Motorbikes to roar in the mountains this weekend for the fourth time
This weekend will see the fourth Motorbikes in the Mountains event, held in the Croc River Mountain Conservancy.
Around 150 motorbikes of various off-road shapes and sizes are expected on the farm Daarbo in the conservation area.
As much fun as the event will be, it is a fundraiser for a very serious cause.
“Poaching is quite a challenge for us in the conservation area,” says Gert Meyer, organiser of Motorbikes in the Mountain. “With the funds raised from the three previous times we ran the event, we have managed to set up manned anti-poaching gates at the entrance to the area.
The Croc River Mountain Conservancy comprises about 30 landowners in an area of 25 000 hectares, 20km or so east of Nelspruit, just off the N4. The area is farmed with citrus, macadamias and vegetables. There are also game farms in the area, and they make the biggest contribution to conservation actions.
The area features in the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s biodiversity conservation plan handbook, and it is also recognised by the National Parks Board as part of the expansion footprint for the Kruger National Park.
The Motorbikes in the Mountains event has made fundraising easier, and as the event has gotten better known, so has the fundraising improved. But poaching is not the only conservation issue to be attended to.
“Apart from the operation of anti-poaching boom gates and anti-poaching patrols, our environmental activities include alien plant removal and control, the removal of litter in riverbeds and road verges, fire management and control, and landowner education regarding conservation issues and applicable legislation.”
Other environmental initiatives that take place in the area include the Crowned Eagle study, a project to reintroduce oxpeckers, and the rehabilitation of wildlife by other organisations. Meyer says they work closely with the University of the Witwatersrand, the Organisation of Tropical Studies, and the University of Pretoria.
“A secondary objective of the Conservancy is to develop this area into a tourism destination,” he says. “We want to attract both residential and day visitors who enjoy the ambience, serenity, scenery and wealth of fauna and flora the area offers.”
Motorbikes in the Mountains also raises awareness of the area among participants, and they get quite a view of what the area has to offer visitors.
The event runs over about 45 kilometres, with pit stops every 10 to 15 kilometres.
Entry is R300 per motorcycle, quad, or side-by-side vehicle, and R5 for the rider. Pillions and passengers pay an additional R50. This year the event has an easy online booking and payment system, click here to book.
Click here for Google Maps directions to Daarbo Farm, the venue.
For more information, go to the Facebook pages of Motorbikes in the Mountains, as well as the Croc River Mountain Conservancy, or their website, or contact the organiser, Gert Meyer on 082 777 6896.
Photos are from the Croc River Mountain Conservancy’s website and the event’s Facebook page.
