#beyondtheriftvalley

#BucketListRide:   Living LA Vida on Lake Kivu ...   If you want jaw-dropper views and #Africa in full colour off the saddle of your @giantlivrsa, you won’t beat the beauty of the Nile-CongoTrail in #Rwanda. Our @beyondexped #BeyondTheRiftValley journey took us from Nyungwe National Park along a quiet forest highway to Cyangugu, a bristling border town on the three-way juncture between Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC. The postcard-perfect lake transports one to a blended landscape somewhere between Madagascar and ancient Europe. Age-old cultures continue to unfold along the Kivu lakeshore, but with a bewitching mix of modernism and natural grandeur chucked in for good measure. After four days without a shower, we were utterly seduced by the tranquil water of this magical lake. As we floated on our backs, the steamy equator skies above flickered with occasional lightning flashes from thunderstorms strafing the Congo on the western skyline. Infinitesimally small, and viscerally alive - that's how we felt.   Our #GiantBicycles, with @petervankets on his #anthem leading the way, followed the Nile- Congo Divide. This mostly public access trail follows footpaths and dirt tracks meandering northwards along the Kivu shores and is relatively well signposted; plus, Rwanda is as safe and secure as you will get anywhere in Africa. There is also a new tarmac road, where the many and super-steep ascents of this ‘Country of a 1000 Hills’ are sure to take their toll.   So, if ever you have the opportunity to plan a #bikepacking trip into the Mother Continent, look no further than Rwanda. This country has everything from nature and culture, to security and infrastructure, and your smile muscles are bound to work overtime.   #BeyondExpeditions #GiantLiveRSA #GiantBikes #RideGiant #LivGiant  #DunloptyresSA #IsuzuSA #frontrunnerza#WildernessSafaris #HiTecSA #BeanThereCoffee #SpotAfrica #DripDropSA #vagabondkayaks   (at Rwanda) https://www.instagram.com/p/B00GVmmJfp2/?igshid=fp9oeaq26sjd

It's time! Nearly a year has whizzed past since @petervankets and #DieOom missioned off on their 15 000km journey into the rainforests and volcanic peaks of #Rwanda. That was our @beyondexped #BeyondTheRiftValley adventure, pretty much an endorphin high as we summitted some of Africa's highest volcanoes, paddled deep-water #RiftValley lakes & came face to face with endangered mountain gorillas 🦍 And now we're ready to roll again, this time with our families, and with no less than 6 arid regions waiting to be explored. #BEYONDAUKOEREBIS will be our 3rd Expedition into Africa's wildest places, and our @isuzusa #Xriders will be venturing via @namaquawestcoast into the #richtersveld Transfrontier National Park, #NamibNaukluft, #kgalagadi Transfrontier Park & #augrabiesfalls NP, before returning to Cape Town via the #Karoo. That's a whole load of desert right there! 🌵🌵🌵 This 4000km road trip is wholly driven by #IsuzuSA, but we're grateful to @Dunloptyressa for fitting #Treva & #Noah with their #GrandTrek #AT25 Tyres; to @spotafrica for providing tracking security; and of course to our long-standing #outdoor equipping partner, @frontrunnerza for their bombproof vehicle fittings and camping equipment. Great logo design by @threepotatofour & 'top' signage by @top.wraps; #SungazerLager from @darlingbrew; best #rooiwyn from @namaquawines #wineroute; breakfast goodies from @passion4wholeness; coffee from @beantherecoffee ... you guys all rock. Huge thanks to @gen_maasdorp & her professional @sanparks_aridregion #AridParks Team for accommodation & to @nwrinsta, too. This promises to be an amazing journey via the @northerncapetourism region & #Namibia, all the more so with @maraiskaryn, @kimvankets and all the kids with us! And @peterkirkmedia, @peebsman1 & @zaneschmahl & family, of course 🙌🏻 🙏 💙 #BeyondAukoerebis #IsuzuSa #WithYouForTheLongRun #DunlopTyresSA #FrontrunnerZA #BornToRoam #SpotAfrica #GetLostStayFound #NorthernCape #Namibia #DarlingBrew #NamaquaWestCoastWineRoute #BeanThereCoffee #TopWraps #OrnateDesigns #giantlivrsa #giantbicycles #garminsa #beatyesterday (at Namibia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BypDsrhp7kg/?igshid=1egraelmq9rp

Coming face to face with the undisputed 'King of Great Apes' must rate as the premium primate experiences on Planet Earth. And if you want the best gorilla trekking in #Africa, you can't beat #VolcanoesNP in #Rwanda. Here's the deal, though: to interact with 'gorilla beringei beringei' - the endangered Western highland gorilla - you must first conquer stinging nettles & giant bamboo forests. Our Dunlop Tyres SA #BeyondTheRiftValley Crew were allocated to the #Agashaya Group, named for their eponymous alpha male. Extensive rainforests here on the border with #uganda and #DRC provide sanctuary to 20x groups, 12 of which have been habituated for #ecotourism . First contact was with Agashya himself; the huge #silverback blocked entry into a small clearing, where he snacked on bamboo while contentedly harrumphing. We only had 1hr, and 60min blurred into a time warp of soulful stares, sub-sonic stomach rumbles, contented belly sighs, the crunch of bamboo shoots (and the occasional gorilla fart). Somehowour time with these gentle apes passed in an instant before they faded into their bamboo shadow lands. Rwanda boasts a rich & diverse primate species counts, and unique experiences with golden macaques, Angolan colobus & chimpanzees are also on the cards in #nyungwe and #gishwati. It's impossible to put into words one's emotions while connecting with creatures sharing 98% of our DNA, trying to comprehend that we homo sapiens are slowly but surely destroying their habitat & thus driving them towards certain extinction. Samahani, Rwanda. I am sorry. And I hope that future generations - with the help of organizations like Children in the Wilderness - will be better custodians of our tiny blue planet 💚 #DunloptyresSA #IsuzuSA #frontrunnerza #HiTecSA #WildernessSafaris #SpotAfrica #GiantRSA #BeanThereCoffee #DripDropSA #TakeItOn #Taketheroad #vagabondkayaks #WithYouForTheLongRun #BornToRoam #InspiredByLife #goanywhere #ChildrenInTheWilderness #citw #doingitforthechildren (at Rwanda) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoyeQ9JlVai/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1q7ftnas8c2vp