By nature, mountain biking is a fairly high-risk sport/activity. But that’s one of the attractions, right? Now, go mountain biking in a Big Five game reserve and no matter how experienced a mountain biker you are, your senses are heightened and your ‘fight or flight’ reflex is constantly unlocked. That’s just one of the reasons, a mountain biking safari at Abelana Game Reserve should be on your to-do list.
By Sean Badenhorst
Bikes and Big Five bush. The accompanying support team on the Landcruiser meet you at certain points with refreshments and act as a back-up should a back-up be required…
The buffalo are my biggest worry. I’ve never encountered one while riding a mountain bike, but I have read and heard about how they’re so unpredictable and utterly committed with every fibre of their being if they decide you’re a threat that needs to be neutralised.
So, when our game ranger, John Fouche mentioned that Abelana was “in between buffalo herds”, I was rather relieved. Formerly a hunting farm, owned by Spaniards, Abelana is currently well into its transformation to a fully-fledged game reserve. The buffalo herds that were there were diseased and had to be relocated. The new disease-free buffalo herds, were due to arrive two weeks after our visit.
I understand hunting, but I don’t really agree with it. Certainly not trophy hunting. I guess when you’re an animal on a hunting farm, human presence is always potentially life threatening. So, humans are to be avoided. And during our three rides at Abelana (one late afternoon rides and two morning rides) we could see just how skittish the game there is.
Of course, this perception comes from being used to riding among game at local Johannesburg and Pretoria trails parks, where the game is very accustomed to humans on bicycles and is obviously aware that the encounters aren’t life-threatening. But I’m talking giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and various antelope. Not the flippen Big Five!
When you’re riding your bicycle in the bush where there is Big Five, you need to be hugely alert. There’s a good reason why Abelana is the first South African Big Five game reserve offering a cycling safari experience. It’s high risk man! Lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo don’t give you a second chance. They don’t even give you half a chance…
The Abelana Cycling Safari group is limited to a maximum of eight guests which makes it more personal and allows you to connect with fellow guests.
That’s why the mountain bike safari routes at Abelana have been chosen to follow mostly gravel roads and jeep track, so that you don’t need to focus much on the surface and terrain and are able to look ahead and from side to side while riding. And, occasionally, behind.
The safari group numbers no more than eight, with John, an experienced Game Ranger and seasoned cyclist upfront on his eBike and Cameron Murray of Escape Cycle Tours, at the rear, making sure nobody gets left behind. John rides with a .458 rifle slung across his back. It can’t be comfortable, but it’s obviously essential. He hasn’t had to use it on any mountain bike safaris yet, but has had to shoot to stop (kill) a charging elephant on a hiking safari once.
Everyone is looking around for game while riding, but also keeping an eye and ear on John. His bush experience is significant and he knows what sights and sounds to be careful of. While we stopped to look at game, we also stopped to examine spoor, which is one of John’s specialities. He’s also incredibly knowledgeable on geology and trees, which delivers some unexpected nuggets of education between game sightings. But even more accustomed to the spoor identification, is tracker, Tavengwa, who drives the back-up Landcruiser nearby.
Tavengwa worked there as a tracker for the hunters previously and knows the area intimately. He can deliver impressive details on animals based on their spoor and sits on that small seat on the front of the Landcruiser during the afternoon/evening game drives, spotting birds, game and massive Golden Orb spiders that the rest of us would never notice.
Abelana’s list of game is extensive. Beside the Big Five, including the biggest male lion I have ever seen, there is also hippo, crocodile, zebra, giraffe, sable, kudu, eland, wildebeest, waterbuck, hyena, baboon and much more!
The rides aren’t long in distance, but because you’re scanning for game, they’re relatively low-speed so can take a while. Our first ride was 8km/1hr50min, our second ride was 38km/5hrs and our final ride was 27km 3hrs25min. This includes stops for refreshments and a break from the saddle.
Most of the riding is on gravel roads and jeep track to keep the surfaces relatively tame so that you can focus on the wild around you.
