Here’s a really unique experience for adventurous mountain bikers interested in animal welfare and deep pockets: a six-day safari in the Serengeti with three days of riding across some extraordinary landscapes rarely opened up for cycling – and it’s all in aid of anti-poaching.
But if you fancy, make your mind up quickly because places are limited to only 24 riders over the age of 18 for solo riders (16- and 17-year-olds can participate alongside a parent or guardian). Experience in mountain biking is recommended.
The ride is being organized by Singita, an company that has been providing environmentally conscious lodges for African safari adventures for over 30 years.
The six-day bike safari – with three days of riding flat, dirt, gravel, sand roads and some single-track off-road trails across 93 miles of the 350,000-acre Singita Grumeti Reserve in Tanzania – will take place over three days in the western corridor of Serengeti National Park from October 10-15, 2024.
The event is called The Wagora MTB Ride in honor of Kitaboka Wagora, an anti-poaching scout who was killed by a poacher in 2008, and who continues to inspire others to work to protect Africa’s wildlife. Not only will it be a unique way to view the wildlife that safari lovers flock to this region to see, it will also contribute funds to aid the company’s NGO partner The Grumeti Fund and its anti-poaching scouts.
“For the first time, experienced riders from around the world are invited to take part in the Wagora Serengeti MTB Ride,” says Singita’s site. “This exclusive event is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ride for a cause through the extraordinary Serengeti, while supporting conservation efforts for the Grumeti Fund’s anti-poaching scouts who protect this ecosystem’s precious wildlife.”
It’s not cheap, though. The five-night experience will set you back $25,230, or $15,600 per person if you share accommodation, of which $10,000 or $7,000 respectively is a donation to The Grumeti Fund. Book your places on the official site.
But hey, you get free laundry thrown in. Handy if you get any splashback when you ride through some rhino dung.
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