Tour de Wilderness is celebrating the conclusion of yet another successful Nedbank Tour de Tuli event, reinforcing its status as one of southern Africa’s premier mountain-biking events. Between 13 and 18 August 2015, the 11th edition of the event saw 340 participants cycle across almost 300 km of remote and challenging terrain in Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Starting from the Pont Drift border post between South Africa and Botswana, cyclists enjoyed two days’ cycling across Botswana’s Northern Tuli Game Reserve, exploring indigenous forest and sandstone ridges before crossing over into Zimbabwe. Here, one of the highlights included a visit to Jalukange Primary School, where cyclists received a warm welcome from the community. They also donated Wilderness Safaris-sponsored schoolbags and supplies. On day four, cyclists crossed back over the Limpopo and into South Africa, where they cycled through the baobab-dotted Mapungubwe National Park – their final destination for the Tour.
All monies raised by the Tour are channelled directly into Children in the Wilderness (CITW), a non-profit organisation that runs sustainable environmental education programmes to bridge the divide between communities and the wildlife areas they live next to. Over the last 10 years, the Tour has hosted more than 2 700 cyclists and raised over R14 million for CITW.
“Nedbank Tour de Tuli is a very special event,that enables us to continue focusing on inspiring Africa’s next generation of environmental leaders”, says Dr Sue Snyman, CITW Programme Director.
