BIKE HUB FEATURES SUMMERPLACE

While many Gauteng and Limpopo mountain bikers know about Summerplace Game Reserve, we’re still growing our awareness nationally as a premier mountain biking destination. Coverage in the various South African media helps us grow this awareness. Recently, we hosted Bike Hub, South Africa’s largest cycling media. Here’s how that went…

Bike Hub is a digital media that includes a very popular classified buy-and-sell section, a well-known discussion forum and an articles section that carries current South African cycling industry content. One of Bike Hub’s strong regular features is Trail Daze, a mountain biking destination or trail feature that’s visually weighted to offer superb imagery of mountain bikers riding and enjoying a featured destination.

Started by world-class photographer, Ewald Sadie in 2015, Trail Daze ran for three years until 2017. At the time, mountain biking in South Africa was heavily racing focused and Trail Daze showed the more recreational trail-riding culture, which has become more prevalent these days.

“We used to have a new edition of Trail Daze every two months and then it almost became monthly for a while. But I am a freelancer and my workload changed and I took a break from Trail Daze,” explained Sadie.

The Covid-19 related lockdown by the South African government essentially banned racing but boosted riding and saw the growth of many more trails parks in South Africa. That, along with a partnership from Mercedes Benz and Maxxis Tyres, helped Sadie and Bike Hub revive Trail Daze in 2023.

“We’re calling it Trail Daze 2.0. It’s a great way to shine a light on different places to ride in South Africa as well as pay some homage to the trailbuilders who put in so much time and effort to create trails networks that bring so much joy and satisfaction to mountain bikers,” said Sadie during his visit to Summerplace.

“It was a first for me to ride my bike in a game reserve, and it didn’t disappoint. Riding among wildlife and being on the lookout for animals is a totally different experience of mountain biking. And it’s not just sandy jeep tracks either as most people would assume – Dave and his team have done a stellar job building some proper trails. Then there’s the five-star hospitality and accommodation to round off the entire experience,” said Sadie.

Sadie keeps the Trail Daze human complement lean, usually just himself and two riders. But this trip to Summerplace Game Reserve was slightly different and Kylie Hanekom, Content Manager at Bike Hub, joined him.

“Summerplace Game Reserve is a hidden gem. It offers a complete mountain bike experience, from a range of accommodation options, to bike rentals, and endless kilometres of fun, flowing trails.

“It is some of the best and most diverse riding I have experienced in a long time. It is such a privilege to be able ride amongst free-roaming game and experience the diverse vegetation of the Limpopo province on both raw and beautifully manicured Bushveld trails. Coming from the Western Cape it was an unforgettable experience.

“The Baber family make the Bike Village feel like a home away from home, and Dave is an absolute magician of a trail-builder. He works with the land and existing natural features to build trails that are both safe and technical, so that the fun factor dials up exponentially the faster you go. I haven’t had a smile like that on my face on a mountain bike in a long time, and I will be back to ride everything I missed out on this time around,” said Hanekom.

The two riders selected to feature in this edition of Trail Daze were both from Gauteng. Sam Bull, former Downhill racer and Managing Director of Rush Sports, the South African distributor of brands that include Santa Cruz bikes and Maxxis tyres; and Cade Badenhorst, a 17-year-old junior Enduro racer who is a Specialized ambassador.

With daytime temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s, the Trail Daze shoots were limited to early morning and late afternoon. Sadie’s objective was to showcase the variety of trails as well as feature the Bushveld landscape, which is mostly hilly and covered in small- to medium-sized trees with patches of savannah grassland. One of the main attractions at Summerplace Game Reserve is wildlife encounters and he was able to capture that too.

To check out the Trail Daze Summerplace Game Reserve feature on Bike Hub, click here.

SUMMERPLACE CAMERA TRAPS OFFER SURPRISING REVELATIONS

A few months back we published an article about the installation of camera traps at Summerplace Game Reserve. The first data check has been done and a total of 34 species have been photographed, most were expected but there are a few surprises. Here are the details and the images.

The FBIP Waterberg Biodiversity Project, headed by Professor Nigel Barker from the University of Pretoria and managed by Marelize Greyling of the Waterberg Research Support Centre are responsible for the camera traps installation at Summerplace. It’s part of the mammal survey being undertaken by the Waterberg Biodiversity Project, which is headed up by Professor Mark Keith.

Top: Brown Hyena, Bottom: Black-backed Jackal

All of these humans have an interest in studying and preserving the Waterberg Biosphere of which Summerplace Game Reserve is a part of. The camera traps are robust cameras placed in selected locations to remotely capture images of animals. They operate continually and silently using a motion sensor and infra-red light beam.

Leopard

“After the first service following about three months of capture we were able to identify 34 species. We were quite surprised by the diversity of species captured at Summerplace, especially the diversity of small predator species. These interesting species include Honey Badger, Rusty Spotted Genet, Serval, Caracal and Water Mongoose,” said Greyling.

“Other interesting, noteworthy species include Aardvark, Jameson’s Red Rock Rabbit, Leopard and Brown Hyena,” added Greyling.

Top left: Civet; Top right: Badger, Bottom left: Aardvark; Bottom right: Rusty Spotted Genet

“I’m not really surprised to find all of those species at Summerplace. But it is certainly nice to get visual, recent confirmation that they are here, especially both species of Genet and the Water Mongoose/Marsh Mongoose. I expect we’ll find a couple more species when the next camera trap images are checked in the future,” said John Mackie, Summerplace Game Reserve Conservation Director.

