, we start the engines of the Enduros and off-road vehicles to kick off a new adventure. Over 1,000 meters, we descend the most exciting pass in southern Africa. The Sani Pass is the most photographed and most driven pass in Lesotho. Many Enduro riders from previous South Africa tours have said that this pass alone is worth the trip. At the foot of the Drakensberg Mountains, we reach the South African border again.
After our third border crossing on this Enduro and Off-Road Expedition, we stand on the "Battlefields" in the former Kingdom of the Zulu. The Zulu War of 1879 was an undeclared war between the Zulu and the British Empire. After the British Empire, with its superior weapons, defeated the Zulu at the Battle of Ulundi, the Kingdom of the Zulu ceased to exist as a sovereign state. Our fifth travel day through Africa ends amidst these battlefields.
Motorcycle travel in Lesotho / southern Africa
Morning ceremony: A quick look at the map, the motorcycles start and then we're off to the next coffee. On the road again: We disappear on South Africa's country roads with our enduro motorcycles into the Kingdom of Swaziland. It's almost entirely on asphalt through the mountainous kingdom to Hlane Royal National Park. Hlane Royal National Park is home to the largest herds of lions, elephants, white rhinos, giraffes and a whole range of animals here in Swaziland.
Enduro travel day through Eswatini, a motorcycle safari like in Switzerland, only off-road
The last day of the old year begins relaxed: leisurely pack up the seven things, have a cozy breakfast, and then ride 220 kilometers through the forests of Eswatini and the remaining kilometers to Hazyview! In the afternoon, we reach our lodge and fill up ALL tanks.
Gecko Lodge near the Kruger Park With the Land Rover Zebra on a pre-tour for the Kruger Safari
A new day in Africa begins with a hangover breakfast, coffee, aspirin, and a hair-of-the-dog beer. On the Enduros, carefully start the engine, and off to the sobering tour along green roads and through tropical-looking forests.
After over 3,000 kilometers, we have crossed the provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo and are now heading for the final kilometers to the border with Zimbabwe. On the New Year's tour, and the last kilometers, we spare our battered heads on asphalt until we reach the northern border, until the sun sets, and our heads are cleared again.
Day after the New Year’s Eve party on the border river to Zimbabwe
Welcome to Zimbabwe! After clearing customs with the Enduros and off-road vehicles, we can start, the next stage destination is Masvingo, which we reach via the main route. About 40 kilometers from there, we stop at Great Zimbabwe and delve into a piece of African history. We continue north-northwest and lay down after an impressive day full of culture, history, and many kilometers.
.JPG "Motrorradreisen in Simbabwe")
Trans Africa motorcycle tour safari through Zimbabwe
A new day of touring begins with the sunrise over Africa. Pack up the tents, have a sip of coffee, a biscuit and get on the motorbike / travel enduro, on and off-road in a north-north-westerly direction. Stop over at Hwange National Park. Depending on the course of the tour, group dynamics and interest, we will go on safari in Hwange National Park. Motorcycle trips / enduro trips are rather unusual in Zimbabwe, enduro routes are de facto unknown, and this will remain the case for centuries to come! Be aware BEFORE booking that you are going on an enduro expedition that will provide many, many surprises both on and off-road! We travel to Zimbabwe during the rainy season, which means an average temperature of around 33°C with around 5 rainy days a month. When it rains, it rains heavily, the gravel sections are muddy, the connecting tracks are slippery and the roads are dangerous. Route 1, 2 or three? Which adventure would you like today?
The end of the Zimbabwean crossing will be the Victoria Falls Bride on the Zambian border, where we will pump our veins full of adrenaline at the world-famous Victoria Falls! We recommend jumping into the gorge via the "Gorge Swing" or paddling the Long Way Down rafting tour.
Victoria Falls, between Simbabwe and Zambia: a "smoke that thunders"
Our morning ritual begins with sunrise, cup of coffee in head, bike check, discuss the day's stage and GO: At a height of 128 meters, we cross the Victoria Falls Bridge, built in England in 1903, on English steel and wooden beams. In 1903, Cecil Rhodes commissioned this bridge and had it transported from England by sea and rail to the Victoria Falls to set another milestone for the "Cape to Cairo" plan. After only 14 months of production and installation, the bridge was inaugurated by Georg Howard Drarwin, the son of Charles Darwin. The escape stamp for Zimbabwe is "hammered" into the passports! We cross around 200 meters of exciting history and follow an imperialist idea of crossing the African continent. Once again we clear the Zambian customs and then rest on an unspectacular asphalt "race track" before we take an off-road "shortcut" towards the north-east, which at the end of the day won't be a shortcut anyway if the mud spoils our plans...
