#richtersveld

By Chris Mallek

Chander Pahar moodboard

By Martin Heigan

#BucketListRide:   Get some #Richtersveld Headspace!   With a good few hundred kms worth of #cranking on both the #SA and #Namibia sides of the #OrangeRiver you can pedal to your heart’s content in this arid and dramatic Transfrontier Park. Base yourself at #DeHoop or one of the other river camp sites; believe me, you want the water access here in the desert 🏜 Crank off from #DeHoop along the first jeep-track to your left (7km). Keep ascending towards #Maerpoort Pass (12km) then head downhill, keeping left till just before the R6. Finally, dip onto the #singletrack to your right at the sign indicating the start of the #DonkeyTrail. For a full hallucinogenic effect, ride this section in the dark with a full moon if you can. The next 8km is a space where moon shadows and desert jinns roam free inside your mind. Follow this trippy trail for 24km back to the main gravel road: prepare for pockets of sand for the next 4km or so. Turn right at R17 and crank to #Hakkiesdoring camp (38km).   Make sure you book accommodation before heading to #Richtersveld. This is a true mountain desert and for 10 months of the year it gets hot!!!   #GiantLivRSA #GiantBikes #LivGiant #Richtersveld #DonkeyTrail #RideLife #RideGiant #livcycling2_sa #livforward #mtb #adventure #mountainbike #explorider (at Richtersveld) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2eV6VEpMpt/?igshid=1040ai92tt54c

Found some beautiful pieces of Selenite

At first glance, many deserts seem devoid of life. That is, until you begin to look beyond the obvious, and focus in on the miniscule, the unusual and very often extraordinary fauna and flora teeming within these arid landscapes. In the words of Pieter Van Wyk, arguably one of southern Africa's most knowledgeable desert botanists, there are floral ecosystems in the #richtersveld alone which are richer in diversity than the Amazon jungle. The scary thing is that some of these deserts are being denuded at a rapid rate due to climate change, with parts of the Richtersveld specifically having lost 85% of its biomass in just over three decades. This is potentially an irreversible process, and this is in part why @PetervanKets and I are trying to draw attention to these natural areas under extreme environmental threat through our series of @beyondexped adventures. #BeyondAukoerebis was our 3rd expedition, with a specific focus on five of southern Africa's key arid regions. Our @isuzusa #Xrider vehicles, fully kitted with @FrontRunnerZA equipment & @Dunloptyres_SA rubber, meandered via the #namaquawestcoast, #richtersveld, #NamibNaukluft, #kgalagadi and #augrabies on a 3-week, off-the-grid adventure, and we were fortunate to come face to face with Mother Nature at her immaculate best. Statuesque kokerbooms; miniscule conophytums; giraffe arabesquing across hard-rock plains; ancient boscia albitrunca trees clinging to vertiginous cliffs; crimson-breasted shrikes by the handful; Hitchcockian flocks of sand-grouse; honey badgers out on dawn patrol; pairs of spotted eagle owls huddling against the morning desert chill ... how privileged we are to have experienced this 🙏 🦉 🌵 #IsuzuSa #WithYouForTheLongRun #FrontrunnerZA #BornToRoam #SpotAfrica #GetLostStayFound #NorthernCape #Namibia #DarlingBrew #NamaquaWestCoast #namaquawines #BeanThereCoffee #TopWraps #OrnateDesigns #GiantBicycles #giantlivrsa #TribalTourist #ifollowthetribe #garminsa #sonyza #hellosonyza #sonyxperiaza (at Northern Cape) https://www.instagram.com/p/BziOz92nkv_/?igshid=1k9mnfp002dod

This is about as far away as anyone can get away from 'civilization' 😊💙 The #BeyondAukoerebis Expedition with @petervankets in our @isuzusa #Xriders have just emerged from that beautifully stark and incredibly dusty #richtersveld paradise, where we camped wild on the gorgeous Orange River. Big mountain hikes, long fireside evenings, psychedelic night skies, endless river play and headspace for days ... what an experience to share this with our families. Seriously scary to hear that more than 85% of the botanical biomass of the Richtersveld Mountain Desert has disappeared over the past three decades, due to on-going global warming. This is not just scientific talk, and even I could clearly see how areas around #Kokerboomkloof have been denuded by drought over the 20 years I've been visiting the park. It remains, however, one of the most visceral landscapes imaginable, and once you manage to focus in on the miniscule conophytums, lichens and succulents, a magical natural experience awaits you. SUPing and paddling the river with Grace and the older kids allow you to experience an adventurous flipside, as does night #mtb missions or hunting scorpions with your UV Light. More images to follow tomorrow, specifically of our ascent of the rugged #Tatasberg. Huge thanks once again to everyone at @sanparks_aridregion and the #ARTP - this is an unparalleled desert destination for the truly #moerandgone crowd. #IsuzuSA #WithYouForTheLongRun #frontrunnerza #BornToRoam #DunlopTyresSA #DarlingBrew #Passion4Wholeness #BeanThereCoffee Coffee #Specialkindofidiot #TopWraps #BeyondExpeditions #TribalTourist #SonyMobileZA #GarminSA #SPOTAfrica #getloststayfound (at Richtersveld National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGz93FJTv-/?igshid=l9j895j36eeo