Getting ready for The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride 2016

Photo of new baby rhino by Ant Baber at Ant's Nest

We are packing our bags and making plans for The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride 2016 , which is being organised to raise funds for Save the Waterberg Rhino along with associated community education projects, to help fight rhino poaching and teach local children about the conservation of these amazing animals at the Lapalala Wilderness School.

Over 5,000 rhino have been killed by poachers in South Africa alone. The Waterberg is home to a signification concentration of rhino, second only to Kruger National Park.

PROJECTS REQUIRING FUNDING & STRATEGIC PARTNERS:
Rhino horn treatment
Tracking devices for rhinos
Equipment, such as:
• Binoculars
• Night vision
• Thermal vision
• Hi Tech solutions
• Bullet proof vests
• Crime scene equipment
• Uniforms and kit for scouts
Anti-poaching scouts for rhino protection
Tracker Dogs
Training for Anti-Poaching UNITS
Management Courses for Rhino Owners

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

• Donate via The Waterberg Trust Justgiving page:

As a UK registered charity, we can claim Gift Aid on eligible donations, and organise transfer of funds to South Africa efficiently. Add a note to specify 'Save the Waterberg Rhino' with your donation.

• If you'd like to organise your own fundraising event, and learn more about the charity contact sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

• Support the project on Social Media and receive news:
• For Save The Waterberg Rhino's Facebook page, please click here.
• For The Waterberg Trust's Facebook page, please click here
• For the Lapalala Wilderness School's page, please click here

To find out about Save The Waterberg Rhino, click on the banner below:

The Waterberg Charity Ride 2015 ~ Part Two ~ Getting Underway

We set off from Horizon Horseback Lodge on a fine sunny morning, making our way along empty tracks and up into the hills of the Waterberg. Our biggest challenge, encountered that first day was the sun. Coming from Europe we'd all been longing for the warmth but a heatwave hit the Limpopo Province and all we could do to cool off was to ride faster.

However we also had cool days when our team of twelve enjoyed excellent game viewing.

We rode with zebra, wildebeeste, eland, blesbok, implala, greater kudu, warthog,oryx, waterbuck, mountain reedbuck,grey duiker, red heatebeeste, jackal, giraffe and saw crocodile, hippo, ostrich, baboon, vervet moneky, slender mongoose, tree squirel, sable antelope, nyla, bush buck and white rhino.

On the first evening we met a debra - a hyrbid standing with it's parents: a donkey stallion and a zebra mare. Everyone kept asking me if we'd see springbok. I explained that we were too far north only to see a pair on our last day.

As horse lovers, we also enjoyed riding past horses kept in the bush. Along with Anglo Arabs and Boerperde you find quite a few Friesian horses bred in South Africa. A highlight of the trip was encountering white rhino at Ant's Hill.

We missed seeing rhino from horseback, but Ant took us out on an evening game drive when we watched a family of four taking an evening mud bath, one by one.

All the riders found the fast sections exhilarating.

On day three we took some of the wide sandy roads up and over the hill from Ant's Nest to Lindani Game Reserve cantering whenever we could.

Riding through the wilderness, where there were no roads or fences, was a great privilege. As well as raising money to uplift the children and students of the region we found ourselves learning about the ecology of the Waterberg Biosphere. In some ways it was a fantastic adventure - a holiday - but the riders paid all their own expenses and were giving freely of their time.

 We also had rivers to cross and hills to climb but the most challenging section was yet to come.

~ The Waterberg Charity Ride 2015 ~ 

If you have any questions 

or would like to find out more about

  the annual Waterberg Charity Ride 

please add a comment in the box below.

To find our Justgiving page
please click here

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Reporting back on the Waterberg Charity Ride 2015 ~ Part One ~ Setting off from Horizon

Members of the Waterberg Charity Ride 2015

at 

Horizon Horseback Safaris

South Africa

It was in the last week of January 2015 that a party of twelve flew out to Horizon Horseback on Triple B Ranch in the heart of the Limpopo Province of South Africa to take part in the first ever Waterberg Charity Ride. 

The riders were raising funds for the Waterberg Welfare Society Trust who organised the challenge. Some arrived a couple of days early to acclimatize.

 This was great as we got in some good game-viewing,

were entertained by the locals,

and even had time to go to St John's Church at 24 Rivers, built in 1914

That Sunday afternoon, other riders flew in from Europe to find their horses waiting at the Horizon stables.

We went on an evening ride to make sure everyone was well-matched to their mounts.

We rode off and immediately encountered an eight foot crocodile lying on a sunny bank. I did not take a photograph, I was too busy getting away from it, but later on we stopped to view hippo.

We took the chance to photograph a male, a female and a baby in the evening sun.

After walking though a herd of zebra and taking several canters up through the game reserve we felt ready to set off, on what was to be a pioneering expedition.

If you would like information on the Waterberg Charity Ride 2016 

please use the comments box below to send an inquiry.

For our Justgiving page please click here:

The Waterberg Charity Ride 2015

On 25th January ten intrepid ladies backed-up by two of their, perhaps rather braver, husbands are setting out on a ride across the Waterberg in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. It is creating quite a stir:

The aim is to raise funds to sponsor children and students in the area to ensure they receive the best possible start in life. Some have either lost parents to AIDS or have parents living with HIV.

The riders will be able to meet some of the kids who currently attend Letabo Kids Club in the township of Leseding and an after-school club at Timothy House near by where the Waterberg Welfare Society is based.

Some of the riders are keen to sponsor students who have what it takes to train as nurses, since there is an acute shortage of qualified nurses in the area.

Those taking part in the ride who include two event riders from the Netherlands, one long-distance rider from North Wales and another from Scotland, are gearing up to traverse the five different private game reserves who are kindly hosting the venture.

They leave Horizon Horseback on Triple B Ranch and ride across the hills to Koshari Game Reserve where they stay before riding on the famous rhino sanctuary known as Ant's Nest  From there they ride through the lovely Lindani to Jembisa on the Palala River. Hippo, giraffe, wildebeest, rhino, warthog and a variety of antelope should be seen along the way, although they are hoping to avoid lion for obvious reasons.

Money is being donated on the

Waterberg Welfare Society Trust's Justgiving page

There has been such enthusiasm in the project that we are thinking of hosting a similar rider next year. Do contact us in the comments below if you would like further information. 

The organisers are keen to put on a sponsored cycle ride lead by expert local guides. All you need to do is put the group together!