The world renowned wildebeest migration in the Serenegtei-Mara ecosystem is a spectacle like no other that rightly takes pride of place on many an avid African safari goers’ bucket list.
Colossal columns of ungainly wildebeest invaded Singita Grumeti in mid-May on their annual pilgrimage north to the Mara. Within a matter of days our verdant 350,000 acre concession was overrun by hundreds of thousands of hungry wildebeest. After a good rainy season, the huge herds thrived on the nutritious green grass blanketing the wide-open plains. The cacophony generated by these massive aggregations is almost more spectacular than the sight of this surging mass of hungry herbivores. Almost. But not quite.
By all accounts May 2016 saw one of the densest concentrations of wildebeest to grace Grumeti in the past decade. And to sit atop a rocky koppie and watch this epic spectacle unfolding – as far the eye can see – in every direction around you must be one of the greatest safari experiences in all of Africa.
June marked a rather less glamorous milestone for me personally, as I entered my fifth decade on this planet. It’s not everyone’s birthday wish to spend five days running 200km across the stark and often inhospitable desert terrain of the Richtersveld, but I nonetheless chose this challenge as a memorable way to celebrate the milestone of my fortieth year… But in hindsight perhaps it was more of an attempt to prove to myself that I wasn’t getting old just yet!
The arid Richtersveld is unquestionably one of the most elemental landscapes on the planet. Few landscapes on earth can rival the Richtersveld for arid beauty, big skies, sizzling sunshine and absolute desolation. Hauntingly beautiful and scorched by an unrelenting sun, the screaming silence of the Springbok Vlakte and gargantuan boulders of the Tatasberg Mountains are the holy grail of trail running for true wildrunners.
Richtersveld Wildrunners are best described as a diverse and determined cohort of modern day adventurers and I was fortunate enough to spend five days getting to know this intrepid group of desert duellers. Accompanied our Richtersveld Tours support staff, fifty determined trail runners took on the new transfrontier route: a two country desert extravaganza that was designed to expose competitors to the very best the Richtersveld has to offer – on both sides of the border – with deep canyons, rocky ravines, boulder-strewn mountains and stony desert plains.
So, if exploring off-the-beaten-track desert wilderness and shooting the breeze with fellow adventurous souls around a campfire under star-studded night skies sounds appealing to you, then I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending you don your running shoes for the Richtersveld run of a lifetime in June 2017.
For further info on the Richterveld as well as this incredible annual event, check out the magazine story links below:
https://www.stevecunliffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Wild-Richtersveld-TFCA-Final.pdf
https://www.stevecunliffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/SA-4×4-Richtersveld-Wildrun.pdf
https://www.stevecunliffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Sawubona-Richtersveld-TF-Wildrun.pdf