You will experience saltpans, black rock koppies, red sand dunes, dry riverbeds, wide open skies and flat-topped acacia trees that symbolise the Kalahari Red Dune Route. You will experience the Kalahari Meerkat, Vulture Restaurants and lots of birdlife and see various Game.
You will cycle to the Kalahari Lost City and over a big salt pan. Each day you will cycle to the next Game lodge, experiencing the sunset over the salt pans after a Game drive, while you are enjoying a sundowner.
Each day you will cycle to a new destination where we will spend the rest of the day, see the best of that area, have lunch, dinner and breakfast there and experience the best of the Kalahari.
Description of the Area
It is said that no two visits to the Kalahari are the same. This ancient and beautiful land is not only amazingly rich in diversity; it also reflects an endless variety of moods, making each new encounter refreshingly different from the previous.
This ancient and beautiful land is not only amazingly rich in diversity it also reflects an endless variety of moods, making each new encounter refreshingly different from the previous ones. The Kalahari extends north of Upington into the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park that forms the shares its borders with Namibia and Botswana and is one of the largest conservation areas in the world.
The colour of the dunes in the southern Kalahari can be attributed to the high iron oxide content of the sand. In areas of higher rainfall and in shallow areas where water collects, the iron oxide is leached out, causing the sand ultimately to turn white. The gradual effect of the leaching transforms the desert into a wonderful variety of colours.
Besides the red dunes, some of the most obvious features of the Kalahari landscape are the nests of the sociable weaver birds. The colonies have up to 50 chambers housing as many as 300 birds.
Since the Kalahari is a desert, daytime temperatures can be extremely high and in winter, night-time temperatures can drop below zero, though the days are usually warm and pleasant. Thunderstorms are common during the rainy season between November and April.
4 Day MTB Tour Information
You will NOT cycle in between the dunes or on sand, only on gravel roads. For 4 days cycling and for 4 nights you will experience the beauty of the Red Dune area. You will cycle on the Namibian and Botswana border, staying at Game Reserves and beautiful lodges and 1 night in luxury tents.
Each venue has its own character, and the routes are planned so that you will experience the best of the Kalahari (without having to cycle in soft sand).
Date
31 March – 4 April 2023
3-7 April 2004
14-17 April 2024
For Customized Dates (min 7 people), contact Sonja sonja@trisport.co.za
Start Venue
Molopo Lodge, close to Askham, Kalahari
Overnight Venues:
Molopo Lodge
Loch Maree Game Lodge
Kalahari Tented camp, Rietfontein
Costs
R11,950.00 per person sharing
R14,950.00 per person single
Customized Dates : R14,950.00 sharing / R17,950.00 single.
Red Dune Cycling top extra R1,400.00 on order
Entries Available
Limited to 18 entries
Route Description
You will cycle from venue to venue on mainly gravel roads, jeep tracks, hard salt pans, and sections of quiet tar roads. You will NOT cycle over sand dunes or on sand.
Your overnight gear will be transported from place to place to the accommodation lodges and Game Reserves on the Red Dune Route, Kalahari.
Distances
Day 1: 43km, elevation 130m
Day 2: 45km: elevation 130m
Day 3: 50km: elevation 100m
Day 4: 34km
Highlights of the Tour
- Cycle over big flat salt pans of the Kalahari;
- Experience milking of the Camels;
- See The Lost City of the Kalahari;
- Experience the Kalahari Meerkats
- Stay on Game Reserves and go on Game Drives each day;
- Enjoy the sundowners on a Red Dune or over a Saltpan each night
- Experience the Vulture Restaurant
- Experience the hospitality of the Kalahari people;
- Enjoy sundowners on a red dune or over a saltpan
- Stay in the middle of the Red Sand Dunes;
- Experience the best of the Red Dunes of the Kalahari
- Cycle close to the Botswana border; and
- Stay on the Namibia / RSA border
Entry fee includes
- 4 Night accommodation (3 nights in lodges and 1 night in a luxury tented camp);
- 4 Days of MTB Riding;
- All meals.
- Transport of your gear;
- Cycle through the Lost City of the Kalahari.
- Cycle over Saltpans
- Experiencing the Camel milking.
- Stay 1 night on the Namibia Border; and
- Experience the beautiful sunsets over the saltpans
- Enjoy the Game drives
- Enjoy the Vulture Restaurant
- All permissions of private Game owners.
Entry fee excludes
- Alcoholic and other drinks or by at the lodges
- Transport to and from Molopo Lodge; and
- Tips.
Schedule
Day 1
14:00 Arrival at Molopo Lodge
18:00 Welcome and drinks at the Bar
19:00 Dinner
Day 2
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 Drive to the start, Rietfontein, and cycle to Koppieskraal.
Experience the Lost City, cycle on jeep tracks, and gravel roads
Lunch along the way
Experience the camel milking
Stay at Rietfontein on the border of Namibia in the luxury tents
Go for a donkey cart drive or collect eggs with the local Nama San
18:00 Dinner and traditional dancing
Day 3
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 Cycle from Rietfontein to Loch Maree. Cycle over a 10km saltpan towards Loch Maree Lodge
13:00 Lunch at Loch Maree Lodge
15H00 Visit a salt mining project and have the opportunity to drift on the water in the pan, like in the Dead Sea
17H00 Game drive and enjoy a sundowner and sunset overlooking a saltpan
18:30 Dinner
Day 4
7:00 Breakfast
9:00 Cycle to Molopo Lodge
12:00 Lunch at Molopo
14: 00 Check in and Chill or go and see the Nama San museum
18:30 Dinner
Day 5:
7:00 Breakfast:
8:00 Last morning, cycling to Dreghorn Game Reserve, enjoy a coffee and a snack overlooking Botswana, cycle back to Molopo
12:00 Shower, late check out and Goodbyes.
Optional extra night at Molopo lodge, please arrange with Molopo.