Motorcycle Travel im Zambia: camping time!
Young Zambia (born in 1964) is the country with the highest HIV infection rate and is one of Africa's orphanages with around 740,000 AIDS orphans. In addition to Bantu languages, English is the main language spoken, which helps us through the various ethnic groups and languages, such as Nsenga, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Bisa. We will not continue on Cecil Rhodes' trail, but will leave our own trail, past the Lower Zambesi National Park. Zambia, which was formerly known as Northern Rhodesia and has been independent since 1964, offers a variety of animals and plants in large national parks, which you can see here: We will cross the land of waterfalls, on around 1,200 kilometers from Victoria Falls across the great Luangwa River to our own waterfall on the side of the road ;-)
.JPG "Afrika Motorradreiseveranstalter")
Fuel is always an issue for a tour operator in Africa, but OVERCROSS get things done anyways!
With the first rays of sunshine we set off on the last few kilometers north-east through Zambia to cross the border into Malawi. Our day of travel is only interrupted by the wait at the border post, which we can use to have breakfast, fill up with petrol, brush our teeth and write postcards. With a bit of luck we'll get to our turn quickly and thus avoid writing postcards! After completing the Malawian border formalities, the crossing of Malawi begins! We drive along relatively well-developed roads to Lake Malawi, off the road and along Lake Malawi off-road to the lodge. The last set has a lot of surprises in terms of driving technique! Our enduro trips are known for being a "fight day" - this stage at Lake Malawi can become a "surprise stage"! At the end of this "adventurous stage" we jump into the lake, lick our wounds and eat a delicious crocodile with a view of our fellow crocodiles at Lake Malawi.
Trans Africa Motorbike Tour: alongside Lake Malawi
We enjoy the sunrise over Lake Malawi with a cup of coffee. The route leads along the western flank of Lake Malawi, which is around 30,000 km² in size. As usual, we will approach the border with Tanzania "pole pole" (Swahili: slowly). While the border formalities are being processed, we can enjoy the "delicacies" of the Songwe border river and let the impressive scenes play before our minds' eye once again before we leave Malawi. As always, we fill up with fuel, eat and write postcards before we get back on the saddle through a new African country. This afternoon we still have a few African kilometers on dirt roads ahead of us. This day, with its challenging stretches, will stay in our bones for a long time. At sunset we reach the coffee region in the southwest of Tanzania, where we hit the sack.
Trans Africa Safari with the Land Rover Defender in Malawi across the Songwe River
Breakfast with freshly brewed coffee straight from the plantation - if not now, when? We will need the pushing effect of the coffee for the endless expanses of Tanzania. We cross Tanzania towards Arusha, on the way there is the Ngorongoro Crater, which we can visit by arrangement. Please note that the safari is NOT included in the travel price and everyone has to pay for it themselves! Arusha is one of our most important supply stations along the Trans Africa Tour: friends from Overcross and our Tanzania representative are based here and organize our Tanzania trips from here. Some of our friends love to ride motorcycles - so the "motorcycle workshop" is accordingly large. Jens and Sebastian organize (just in time) the necessary materials for the inspection and repair of our machines, so that everything is ready for maintenance when we arrive! Surrounded by friends, we will certainly spend a relaxed evening here.
Motorcycle messenger with crocodile saddle on tour in Kenya
When the sun rises behind Kilimanjaro, we start the engines, rock and roll, the adventure can begin! Through the vastness to the Kenyan horizon to Mount Longido. Fill up, eat, GAS! Next stop is the border with Kenya. After crossing the border from Tanzania to Kenya, we reach Nairobi, where we spend a cozy, last evening together with a Kenyan "Tusker" beer and eat "Nyama Choma" (grilled meat) before heading home the next day. In your luggage, dust and many impressions that you will certainly only process in the months to come.
Can only be booked together with the basic package (see included)
Der Reiseveranstalter OVERCROSS® ist seit über zwei Jahrzehnten mit der Insolvenzabsicherung nach §651r und §651w für den Reisenden abgesichert!
Der Reiseveranstalter OVERCROSS® ist seit über zwei Jahrzehnten mit der Insolvenzabsicherung nach §651r und §651w für den Reisenden abgesichert!