Bag a bargain – August long weekend specials to Mauritius

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Winter Safari specials from some of my favourite bush retreats.

To take advantage of these great winter prices,  drop me a line at: laurenlowry@leisureandtravel.co.za

 

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Discover the Diversity of Africa in 4* luxury

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Ride the Kamberg Karma

Following the awesome Pondo Pedal -its only a couple months till the Kamberg Karma and this time I’m rallying the troops to join us for a more family orientated riding affair. The Kamberg Karma is a mountain biking adventure for the whole family – hosted by some very old family friends at the gorgeous Glengarry resort near Nottingham Road.
It is an opportunity to break away from the competitive side of mountain biking and to ride for the scenery rather than the clock. It is a unique entry in the MTB event calendar as it is a fully catered weekend – an event that the whole family can enter without the worry of whose cooking what and when.
The Kamberg area offers world class mountain biking trails and races like Joberg2C have put this valley on the MTB map. Thanks to a community with a passion for cycling, the local farmers allow access to their land and have sculpted some of the best tracks around.
This years Kamberg Karma will be held on 1 & 2 SEPTEMBER with registration and dinner on Friday 31 August. There will be a ride on Saturday and on Sunday with a choice of 3 distances each day -15km, 30km and 60km – as well as a 5km chaperoned fun ride for the children and those that had a very lazy winter!
All rides will start together at Glengarry with and finish at Glengarry. Riding will be on private farmlands over a variety of terrain avoiding any extremely technical sections. All routes will be marked and colour coded and there will be water points. So, if you haven’t got your entry in yet – what are you waiting for?

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Umngazi Pondo Pedal – Day 3

How time flies when you are having fun! Before we knew it – it was the third and final day of the 2012 Pondo Pedal. We started off with a challenging 1km sandy path before hitting some great single-track. The track lead us to a newly opened path which climbed out of the floodplain to the top of the escarpment, where the views are nothing short of exquisite. We chased each other along the single track onto the district road which took us across the Umngazana river and headed back up over “tower hill” then on towards Mpande. Before reaching the main Mpande road, the route switches back and goes through some forest, before joining up with the Brazen Head district road. From here, its undulating (but predominantly downhill) single-track and jeep track, along the coast- all the way back to Umngazana estuary. I love how the organisers make use of the local ferries to get us and our bikes across the river and onto the beach. The last stretch is a 3km beach ride to the finish line. It sounds tough but the race is planned so that the tide is low at the time of racing – the sand is hard and flat and the view is spectacular! Man, I love this event!!

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Umagazi Pondo Pedal Day 2

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Umngazi Pondo Pedal – Day 1

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Umngazi Pondo Pedal 2012

Hooray, its that time of the year again, and I am off to one of my all time favourite places on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. The award winning Umngazi River Bungalows offers avid MTB’rs the opportunity of cycling one of the most beautiful, unspoilt coastlines along the South African coast. The 4 day Grindrod Bank Umngazi Pondo Pedal is the epitome of purist MTB racing. Each day the races start and finish at Umngazi River Bungalows. Over 3 days, competitors will endure 115 kilometers of varied terrain: single track, cattle track, district roads and swamp trails. The focus of the event is not only an opportunity to enjoy Umngazi’s warm hospitality & cycle the most beautiful coastlines; but also to assist in making a difference to our local community’s neediest learners. Only 75 teams can ride so diarise the dates for 2013 and you can bet I’ll be seeing you there: 5-9 June 2013

Umngazi Pondo Pedal 2012

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7 Countries, 7 checkpints, 7 Parties, 7000km’s – 17 days! Follow the Put Foot Rally!

What is the Put Foot Rally?

The Put Foot Rally is the most epic social rally on earth – it will take us 7 000 kilometers across Southern Africa, through 7 countries, in 17 days. Everything is organised by individual teams – including sourcing a vehicle, choosing a route, deciding on equipment, food, petrol – everything. There is no support and no rescue service. It’s
all about self determination, courage, and the spirit of going into the unknown.

The ‘Spirit of Africa’ policy commits us to promote goodwill, cultural awareness, and tolerance wherever we travel, while flying the African flag high. The spirit of the Rally is about respecting the laws, customs, traditions and people of each country we visit, while admiring the treasures that Africa has to offer – the animals, the flora and fauna, and spectacular scenery and landscapes along the route.

Why we are doing this?

Our team has already paid our R 12 600.00 entry fee. Our primary goal in this venture is to raise money for the official charities of the Rally: The Put Foot Foundation and Project Rhino. Every Rand raised will go directly to these causes.