“What for me is really exciting, is the presence of the White-tailed Mongoose. That was a big surprise for me. The White-tailed Mongoose is generally a Lowveld animal. They do occur on the Waterberg, but I would say that Summerplace is right on the western edge of their distribution range. They’re normally in much lower, hotter areas.

Top left: Bush Pig; Top right: Jameson’s Red Rock Rabbit; Bottom left: White-tailed Mongoose; Bottom right: Serval

All told, though, the camera traps give us important information in images that confirm the signs of a very healthy environment and that’s really what’s most important to us,” added Mackie.

“The cameras will stay on site at Summerplace for a while longer. They are normally on site for 6-8 months and are serviced periodically. Data will now be analysed using a program called Traptagger to verify the findings from the first batch of images. After the six-month deployment, all data will be analysed taking into account management, weather and habitat types,” added Greyling.

Top left: Kudu; Top right: Eland; Bottom left: Bushbuck; Bottom right Tsessebe

VIDEO: Watch the video here.

GIRAFFE EXPECTED TO THRIVE AT SUMMERPLACE

Since Summerplace was transformed from a farm to a game reserve, we have introduced several new wildlife species. Visually, the most prominent of these species is Giraffe. Although the Waterberg in general isn’t naturally ideal for Giraffe, these graceful creatures have really settled in well at Summerplace. Here’s why.

According to Waterberg Biosphere expert, Warwick Tarboton, Giraffe have been present in the region for thousands of years.

“We see on the rock art in caves* in the region depictions of Giraffe going back a very long time. Giraffes are definitely indigenous to the Waterberg region,” said Tarboton after a recent visit to Summerplace.

This rock art, located at Kaingo Game Reserve, about 45km from Summerplace, is dated as Later Stone Age – around 4000 years ago.

John Mackie, Summerplace Conservation Director, has been responsible for the introduction of Giraffe to Summerplace over the past two years. He agrees that Giraffe are indigenous to the area, but not the entire region, which is largely Bushveld.

A rock painting of a giraffe with an extremely long neck found at one of 70 historic rock art sites in the Waterberg. | Photo: Dr Ghilraen Laue

“Giraffe would have been indigenous, but not very common and likely migratory over time,” said Mackie.

“There are very few parts of the Waterberg that are able to sustain Giraffe with food all year round. Summerplace is obviously one of those. Giraffe are more of a Lowveld species, like Impala. They prefer acacia, which is attached to sweetveld. There is a lot of sweetveld at Summerplace, but very little in the rest of the Waterberg. There’s plenty of acacia and other suitable trees at Summerplace, which is more than adequate to sustain a Giraffe population on the reserve,” said Mackie.

Over the past two years, Mackie has sourced groups of Giraffe from nine different areas so as to ensure a diverse gene pool.

“We have introduced a total of 34 Giraffes at Summerplace now. A couple of young have already been born on the reserve. They seem to be settling in very well. They must be left alone now for the next five years – there’s plenty of food for them, so they’ll hopefully thrive,” added Mackie.

The Giraffe at Summerplace is the South African Giraffe, one of two subspecies of the Southern Giraffe, commonly found in northern South Africa, southern and northern Botswana, and southwestern Mozambique. They number around 31000.

Whether hiking, running, mountain biking or on a game drive, a Giraffe encounter at Summerplace is always a possibility.

Fully grown Giraffe stand between 4.3-5.7 metres tall, with males taller than females. The average male weighs around 1100kg, while the average female weighs around 800kg. Each Giraffe has a unique coat pattern with calves inheriting some coat pattern traits from their mothers.

Males and females have prominent horns on their heads. These are called ossicones, which are skin-covered bone-like structures. The ossicones of young and females are thin and display tufts of hair on top, while the ossicones of adult males are bald and knobbed on top.

Giraffe have only two gaits – walking and galloping. They can gallop at speeds of up to 60kph, but can sustain a speed of 50kph for several kilometres. Adult Giraffe eat around 34kg of plant matter a day. Giraffe gestation is between 400-460 days and usually one calf is born, although twins have been noted. A Giraffe lifespan on average is 38 years.

To experience the Giraffe at Summerplace Game Reserve, book a stay at one of our accommodation options here.

* To read more about the rock art in the Waterberg, click here. 

BACHENGU’S ARRIVAL

Summerplace Game Reserve recently welcomed Bachengu, a Roan Antelope breeding bull who will ensure the continued success of the re-introduction of Roan Antelope into the Waterberg. The name Bachengu comes from Ba (Northern Sotho for ‘they’) and Chengu (Shona for Roan Antelope). He is nine-and-a-half years old and he comes from a free-range system at Nondo, a partner game reserve to Summerplace.

“We unfortunately lost a Roan Antelope breeding bull last year to a maggot infestation in his ear. We wanted to bring in some new genes and the timing was right to bring Bachengu from Nondo where he has successfully fathered three years’ worth of calves,” said John Mackie, Head of Conservation at Summerplace Game Reserve.

“Another bull was ready to take over the herd at Nondo and we also ran the risk of Bachengu breeding with his own daughters. Bachengu is a very large, strong bull with horns measuring 31 inches each. He should  be able to breed for another two to three years at Summerplace,” added Mackie.

The goal is to diversify the gene pool further to ensure the continued success of the Roan Antelope project at Summerplace, which you can read about here. https://summerplacegamereserve.com/complex-project-adds-mountain-reedbuck-to-summerplace-game-reserve-2-2-2-6/

Watch the video of Bachengu’s arrival and release here.

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