A BRAVE party of cyclists has embarked on a tough-as-nails 3000km ride from Zambia to Cape Town to raise money for charity.
The epic Route of the African Sun Challenge — just 497km shorter than the Tour de France — will take the cyclists on a 13-day trek from Livingstone via Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, Nata and Francistown in Botswana, into South Africa at Martins Drift and then through Thabazimbi to Sun City, where they expect to arrive on February 27. The next day they leave for Cape Town, with a plan to freewheel into the parking lot at the Table Bay Hotel on March 7 after riding an average of 214km a day. The 31 riders, 12 of whom have signed on for the full distance, have so far raised R5-million for various charities on their route.
This year marks Dr David Livingstone’s 200th birthday and money will be raised for various Livingstone charities in honour of his missionary work in Africa.