Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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The land is government owned and has been designated as a residential area for the Xhosa speaking community in the area. Our workshop from where we start the tour is a non-profit organisation, which promotes the use of the bicycle in all of its forms to enhance low-cost, non-motorised transport and health and access to opportunity, employment, skills and education. Commuter transport is a critical problem in the outlying areas and school children often have to walk 10-15km to school each day or job seekers have to spend money on taxi fares to find work. So a bicycle is obviously a much cheaper form of transport. The programme has ambition to train and employ on a more permanent basis tour guides to various townships and Cape heritage and environmental sites managed by the Tourism Director. Successful candidates will eventually own the township tours as a small business.
Once the venture has been set up and running, it would be able to provide benefits to the community. Nevertheless we support the following activities:
- Rehabilitation of the wetland and environmental education for the school children
- Assist local people in small business development for example funding for crèche and development of African restaurant
- School children get bicycles donated and have developed a cycling club. This has given those opportunities, freedom and transport.
The biggest challenge that we face is the lack of funding to promote our tours; that is why is so important to us that people come and visit the township. Visitors provide us with funding and/ or volunteer to assist teachers in a crèche; clean up of the wetland system or become involved in housing projects etc.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