Abelana is located in the Limpopo province, near Phalaborwa, which is a five-hour drive from Johannesburg. Fortunately, the Escape Cycle Tours team managed the driving stress while we just relaxed and chatted to the other members of our media crew in the minivan. We chatted more on the way back than the way there because in three days of mountain biking in Big Five bush, you quickly get to know each other’s names, strengths, weaknesses and weak jokes.
Escape Cycle Tours does have mountain bikes and eBikes that you can request in advance, or you can just take your own. They also wash, lube and check the bikes after each ride and do any repairs that might be required. This allows you to relax and enjoy your time in the camp when you’re not riding. Ah, the camp…
It’s a recently built luxury tented camp with five double en-suit tents. These tents do not even vaguely resemble a traditional two-man tent that you get at most South African mountain bike stage races and are more in line with a four-star hotel suite inside. It really is my kind of ‘camping’. The tents are laid out to be far enough from each other so that you feel the tranquillity of the bush, but close enough to be within a two-minute walk of the main cabin, which has a lounge and dining area as well as a veranda.
While John is the authority outside the camp boundary, Marge is the authority in it. With a kitchen in a Wendy House out the back, she and her staff produce some of the most incredible food! We honestly ate far too much while there, but we didn’t really care because the food was truly hard to resist.
A dinner never to be forgotten beneath the 2000-year-old baobab tree.
Speaking of alcohol, the best place to drink a sundowner, possibly anywhere, ever, is on the large deck that’s been built on the granite rock kopjie adjacent to and above the camp. The climb to the deck gets you breathing a little heavily, but the view from the deck simply takes your breath away! A 360-degree panorama over the surrounding bush makes you feel – simultaneously – incredibly empowered, incredibly small and incredibly grateful to be in the middle of the South African bush.
Abelana Game Reserve
The land on which Abelana Game Reserve is located belongs to the local Mashishemale community, which is committed to – and benefits from – the land as an ecotourism income-producer and job-creator.There are two lodges on the reserve – the Safari Camp, which accommodates eight and which houses the Escape Cycle Tours cycle safari guests; and the River Lodge further north on the banks of the Selati River, which has 20 en-suite luxury rooms each overlooking the river.
The view from the deck is just incredible!
Escape Cycle Tours
This established specialist cycle tour company is managed by experienced, passionate cyclists who ensure all the details are taken care of so that you can focus on riding, recovering and making the most of your escape from your grind.
Besides the Cycling Safari at Abelana, they offer various other mountain bike and road cycling experiences throughout southern Africa.
The Abelana Cycling Safari costs R9850 per person sharing and includes:
- 3 nights’ accommodation at Abelana Safari Camp (Per Person Sharing) – limited to 8 guests
- All meals, coffee & tea
- Filtered water during meals and rides
- Cycle activities with qualified trails guide + tracker
- Evening Game Drives
- Transport from Johannesburg (Return)
…and it excludes:
- All beverages
- Gratuities
- Items of a personal nature
Booking enquiries can be made to info@escapecycletours.com or just lodge bookings are by email on res@abelanagamereserve.com by telephone on 061 952 4302.
More about Abelana Game Reserve here.
More about Escape Cycle Tours here.
GALLERY:
The southern part of Abelana, where the Safari Camp is located, has a large number of granite koppies.
River bed crossings were fairly achievable, but it was the rainy season, so the sand was damp and firm.
Game ranger, John Fouche, approaches a group of giraffe with caution.
The Golden Orb spider population is definitely not endangered at Abelana!
The very comfortable lounge makes for a great place to relax and chat about the day’s activities.
The package includes two afternoon/evening game drives under the exceptional guidance of John (driving) and Tavengwa (tracker seat).
The massive baobab tree, dated at over 2000 years old, is a fascinating landmark.
There’s a shower on the deck, which must surely be one of the best shower views imaginable. Great for cooling off in the Lowveld heat.
