#bucketlistride

[jacquesmarais]

#BucketListRide:   Get some #Richtersveld Headspace!   With a good few hundred kms worth of #cranking on both the #SA and #Namibia sides of the #OrangeRiver you can pedal to your heart’s content in this arid and dramatic Transfrontier Park. Base yourself at #DeHoop or one of the other river camp sites; believe me, you want the water access here in the desert 🏜 Crank off from #DeHoop along the first jeep-track to your left (7km). Keep ascending towards #Maerpoort Pass (12km) then head downhill, keeping left till just before the R6. Finally, dip onto the #singletrack to your right at the sign indicating the start of the #DonkeyTrail. For a full hallucinogenic effect, ride this section in the dark with a full moon if you can. The next 8km is a space where moon shadows and desert jinns roam free inside your mind. Follow this trippy trail for 24km back to the main gravel road: prepare for pockets of sand for the next 4km or so. Turn right at R17 and crank to #Hakkiesdoring camp (38km).   Make sure you book accommodation before heading to #Richtersveld. This is a true mountain desert and for 10 months of the year it gets hot!!!   #GiantLivRSA #GiantBikes #LivGiant #Richtersveld #DonkeyTrail #RideLife #RideGiant #livcycling2_sa #livforward #mtb #adventure #mountainbike #explorider (at Richtersveld) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2eV6VEpMpt/?igshid=1040ai92tt54c

[jacquesmarais]

#BucketListRide:   Living LA Vida on Lake Kivu ...   If you want jaw-dropper views and #Africa in full colour off the saddle of your @giantlivrsa, you won’t beat the beauty of the Nile-CongoTrail in #Rwanda. Our @beyondexped #BeyondTheRiftValley journey took us from Nyungwe National Park along a quiet forest highway to Cyangugu, a bristling border town on the three-way juncture between Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC. The postcard-perfect lake transports one to a blended landscape somewhere between Madagascar and ancient Europe. Age-old cultures continue to unfold along the Kivu lakeshore, but with a bewitching mix of modernism and natural grandeur chucked in for good measure. After four days without a shower, we were utterly seduced by the tranquil water of this magical lake. As we floated on our backs, the steamy equator skies above flickered with occasional lightning flashes from thunderstorms strafing the Congo on the western skyline. Infinitesimally small, and viscerally alive - that's how we felt.   Our #GiantBicycles, with @petervankets on his #anthem leading the way, followed the Nile- Congo Divide. This mostly public access trail follows footpaths and dirt tracks meandering northwards along the Kivu shores and is relatively well signposted; plus, Rwanda is as safe and secure as you will get anywhere in Africa. There is also a new tarmac road, where the many and super-steep ascents of this ‘Country of a 1000 Hills’ are sure to take their toll.   So, if ever you have the opportunity to plan a #bikepacking trip into the Mother Continent, look no further than Rwanda. This country has everything from nature and culture, to security and infrastructure, and your smile muscles are bound to work overtime.   #BeyondExpeditions #GiantLiveRSA #GiantBikes #RideGiant #LivGiant  #DunloptyresSA #IsuzuSA #frontrunnerza#WildernessSafaris #HiTecSA #BeanThereCoffee #SpotAfrica #DripDropSA #vagabondkayaks   (at Rwanda) https://www.instagram.com/p/B00GVmmJfp2/?igshid=fp9oeaq26sjd