The Spirit of Africa On Tour With Sama

28-Nov-2011 | News-Press Release

To the west the sun was just beginning to give its final kiss before rapidly dropping from view and offering the land to the embrace of a waning moon.

As we came into land I could see the group of motorcycles, parked for the night, looking so small from the height. It was our first full day on the road in Africa and things were just beginning.

We flew in, a few days earlier to Johannesburg, South Africa, on a flight from JFK, with a quick hour layover for fuel and additional passengers in Dakar. You would think that landing in Dakar your journey would be almost over.

Not so; much like “South of the Border” on I-95 where you are less than half way to the Keys, Dakar is closer to New York than Johannesburg. With another 8 hours to go it can almost be depressing.

Still soon enough the near 20 hour motorbike trip brought us to Jo-Burg and into the capable hands of South African Motorcycle Adventures, or SAMA.

A tight family run operation headed up by Darryl Berman and run with son and daughter Jonathon and Nicole, we had met them a few years back at the New York Motorcycle Show and were impressed by what they offered riders wanting to explore South Africa. They picked us up at the JoBurg airport and soon we were riding to the outskirts of Pretoria, where a quaint and secure inn would be our home for the next couple of nights.

The nation of South Africa has a deep and rich history, some of not well looked upon, but things are different these days and much of the more colorful parts of this region’s history is still here to be seen and ridden through.

Shira and I had traveled in this part of the world before but that was a decade ago and opportunities to ride in such an exotic land do not come often so we made our plans and off we went.

Our first plan was for Shira and I to do this solo and self-guided, but we had some friends join us so it became more of a standard motorcycle tour with a leader and chase truck.

Coming along on this trip were our friends from Washington state Dave and Ellen Foscue, who had traveled with me to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and also to Ushuaia, Chile just a year or so ago. When it comes to touring these folks like to head out in a big way. Also with us was Backroads’ alumni Mike Mosca, who saw our poster for this journey at the NewYork show this year and put it all together in a matter of weeks to join us.

The tour ran like many others. Each day there would be a briefing on the upcoming ride, what to expect, to look out for and the all-important reminder of staying on the left side of the road.

Nicole would not be joining us. Darryl, a gregarious guy with a solid sense of humor, would lead the ride and be our “fixer” if we ran into any situations or problems. Jonathon, a young man with a perpetual laugh and a solid fellow as well, would follow along with a chase vehicle, carrying a spare bike and our luggage. Usually he beat us to the lodges and our bags would be waiting in our rooms.

We were ready to ride the Best South African Road Trip Ever Tour!

Source: http://www.samatours.co.za/SpiritOfAfrica_reduce%20even%20more.pdf

 

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