Soutpansberg and Venda

13 – 15 June 2025

4 Days, 3 Nights
Estimated cost: R4 200 – 5 200 per person

Details in Application Form

We meet in a place called Vivo, ride the Soutpansberg and see where its name comes from. The group travels through beautiful Venda forests and past massive tea plantations. This is Baobab country, and we see lots of them, including the 1,200-year-old Sagole Big Tree! We sleep in raised tents at a venue next to the Kruger National Park, where only the fire has signal.

We ride farm and forest roads, dirt roads the Venda people drive daily, and tar roads.

Day 1

At 15:00, we meet at Die Drukgang in Vivo, get to know each other, have something to drink, and leave at 16:30 for the lodge where we are staying overnight.

While travelling from Polokwane to Vivo, you would have seen the Blouberg and the Soutpansberg looming in front of you – what a view! Soutpansberg was named by the Boers due to the saltpans found and still mined on the northwestern side of the mountain.

Day 2

After an early breakfast, we leave at 07:00 and ride the northern side of the Soutpansberg. We join the N1 highway through the tunnels and ride to Louis Trichardt, where we shop for the evening’s braai – everyone caters for themselves, so please take your braai tools. From Louis Trichardt, we ride back up the N1 pass and continue – traversing planted and natural/ indigenous areas. Areas you would rarely see and some areas not accessible to the public.

You will see stunning views, beautiful trees and Venda’s sacred lakes. We find lunch, do final shopping and refuel. On the way to Pafuri River Camp, where we overnight, we move from sub-tropical to dry, arid areas with massive Baobab trees. Although Pafuri offers tented tree accommodation with no electricity, it is next to the Kruger National Park on the Mutale River. If you still need food, we will stop at the nearest spaza shop before going down to the river for the evening’s braai.

Day 3

We start back to see the Sagole Big Tree “Boabab” (entrance fee payable – own account), carbon dated as 1,200 years old. We ride through a baobab forest and continue back over the mountain to the sub-tropical side, where we see massive tea plantations. We ride onwards to our last night’s accommodation at a lodge near Louis Trichardt.

Day 4

Get up early, ride up the N1, turn off onto a stunning dirt road, through farms and forests with awesome views. We return to Louis Trichardt, have breakfast and then ride back home.

Thank you for choosing the Dual Sport Adventure (DSA) Soutpansberg and Venda Experience!

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Image Credit: Canva / Brink Jordaan
Brink Jordaan@2024 All rights reserved.