Detour Trails

Lesotho is a tiny landlocked country high up in the Drakensberg and Maluti Mountains (altitude 1800m – 3400m). What it lacks in overall size, it makes up for in sheer vastness and ruggedness. Rough dirt roads and natural trails makes this little country ideal for mountain biking. The Eastern Highlands tour is for regular mountain bikers who wish to get a taste of raw, natural trails in the rarefied air of Lesotho just up Sani Pass.

South African mountain bikers constantly hear how great it is to race the tide on the pristine Wild Coast, but seldom get the opportunity. As one of our previous riders aptly put it, for this trip we need the sun, moon and stars to be in line! What she meant was that climate, tides and complex logistics dictate when we should take on the Wild Coast. The emphasis of this trip is on much more than pure riding, adventurers will go away with lasting impressions of amazing scenery, magnificent beaches and an insight into the culture of the hospitable people who live here.

Mozambique’s Machangulo Peninsula has much to offer, but is so remote that it is an exclusive area away from tourist traps and only accessible to the elite traveller, so is rarely visited. Fat Bikes have made beach riding more accessible enabling us to ride the pristine beaches of the length of the peninsula while packing in other ocean related activities that most people only dream of. Join Detour Trails for a short, tailored ‘breakaway’ crammed with highlights making it near impossible to be repeated, so we believe this is a truly ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience. While Fat Biking holds the adventure together, riders will no doubt go away with lasting impressions of magnificent beaches, amazing sea life, 5 star accommodation and so much more.

This is a recreational ride for the not so regular mountain bikers and reasonably fit non-riders. Those who don’t get enough riding can go further while others enjoy beach activities.

This tour is a great combination of mountain biking and history as riders explore the trails and wagon routes used by many of the soldiers and warriors when the British under Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand in 1879. Riders will get a taste of these epic battles complete with all the stupidity and heroism while riding on some amazing raw, natural trails.

This ride is for regular mountain bikers, who have a degree of off road experience. Routes include some moderate to difficult technical sections.

Colonization of the world by the British was fueled by a few arrogant, ignorant men, one of whom was Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere. He was an archetypical Victorian colonial administrator whose belief in the British Empire was as absolute as his disregard for its inhabitants. This attitude had disastrous implications in SA when he became High Commissioner in 1877.

Despite many years of Zulu and Brit living in relative peace and harmony, Frère had concluded that Natal could not exist safely and peacefully alongside the Zulu nation under King Cetshwayo. After some devious maneuverings, which failed to initiate war, he had an ultimatum delivered to Cetshwayo at the Ultimatum Tree. The demands were impossible by design.

Cetshwayo sent a message to Frere, in the words of historian David Rattray, “begging his British friends not to go to war, and warning him that if the Great White Queen sent her red soldiers into Zululand, his aMabutho would eat those red soldiers up. The die was cast.

The British invaded Zululand on 1st January 1879 in the first act of aggression of the Anglo-Zulu War and the battles of Isandlwana (22nd January) and Rorke’s Drift (23rd January) ensued.

KwaZulu Natal is dominated by the Zulu nation where most still live rural lives tending the soil and their livestock. This is a huge opportunity for mountain biking on raw natural trails that are sculpted through the ages by these rural people as they go about their daily lives. Just a stone’s throw away from the city of Durban is the fabled Valley of 1000 Hills, where both amazing trails and rural culture abound. So it’s a microcosm of rural Zulu life with endless opportunities to ride while interacting with the folk who live here and learning more of their culture.

Highlights

• Ideal introduction to riding in the Kingdom of the Zulu
• Unique topography, climate and vegetation
• Enjoy raw, natural, uncut, rugged trails
• Challenging and rewarding
• Indescribable views
• In depth exposure to Zulu culture
• Meet Inkosi, Sangoma and experience throwing of the bones

This is a recreational ride for the not so regular mountain bikers and reasonably fit non-riders.