Hey there,
Here at BTA, the summer months have become our “low season”, so we thought we would end up with some time on our hands. We won’t deny that we’ve had a good couple midweek rides when we should have been at work, but apart from that, we have been pedalling away at some new destinations while we have the chance.
January and February saw some time spent in the little-known Pongola area. We had seen the fields of sugar cane on our way to Mozambique many times, but what lay beyond was more than we could have hoped for. Those same fields with their lush crops and winding irrigation channels weave their way into Zululand bushveld like a Sani2C single track. Before you know it, you’re in big game country and we need to find out where the ellies and rhino are to give them some space (we can look for them later on a game drive or a Pongola river boat trip). With Lake Juzini behind us, the Lebombo Mountains loom. But what goes up is allowed to come down and with the Hluhluwe Rhino Route single track at the foot, the climb is well worth it.
March saw a trip to a part of the country that more of us may be familiar with, the trails of the Western Cape. We have the intention of putting together an easily accessible couple of days on some of our countries best-known mountain bike trails. Still a work in progress, but even after a single trip, we’ve learnt it’s hard to go wrong with an itinerary that contains options such as Oak Valley, Jonkershoek, Elgin, Stellenbosch and wine tasting…
We will let you know more when this tour is ready.
In our last few newsletters, we spoke extensively about our adventures in Vic Falls. We had some logistical issues up that part of the world, coupled with some pretty steep US Dollar based price increases that were making it quite a pricey exercise. Not willing to let the Zambezi River go completely, we started looking further downstream. We were very pleasantly surprised. The river got wider and wilder. No helicopters overhead and no fences to halt our progress. The result is a magical ride from Zambia’s highlands, down the escarpment, right to the shores of this mighty river. The riding is as wild as the river and makes for some tough terrain. If you’re after a proper mountain biking experience I suggest you don’t miss out on this adventure.
In mid-May we start our sold-out Namibia season, swiftly followed by the first 4 Zambezi trails. In between, a couple of our ever-popular Road to Mozam fat bike rides and the new Pongola trail. This means some escape from the Jozi winter for ourselves and those of you joining us this year, and we can’t wait to show you some of our favourite places in Southern Africa.
Looking forward to seeing you on the next epic adventure,
Jared Cavé
travel@morningsidecycles.com
WhatsApp: +27 83 305 8560
Colin Meyer
colin@morningsidecycles.com
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More highlights from the Zambezi River Trail
