"There is only one boss in any company - the customer. And he has the power to fire every single employee, from the Managing Director on down, simply by spending his money elsewhere."

- Price Pritchett

Why tour with Atreus CrossTours?

I believe that no one should have to take a leap of faith where motorcycle touring is concerned. A sizeable amount is invested to get you to South Africa, or plan your holiday locally – and that’s only the beginning. Too many people simply place their faith in a random tour guide or agency, because they believe they have no other choice. There is no risk factor when booking a tour with my company, as it's completely transparent and I operate it according to two policies:

• What-you-see-is-what-you-get, and
• No-complicated-solutions-to-simple-problems.

You receive no hidden costs or nasty surprises, you get exactly what you pay for and you pay for nothing but what is clearly listed on the itinerary!

Who I am

I'm Nicholas Van den Berg - the company proprietor, and road captain for all journeys listed.

I'm a qualified diagnosis petrol technician specializing in engines and transmissions, and I've also worked extensively in both the local entertainment industry as an actor, stunt person and precision driver, and in the local motor industry as a maintenance technician, research technical expert and technical/logistic co-ordinator.

I regularly explore distant parts of South Africa both in my capacity as the owner of this company and as a solo tourer. Inevitably, I've built up a store of highly useful knowledge about Southern Africa's geography and history, which I put to good use whenever I can! The tours can be as formal or chaotic as you like - it's YOUR tour; YOU decide. Though I handle tour groups of almost any size, I prefer working with the smaller groups (5 to 10 people) because it's my aim to make everyone along for the ride feel like a tight circle of friends - you will be by the end of the tour anyway!...

Before I put any new tour on the list, I test-ride it myself as part of the process of creating and organizing it. That means it's safety and suitability can be ensured within MY criteria - and I'm very picky - before you get anywhere near it.

I'll be joining you on my current ride - my BMW R1100S.

Ethos

It's my aim to provide you with the best possible motorcycling experience available in South Africa today, and that's no idle boast. I'm the sole member of this company, and if I can't provide, I don't get paid!... To this end:

• I exhaustively research every aspect of every route prior to it’s conception as a tour.
• Only the best-rated hotels within each price bracket and grading, and which are known personally to me, are chosen.
• Wherever possible, I choose only roads with outstanding combinations of scenery, low traffic volume, riding pleasure and above-average surfacing for you to ride on.
• The personal touch is applied to everything I and my business partners do for you.
• My primary focus is on providing an unbeatable value-for-money experience to all my customers. I value my entire local and international clientele, and unlike a few of my competitors, I don't content myself with providing unnecessarily costly tours to overseas customers.
• I arrange motorcycle rental through independent BMW and Harley-Davidson rental contractors. I don't run a hire fleet myself, as the associated capitalisation, and extra admin and maintenance staff I'd need would result in unnecessarily high overheads and higher-priced tours.
• Atreus CrossTours has one of the lowest staff complements in the entire industry. This has two major advantages: you're not paying the salaries of a large, costly organization, nor are you compromising on service. This allows me and my business partners to focus on you and your party not just as customers but as good friends, and to treat you the way you deserve to be treated – with honour and respect.

Pop-up ads and excessive advertising in general are not allowed on my site, because they irritate me just as much as they do you! I do make use of Google ads; they're confined to a manageable size that doesn't overwhelm the rest of the site.

I generally don't organize tours involving off-road trails or dirt tracks; I prefer to offer an experience where greater distances can be covered, and sights just as breathtaking encountered in greater comfort, with less physical effort and reduced risk of injury.