"A month ago I returned from Africa having spent 50 days on a motorcycle tour with Ayres Adventures.  The African Trilogy was actually a combination of three tours circumnavigating Southern Africa, beginning and ending in Johannesburg with intermediate stops in Cape Town and Windhoek (Namibia) and a stop at Victoria Falls through Zimbabwe.  A truly epic and fantastic voyage! 

In April I returned from Brazil after 20 days of the "Best of Brazil" tour with Ayres Adventures - also a terrific tour.  I think I have spent enough time with the folks at Ayres to pass on a few observations.

A truly unique feature of all the Ayres Tours is the extensive use of GPS technology, provided for everyone who brings a unit so they can know where they are every minute of every day, including interesting stops and the complete daily route.  Ron Ayres began recording track logs in Africa in 1999 and has scouted and ridden every route of every tour in Africa and South America, quite a feat by itself.  The daily routes that have evolved are downloaded into each riders GPS at the beginning of a tour allowing each the opportunity to travel more independently if desired or to simply follow along with the tour leader, always knowing the precise location.  Personally, I hate tag-along-touring, so I found this an attraction.  Some other riders were more comfortable moving along steadily with a tour leader each day.

Ron Ayres is the heart and soul of Ayres Adventures and is as comfortable on tour as an old well-worn shirt.  (By the way, they provide some pretty nifty shirts to commemorate each tour.)  Things seem to get done so easily, there is no fuss or bother, it just happens.  Obviously this is the result of dedicated planning and preparation by Ron and others.  Details are not left to chance.  And there are also several other people participating in this dedicated endeavor, Ron's wife Barbara was along in Africa, along with John Jesson; and in Brazil, Mauricio, along with Decio and Tony Black ran things in the same fashion with the same spirit.  This makes for pretty easy traveling for a motorcycle tourist used to making his own way.  I really felt spoiled.  Meanwhile, Roberta back in Dallas, keeps everybody on the same page and tends to a mountain of detail with seeming ease and marvelous good grace.

I guess you can tell I'm pretty high on Ayres Adventures and your right!!  Ron has just returned from a scouting trip for Eastern Europe and is soon to go to New Zealand for further scouting.  You can bet both these trips are on my radar.   And I didn't say anything about the animals in Africa, or the people, or the vast landscapes, and so much more.   As for Brazil...it speaks for itself.

See you on tour!"