Cape Town to Victoria Falls

Thirteen nights and four countries, guided, from Cape Town up to Victoria Falls on sealed road throughout.

This is the reverse of the harder route and a different proposition: the road-only surfacing and the shorter schedule give it a lower difficulty rating, and it is pillion friendly, which the gravel version is not. Anyone choosing between the two is choosing surface and pace rather than scenery.

Chapman’s Peak Drive and the Cape of Good Hope come first out of Cape Town, then Namibia and Fish River Canyon, the largest canyon in Africa, with game drives and sundowners further north. Botswana follows, with Elephant Sands, a lodge built round a waterhole the animals use at close range. Victoria Falls closes the route, with a sunset river cruise on the Zambezi past antelope and baboons on the banks.

Bike hire is included, on a KTM 790 Adventure with a BMW R1250 or R1300 GS available as an upgrade, and a discount applies for anyone bringing their own. Fourteen days on tarmac across four countries still means long days, since the distances in Namibia and Botswana are what they are, but the surface removes most of the difficulty. The dry season from May to October is the window for the game viewing. No wildlife sighting can be promised, and four border crossings need the bike paperwork in order, which the operator handles. For a rider who wants southern Africa without the gravel, or who is travelling two to a bike, this is the version to look at, and the Fish River Canyon leg is the best of it.