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Botswana: Bike Race Planned
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The Voice (Francistown)
15 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008
Guy Brina
Francistown
The brand new Tachila Nature Reserve, at the southern end of Francistown, will soon be opened to the public on a limited basis.
There have been several positive developments at the reserve this year, including donations of animals and cash but, according to Tachila Manager, Dr Graham McCulloch, the crucial step forward that allows the board to open the reserve is the 50-year lease agreement that was signed two weeks ago between landowner Tati Company and the Tachila Trust.
"We always had faith it was going to happen but this is still great news and it allows us to really push the fundraising and let the public see what this place is all about."
The manager says he plans to invite visitors to come into Tachila on Saturday mornings for organised walks and possibly driving tours. Two major fundraising events will also take place next month.
The inaugural 'Tachila Mountain Bike Classic' will be held in the reserve on Sunday May 25th. It will feature races of 30 kilometres, 15 kilometres, 5 kilometres and 500 metres. Entry fees will be P100, P75 and P50 respectively for the first three and there will be no charge for the half-kilometer kiddies' race.
Interested participants will be able to sign up beginning on May 1st at John Mackenzie School, Clifton School or the Tachila office located at Suite 5, upstairs at the Nswazwi Mall and, according to McCulloch, interested riders should come in as soon as possible.
"Everyone who signs up will be given a sponsorship card so they can help us raise money for the project and the first 100 to register will get free t-shirts."
John Mackenzie teacher, Kelby Murray, has been the driving force behind the bike race and he says he would like to see it become an annual event.
"We've made the course as user friendly as possible. It's all on jeep tracks or winding well-defined single tracks and we are going to cut back the thorn trees wherever necessary. It's going to be a very scenic ride."
McCulloch says the other big event will be a fundraising walk that will probably take place one or two weeks after the bike race.
"Nomsa Mbere from Y-Care is helping us to organise the event and we are going to charge P3500 for people who wish to do the full 35-kilometre walk and P1500 for those who only want to walk 10 kilometres, so obviously we are looking for corporate sponsorship.
"We will have a campground set up in a scenic location where walkers can stay the night before the walk and the breakfast, tea and lunch sites will be areas of archaeological or historical interest."
Earlier this year, BP Botswana donated P350, 000 to Tachila for the construction of an entrance gate at the northern end of the reserve, about five kilometres from the Marang Hotel. That money will also cover the purchase of a minibus and the development of two camping areas inside the park.
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Debswana, meanwhile, has promised to capture and relocate 100 animals - including gemsbok, wildebeest, zebra, red hartebeest and kudu - from their game park in Orapa.
Eventually, Tachila will be home to many more types of animals including high-profile species, such as rhino, leopard and giraffe, and possibly roan and sable, so McCulloch says the priority for the fundraisers right now is to attract money and materials for the 40 kilometre fence that will have to be built to contain those animals and protect them from poachers.
Other major costs will include building an education centre with an environmental education programme for school children in the Francistown area, and developing facilities such as a restaurant, campsite and lodge.
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