The Put Foot Foundation

The Put Foot Foundation is a Public Beneficiary Organisation (PBO) building on the vision started by the Bobs For Good Foundation of changing young lives, giving hope, pride and dignity through the gift of a pair of brand new school shoes for children throughout Africa. To walk a mile in someone else’s shoes is easy, but try it barefoot. In Africa, a pair of school shoes can often cost more than one week’s wages – and many children grow up having never owned a pair of shoes. Shoes help to prevent the spread of parasitic infections such as hookworm and threadworm. Walking barefoot also exposes schoolchildren to serious infection from contaminated soil – cuts and sores become infected, leading to ulcers, amputation, and sometimes even death. There are 140 000 orphans in Namibia that need shoes and Malawi is home to 950 000
orphans, and Zambia, 1,2 million. Zimbabwe? 1.4 million. Mozambique’s orphans number 1.5 million, and Swaziland and South Africa total 2.5 million each. Many of these children find themselves unable to even attend school because shoes are a uniform requirement. The Put Foot Foundation is providing sponsors, donors, and Put Foot Rally participants with the opportunity to see and feel ‘first-hand’ the life-changing experience that gifting a brand new pair a school shoes to a young underprivileged child can deliver.

Team Shake & Bake strongly believes that shoes are a basic human necessity, and invite you to support our fundraising efforts for this worthy cause.

Project Rhino

There has never been a more pressing time to raise awareness about the truly horrific crime of Rhino Poaching in Southern Africa. Project Rhino is a collection of 15 of South Africa’s leading conservation agencies, who have joined forces in the fight against rhino poaching. Starting in KwaZulu-Natal, where more than 54 rhinos have been killed since the start of 2012, Project Rhino co-ordinates rhino conservation and protection efforts. Team Shake & Bake fully supports this cause – none of us ever want to see the day when visitors to South Africa come to see The Big 4.

So – who are we?

Louise Gans – The Fixer – As capable as a mountain goat in a ravine, Louise has already been to Zimbabwe and Zambia to scope out legs of the trip – she says it was for ‘work’ but we know she’s making connections and pulling strings. Working as a Brands Accountant, Louise is the eternal student, and has been studying part-time ever since we’ve known her. The youngest team member, she can literally nap through anything and the roar of a jet engine is like a lullaby in her ears. Convinced that MacGyver tape is the solution to any problem, she keeps a roll on her person at all times. Mountain biker extraordinaire, she’s in training for the Argus, and occasionally runs to the end of her road and back.

Meegan Rourke – The Journo – Never to be trusted with directions, Meegan is a self-confessed wordnerd and happy snapper. With a Masters in Editing and Publishing, her spelling is second to none! As creative director for a social media agency, this isn’t her first rodeo – she spent a good part of 2011 blogging, tweeting, and photo-journalling other people’s crazy adventures on the road. Torn between trail running and swimming, whole days can go by without her making a decision… An experienced traveller, and uncanny ability to sleep anywhere anytime, Meegan’s the one to find if you need a First Aid kit!

Andrew McGill – The Navigator – Andrew is the voice of reason. The opinionated sort, he spends his free time training for his first half marathon and wrestling kittens. He owns a mountain bike, but never uses it. An economic development consultant by trade, he likes to keep it real and can often be found filling awkward silences with fun facts about nearly everything. He has an absurdly good memory for useless information, and likes to take the back roads. We’ll definitely be taking the scenic route!

Gordon McTavish – The Instigator – Dear Brick signed the team up when we weren’t looking, before saying, “Hey guys, let’s do this rally through Africa!” Gordon took the involuntary scenic route through his Masters in Architecture and is always up for an adventure. When he’s not playing hockey or making a mean toasted sandwich, he spends his free time thinking up ways to earn more money. Most likely to catch a tropical disease, Gordon has had Malaria and Hepatitis at the same time – you don’t get called MalHep Man without a reason! He owns the same mountain bike as his lady friend, Louise, but won’t admit to it until he requires her spare parts. He’s convinced we can survive the whole Rally on tins of baked beans…

So – how can you get involved. Well these guys need our help and that comes in many shapes and sizes. They have a WISHLIST of BIG things they need  or you can simply sponsor them here: MAKE A DONATION

We will be following them from this blog too so be sure to check back to see where they are and how they are getting along! GOOD LUCK TEAM SHAKE & BAKE!!

 

 

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RED HOT SAFARI SPECIALS FROM THANDA

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