Cape Town Here I Come!

It was time to move on from Betty’s Bay and make my way along the coast to Somerset West on the outskirts of Cape Town. I would be basing myself at my friend, Johnny’s house, as he is out of town, so plan to be there for my last 10 days before returning to the UK.

The ride from Betty's Bay to Gordons Bay took me along the coastline and provided the most amazing views of both the mountains and the beaches.

By the time I got to Gordons Bay it was late morning and where better to stop for a break than at the Marina for a quick coffee.

The remainder of the journey to Somerset West was only 20 miles away, so having left Gordon’s Bay after a 40 minute coffee break I should have arrived at the house within the hour. Unfortunately that was not to be the case. When I arrived at the estate main gates in Somerset West I was greeted by security who spent 10 mins questioning me about who I was staying with and why. The problem was that they did not recognise the address that I insisted was on this estate. Security eventually let me in, reluctantly. Now all I had to do was find the road where the house was located which was proving difficult as the Sat Nav kept trying to take me out of the estate. After 30 frustrating minutes of riding around aimlessly and asking anybody that happened to be walking around for directions to no avail, I managed get hold of Johnny on the mobile only to find out that I had blagged my way onto the wrong estate. The reason the Sat Nav kept trying to take me out of the other side of the estate is that the estate I should have been on was only 200 yards from the rear gate of the estate I was on.....whoops!

After an hour of house searching I found the correct house and it didn’t take long to settle in. My new accommodation for the next 10 days is a large 4 bed house with a pool which for one person coUtd be seen as a little extravagant but I am not complaining.

By the time I arrived at the house the temperature had risen to 30 degrees, so I jumped straight in the pool armed with a cold beer.

It was at that point that I realised that I had actually achieved what I set out to do back in January, I had ridden my Yamaha T700 from Nairobi through Tanzania,Malawi,Zambia,Botswana on my own without any issues and then through South Africa, mainly on dirt tracks to Cape Town with my colleagues from Bloemfontein. I have covered over 6,500 miles so far and the bike has been faultless. I now have another 10 days to explore in and around Cape Town from the comfort of Johnny’s house before returning to the UK.

It’s time to be a tourist where shall I visit first?