Long Way Round and Down's Charley Boorman is off on another adventure. But this time he is taking fellow motorcycle enthusiasts with him. If you are up for the challenge of riding in South Africa this year, join Charley on his tour...

During August and September this year I’m leading a whole bunch of bikers on an incredible trip from Cape Town to Victoria Falls. The trip heads north from the Cape, along the coast before heading inland through Namibia and east along the Caprivi Strip, finishing at the ‘Smoke that Thunders’ – the iconic Victoria Falls. Covering over 5,000 kilometers, we will see some of the very best that the Dark Continent has to offer – beautiful land-scapes and incredible wildlife – things that dreams are made of.

On many of my trips, we've had the great experience of inviting riders to join in on sections. We've always been excited and amazed at the turn out - sometimes hundreds of like minded bikers cruising along - it's just fantastic. So now I've taken that a step further. I've joined forces with a very reputable and experienced off road touring company Moto Aventures, to create an adventure of a life time. We've broken the trip down into two sections - the upward leg from Cape Town to Victoria Falls starting on the 15th August and then the downward leg starting on the 4th September returning back to Cape Town. We have a week in between in Victoria Falls to service and repair the bikes and put new tyres on them.

The bikes are all from BMW Motorrad South Africa and we've got two gorgeous Nissan 4x4 Pathfinders to act as support vehicles. The support trucks will carry luggage so apart from a simple tank bag, the bikes will be nice and light - no panniers, so much easier to manage when the going gets a bit tough. Five thousand kilometers across 16 days means we will be doing some long rides - however, depending on the weather - as over in Africa the weather either gives you beautiful hard gravel roads OR impassable ones - we will have time to stop off and saver some of the sights along the way.

I've been to South Africa and a lot of the surrounding countries a few times - it goes with the job! But Namibia does stand out as a hidden gem. Vast stretches of emptiness and scary deathly desert and then weird old colonial towns that look like you've stepped back in time - sausages, red cabbage and two Weiss beers please barman! Yes, the Deutschland influence is very strong, dating back to the 1800's where key European empire builders where deciding what chunks of Africa they could lay their hands on! And then of course there's Etosha National Park - wild life that you only see on a David Attenborough documentary! You have to pinch yourself as you come up close to elephants, zebra and big cats - wow, am getting itchy to leave!

We're well underway on our side of the trip preparation and our guests are going through their check lists, getting visas, sorting out malaria tablets and buying new bits of kit. I really think that the preparation is a real part of the bigger experience. Picking your new helmet, trying on the new jacket or boots - it's the kind of excitement that sometimes only children seem to get, before Christmas and birthdays. We've pulled in some of our old friends to help out - we've got Simon Pavey from the BMW Off Road School getting riders skills sharpened up, Touratech are helping us with essential equipment, Garmin giving us key support with the Zumo 660 and mapping software and Hein Gericke and Buff are helping out with clothing and riding kit. It's like a group version of the Long Way Down project - only this time I can share the experience directly with people around me and not just on the TV screen. And of course all the information and help you want regardless of your trip destination can be found here on the Big Earth site!

Finally, a mega bonus on the trip is that my good mate Ross Noble will be coming along too. Taking time off from the comedy circuit and some classic TV shows - 'Have I got News for You', Stephen Fry's 'QI' and beat-ing up Jonathan on the 'Johanthan Ross show' (If you aint seen it - find it online, its classic), Ross will be joining us for the Cape Town to Victoria leg and helping us out for a few days in Victoria. Mr Noble is a top biker dude. His last TV series "Ross Noble's Australian Trip" (now out on DVD) saw him ride over 26,000 klicks across Australia on a BMW Adventure! And on top of that he recently completed the infamous hard man “Dawn to Dusk” 24 hour Enduro in South Wales! So he's no newbie and a real asset for the trip.

So, get your bike gear out, buy some maps and get excited - then check out the details on the website and join us for the trip of a lifetime! Hurry – there’s not many places left.
Keep the rubber side down!

Charley Boorman

Travel and booking details can be found at www.charleyboormanlive.com and www.motoaventures.com/touring