Monday 16 December 2013

Here are the photos

So Sorry for lack of blogs on the trip.  Very hard to get internet connection so though we'd wait til we were back for a full story.  Here are the photos.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117760877441624832448/albums/5942443850304116033

Story to come very soon

Saturday 23 November 2013

Lions roaring, crocs snapping, whatever next?............


Here's a brief update on what's been happening - more detail to come later.  Over the past few days they have ridden some of the best sanddunes in Africa.  Craig and Dylan got abit lost when they went on a navigation exercise of their own and ended up in the bush until they reached a river full of crocs.  Luckily these championship level enduro riders were able to out ride the snapping crocodiles.  The group has also been staying in an absolutely amazing lodge on a little island where stars such as Niaomi Campbell and Michael Caine have hung out in the past.  The group went on a beautiful boat ride this morning with the most amazing scenery and again the crocs were happily snapping as they sailed past. 

Monday 18 November 2013

The lions roar

Had a good day yesterday with amazing scenery.  Rode alongside lots of giraffes, ostrich and zebras.  Spectacular scenery and getting right out into the wilds.





 Although staying in 'bush camps' they are pretty luxurious, not at all like a pop up tent and a camp stove.  It absolutely poured it down yesterday afternoon which made it nice and slippy.  The guides are not used to riding in this and obviously didn't like it that much but with all of the group having ridden with us in Wales slip sliding all over the place was second nature.  We were woken up at 3am this morning by lions roaring, not too close but amazingly loud.  Starting to head to the Suguta Valley sanddunes - apparently some of the biggest in Africa.  WOW!!!

Saturday 16 November 2013

All have arrived in Nairobi

All have now arrived in Nairobi and stayed the night in the Karen Blixon Coffee Gardens. 

 
 
 
Went to visit the Sheldricks elephant orphanage and helped feed the little ellies.  There are over 30 little orphans there at the moment and they come in groups of 6 for their food.  After they've had their quota it is very hard to get them back out for the next group to have theirs especially if there are visitors around.  Some are very cheeky and keep trying to come back in different groups to get double helpings.
 
 
On a 3 hour bus ride now out of Nairobi to pick up the bikes and have the afternoon to get used to them before the proper ride starts tomorrow.  For the next week internet connection will be pretty bad but will try and post as much as I can.
 
 
 

 

Monday 4 November 2013

12 days to go

With 12 days to go we are getting really excited about our trip to Kenya.  For those of you who don't know,  we are off road riding in Kenya for 19 days to raise money for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust who work to stop the poaching of elephants and look after many orphaned elephants.  So far we have raised £10,020 with the help of all the riders (there are 8 of us) and Craghoppers, Kriega, Baydale, Morris Oils and Whitby and Co.  We will update the blog as much as we can whilst over there.  TBM are also coming over for the second half of the trip and will be writing a story for their mag.

15th Nov – 1st Dec 2013
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15th Nov – Arrive Nairobi
16th Nov – Visit to the Sheldrick elephant orphanage – ride to Mweiga in the Aberdare region
17th Nov–  Ride to Laikipia and Overnight Ol Tome bushcamp
18th Nov–  Ride Laikipia to Muge and overnight Ekorian camp.
19th Nov- Muge to Silali, Suguta valley ride and overnight Silali falls
20th Nov – Silali to Sugata valley sanddunes
21st Nov – Silali to Sugata valley sanddunes
22nd Nov – Silali to Lake Baringo
23rd Nov – Rest day at island camp and exchange 9 day groups
24th Nov – Lake Baringo – Soysambu conservancy (over 30,000 acres of off road riding).  Overnight Punda Milias camp
25th Nov – Full day at Soysambu conservancy.  De-snaring and game count on bikes.  Overnight Punda Milias camp
26th Nov – Soysambu conservancy to Menegai or Eburru.  Overnight Punda Milias camp.
27th Nov – Soysambu conservancy to Loita plains of the Maasai mara.  Overnight Maji moto camp
28th Nov - Full day on the Loita plains of the Maasai mara – Rest day – game drives, walks.. Overnight camp maja moto camp
29th Nov – Full day riding on the Loita plains of the Maasai mara.  Overnight Maji moto camp
30th Nov – Loita plains to Lake Naivasha.  Overnight Carnelleys camp.
1st Dec – Depart Naivasha by road, arrive in Nairobi in afternoon.  Private viewing at the Sheldricks and presentation of cheque, drop off at Nairobi airport.

Why the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust?

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Over 50,000 elephants have been killed for there ivory since Jan 2013.  Rhinos are being poached to the verge of extinction.  There has been an extremely serious and species threatening escalation of poaching of both elephants and rhinos for their ivory and horn in recent years, driven by the insatiable desire for these items from China, Vietnam, Thailand and Far Eastern Countries.  It is hard to believe that these magnicient animals are brutally killed for trinkets.  Many of the younger animals and babies are left beside their murdered parents and families.  Rhinos face a massive problem as eastern medicine practices believe their horns have mystical healing properties and demand is growing quickly, however the horns are made of Keratin (the same stuff as our fingernails) so they are being pointlessly massacred.  In some areas of Africa there are no elephants and rhinos left.  This heartbreaking problem is escalating out of control and the authorities around Africa are stuggling to deal with it.