About Us
Andrew Vaughan is the owner, lead guide, chief mechanic, email answerer and new route explorer at Ride Down South. Andrew formed Ride Down South in 2016 after returning from a two-wheeled adventure with a friend to Kigali, Rwanda. Having seen how awestruck his Canadian friend had been by the experience of riding a motorcycle through some of Africa's most scenic spots, it seemed natural to see if there was a way to share that with other fellow motorcyclists. It turns out there was - and is.
In his former life Andrew was a qualified mechanical engineer with work experience in the aviation industry. He spent a few years at UK-based Rolls Royce Plc where he worked on the design of turbofan engines for Airbus and Boeing airliners. Andrew is also a qualified career coach and runs an education non-profit called This Better Work.
Andrew's biggest motorcycling adventure was a 30000km ride from from Vancouver, Canada to Cape Town via Russia, Eastern Europe and Africa on a Kawasaki KLR 650 in 2007. Since then Andrew has ridden his Africa Twin 750 through 17 African countries and just about all of those south of the Equator.
Andrew owns all the motorcycles in the Ride Down South fleet, having rebuilt 10 Honda Africa Twin XRV 750 motorcycles as well as a Suzuki V Strom 650.
Peter Seiler, Vancouver
Andrew was absolutely great, from the knowledge of his country and history of each place we visited, giving us the little travel tips we needed, making sure he never lost us. And when we ran into some unexpected surprises, he just calmly solved it. I was very impressed.”
David Moore, Manchester
Andrew from ride down south is the most perfect guide will bespoke tours for you nothing is too much trouble from booking to riding the organisation was first class his bikes are well maintained and nice to ride
David Loynes, UK
Where do I start. What an amazing day we had with Andrew absolutely amazing tour guide. Having been on other tours with different companies across the globe who don’t really know the history ect it was great that Andrew knew what he was talking about. He knows all the history behind each stop and is happy to answer any questions you may have.
Didn’t feel rushed at all throughout the day and he even stopped to point out things I didn’t notice.
At the end of the day he even recommended different routes we could take on our own bike and was happy to share his experiences with different areas of South Africa.
10 out of 10 would recommend him to anyone that is looking to explore on a motorbike
Amazing day thank Andrew
Aiman, Oman
We just came back from the trip of our lifetime! A 5 day motorbike tour around garden route and route 62 with Ride Down South. Andrew was very experienced and easy going guide. We are more like beginner with the riding motorbikes but Andrew made it feel easy and safe. I highly recommend him, nothing is too much for him and we had excellent info about our route, the nice spots and the country in general.
Will Elliot, California
I just rode from Victoria Falls to Cape Town with Ride Down South and couldn't be happier. Andrew and Greg aren't just great guides, they're also just really great people -- a joy to ride with and also a joy to hang out with. They ran my 22 day tour without a hitch and made sure we stopped at all the best secret spots.
Read all our reviews on Tripadvisor here
Our Friends and Affiliations
Our guides have been trained by the team at Adventure Qualifications Network and are members of the Adventure Pro group.
Ride Down South is bonded with the SATSA (South African Tourism Services Association) and insured with SATIB (Safari and Tourism Insurance Brokers) in South Africa.
Contact Andrew
You can reach Andrew by phone, Whatsapp, or email
Email: andrew@ridedownsouth.com
Or click on the images to chat via Whatsapp
or fill out this contact form.