On February 20th a group of Superformance Owners met at an hotel in Hendon near Washington Dulles and celebrated the upcoming journey to South Africa. This was a special occasion, as Diane Thomas was celebrating a memorable birthday as well. The next day an excited group waited in the departure lounge en route to South Africa. 

The flight was long with us landing in Dakar and Johannesburg before arriving at our final destination in Cape Town. Cape Town boasts an awesome vista of the bay surrounded by majestic mountains with ragged cliffs that drop right into the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived at the Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel for a well deserved good night’s sleep and as the sun peeped over the top of Table Mountain, we began our adventure in “the fairest Cape of all”.

The first day we drove though Sea Point and Clifton to Hout Bay, where we boarded a boat to Seal Island. Back in Hout Bay, we crossed the Peninsula to False Bay and then north to Kalk Bay where we had lunch at the Brass Bell Restaurant. After lunch we called at Simonstown, which is home to a number of small penguin species. Then on to Cape Point, the most south-westerly piece of real estate in Africa. 

The Nature reserve at Cape Point was breathtaking and a lonely ostrich and baboon offered us an additional opportunity to see the beauty of nature up close. We also toured a small section of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. We later dined at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and headed back to our hotel to build up stamina for an early start the next day.

We met Donovan and Aldo our guide and driver, who drove us to Table Mountain. After a short ride up the 3,000 ft mountain in a cable car we enjoyed the most spectacular views of greater Cape Town. It was interesting to view the places we had visited the day before from a new perspective, like Cape Point bisecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans. 

Then followed a quick tour through downtown Cape Town before we headed out to the famous Cape winelands. We toured Stellenbosch (the second oldest town in South Africa), Franschhoek and Robertson in the Breede River Valley. We visited the only museum in the world dedicated to the production of Brandy, had lunch at the Rickety Bridge Wine Estate and headed for Lanzerac Manor.

Lanzerac is in a valley on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, situated in a mild Mediterranean climate which is ideal for the cultivation of grapes and fruit which is abundant in this area. Lanzarac Manor is an elegant hotel situated on a 300 year old wine estate. We relaxed, frequented the cigar and wine bar and had an elegant supper afterwards retreating to the patio for drinks before bedtime. 

Next stop was the Franschhoek Motor Museum situated on L’Olmarins Wine estate in Franschhoek. This museum belongs to billionaire industrialist Johan Rupert and displays the country’s largest collection of classic and vintage vehicles , including bicycles and pedal cars, collectables, race cars and exotic motor vehicles (including a Cobra!)

Then it was on to Worcester and Robertson, where we had a traditional lunch at Bon Rouge Bistro located on the Bon Cap Winery. After meandering through the Breede River valley we arrived in Montagu and bedded down at the delightful Avalon Springs and Spa. We spent the afternoon basking in the sun, and swimming in the natural spring water. Later we met up at the bar before eating and retiring for the evening. 

An early swim followed by gargantuan South African breakfast, and then it was back to the Breede River Valley and on to the Garden Route. Lunch was at an old 19th century hotel in the sleepy village Albertinia, and made a quick stop at a butchery for “droë wors” (air-dried savory beef links) – a national delicacy, and very nice, too.

The Garden Route is meanders along the southern coast of Africa, through jewels like Mossel Bay, Wilderness and Knysna. Wilderness boasts the longest (20 km) and cleanest white beach in South Africa. 

We stop at Knysna for some shopping before heading to the Beacon Isle Hotel, located on rocks in the Indian Ocean,. Where we relaxed, had a walk on the splendid beach and joined the group for supper at Moby Dicks, a tourist hangout in the village.

Next day we continued to the Tsitsikamma National Marine Park located along the rugged Tsitsikamma coast, an area which has some of the most dense indigenous forests in Africa. We drove along a road sculpted out of the escarpment with passes and gorges cut by rivers. A mosaic of ecosystems, the area encompasses the renowned Lakes region of the Wilderness and Knysna mountain catchment areas as well as indigenous forests and bushy areas along the coast. Then it was on to Port Elizabeth, home of HiTech Automotive, where our Superformance vehicles are constructed. 

Port Elizabeth is dubbed the Friendly City and is the fourth largest city in South Africa. Located on a hill overlooking Algoa Bay, it was founded in 1820 when a few thousand settlers from Great Britain arrived in the Bay to settle on farms in the Eastern Cape.

This seaport - the third largest in South Africa - was founded by Sir Rufane Donkin, acting governor of the Cape Colony, who named it after his wife Elizabeth who died at sea on the way from India. Port Elizabeth is often referred to as the Detroit of South Africa as it hosts the Ford, GM, VW , Audi and Superformance manufacturing plants. 

We spent the evening exploring the Boardwalk, a casino and entertainment complex where we had dinner (and tried our luck at gaming).

Early the Sunday morning we left for Kariega Game Lodge, a privately owned nature reserve teeming wildlife such a lion, elephant, leopard, rhino, hippo, giraffe, eland, wildebeest, waterbuck and a variety of antelope. To spend time in the tranquility and splendor of the Kariega Valley sanctuary is an awesome experience seldom forgotten. We settled in, had a sumptuous lunch and met for a late afternoon game drive. We stumbled on a lion kill and came across an elephant herd while driving past buck, rhino, zebra and a cute giraffe family. 

Aimed with a ton of pictures we were escorted to a Boma ( a reed-enclosed, open-air entertainment area) for dinner. We had a South African BBQ (called a”braai”) and later we were entertained by songs and dancing by the local staff.

At 6.30 the next morning we left on a morning game viewing drive. We saw hippo cavorting in the river, and a family of Giraffe eating the thorny vegetation without a care in the world. It is so quiet and exhilarating to be so close to nature. Kariega Game Reserve is a mere 16km from the beautiful Indian Ocean, an area rich in marine fauna and flora with endless sand dunes and beautiful beaches. 

Later that morning we headed back to Port Elizabeth and on to Hi-Tech Automotive, where Jim Price, the owner and founder of HiTech, and Ronnie Kruger, former CEO of Superformance International, were waiting to greet us. Hi Tech is the largest privately owned specialist auto manufacturer in the world. Not only does the facility built Superformance products but it also builds the Perana Z-One, Lee Noble’s Fenix and 1G Racing’s Rossion Q1.

The factory has also been contracted to build the Joule, South Africa’s first fully electric motor vehicle, which was a sensation when it was displayed at the Geneva Auto Show in March this year. 

We were divided into groups and each small group with its own guide toured the plant. We were given an overview of all the activities, and afterwards we were allowed to visit individual sectins if we wanted to look at the activities in more detail. After a delightful lunch and the rest of the afternoon at the factory, we reluctantly bussed back to the hotel for a farewell dinner. This brought home to us that our wonderful tour was coming to a close. At the dinner we were joined by John Waring, an AZ resident who works in China and recently ordered a Mk III. He flew out all the way from China just for that Monday, to tour the plant with us, see his # 2984 being built, joined us for dinner, and flew back to China the next day. Now THAT is a keen Mk III owner!

All of a sudden a wonderful and comradely ten days had come to an end. New friends had been made, and even though we all have family and friends back home, we were reluctant to leave beautiful, friendly and hospitable South Africa. 

We are already thinking of asking SCOF’s Randall Thomas, convener of the 2010 Superformance Owners Group Tour to South Africa, to arrange another tour for 2011. It was such a memorable experience that I (a South African expatriate) will gladly do it again.