Zingela Weekend

[JonW]

So about a month ago I got a PM from @PHJ saying he was planning on coming down to KZN to do some riding with his brother, and asking whether I would mind sharing some tracks with him in the CraigieBurn / Muden area. I answered him saying no problem, I can let him have tracks, but if he's keen I am happy to pot together some routes and go ride with him and his brother Etienne, he must just let me know what sort of riding they are wanting to do. Turns out the two of them seem to like exactly the same kind of riding that I enjoy, so it was agreed I would meet up with them near CraigieBurn Dam where they were spending the weekend and we'd do a day ride from there.
They duly came down and I took them for a ride of the area, which included a lunch stop at my favorite destination, Zingela Lodge.

 

[JonW]

Anyway, a few days later I get a WA from PHJ aka Pierre saying they enjoyed the ride and Zingela Lodge so much that they want to come down and ride again in the area and spend a full weekend staying at Zingela Lodge. I was chuffed with this idea, I enjoyed riding with these guys and they obviously liked the routes I had taken them on, so we agreed they'd come down again on the weekend of 27 and 28 May, this time bringing down another two of their riding buddies.

 

[petri oosthuizen]

BEAUTIFUL Place man........cant wait!!!!!!!!
And that river looks SUPER inviting for a flyrod

 

[JonW]

I finished up some stuff at work I needed to do, then managed to leave Hilton at about 10h00. I wasn't in a hurry to get there, so I took a somewhat meandering route that included some tar, dirt, veld and river beds.

 

[JonW]

Arrived at Zingela Lodge early afternoon and checked into my very comfortable safari tent.

Got changed, then joined the others on the deck for a cold one.

 

[JonW]

Kev normally rides 2-stroke enduro bikes, but for this trip had brought down a CRF 250R that he had parked in his garage. Not really ideal for this ride in terms of power output and range, but it's a 4 stroke and proved to be great on the ride.

Greg is a French Canadian with not much experience on enduro bikes, but has done lots of downhill mountain biking and amazed all of us with how well he did on his newly acquired KTM350

Then Pierre was also on a newly acquired 350 and used this weekend to bond properly with his new bike. Etienne did not need any bonding time with his 525, he and his bike made everything look effortless

 

[JonW]

Went to bed pretty early Friday night after a sumptuous meal at the lodge. Unfortunately I obviously didn't spend enough energy on the ride that day, because I woke up at 02h00 and then couldn't get back to sleep. So I decided a late night game viewing ride around the reserve on my bike would be preferable to tossing and turning in bed. So I got dressed and quietly as possible started my bike and headed off into the darkness. This is the first time I've ridden my 500 at night and I was pleasantly surprised how good the headlight was. Unfortunately the game viewing was a non starter and the only thing I saw was a donkey, but notwithstanding, my late night ride was awesome and just what I needed
The only pic I took on the ride:

 

[BuRP]

And that river looks SUPER inviting for a flyrod

Better bring crocproof waders Petri!


Lekker ride @JonW , look forward to the Zingela Bash

 

[JonW]

Better bring crocproof waders Petri!


Lekker ride @JonW , look forward to the Zingela Bash

Look forward to seeing you there Bart

 

[petri oosthuizen]

Better bring crocproof waders Petri!


Lekker ride @JonW , look forward to the Zingela Bash

**** man - dan gaan ek eerder sommer daar by die bar sit en hengel

 

[JonW]

So the five of us set off fairly early on a route that I love that takes you upstream along the Tugela river towards Colenso.
It was a cool morning and the riding was great.

 

[JonW]

More pics along the Tugela river route

 

[JonW]

From there we headed back into the Zingela reserve and onto a small track that goes over the mountain that forms the edge of the reserve and out by way of a little used track down the mountain and onto the public road which takes us to another favorite, Darkest Africa.

 

[JonW]

And then out of Darkest Africa and off to Imbabala Lodge for lunch

 

[JonW]

After lonch I had some more off road tracks in the Middelrus area lined up, but it was getting a bit late and we were all fairly knackered by this stage, so we decided to cut the ride short and head back to Zingela. Good call as it was just getting dark as we arrived back in camp.

 

[JonW]

Sunday morning thenteam had to drive back to Pretoria, so we decided on a short 2 hour ride in the reserve that goes along a contour path on the side of a mountain. The ride is not technical at all, but it is a bit nerve racking as there are sections of quite narrow path with a huge drop off to the side. everyone managed fine and there were no issues, just spectacular scenery and views.

 

[JonW]

Thanks guys awesome weekend
When we doing it again?

 

[wooly bugger]

**** man - dan gaan ek eerder sommer daar by die bar sit en hengel

seker met jou local hengel-engel @petri oosthuizen

 

[wooly bugger]

Nice photos @JonW

 

[roxenz]

**** man - dan gaan ek eerder sommer daar by die bar sit en hengel

@petri oosthuizen Ek het by laasjaar se bash 'n paar geelvissies daar reg voor die bar gevang, so jou plan sal.werk!