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Tourists enjoy themselves in the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation area where the mighty Limpopo and Shashe rivers converge

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
A TOTAL of 75 tourists from across the globe are set to participate in the third edition of the Wildrun Tourism Expedition to be held in the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation Area (GMFTCA) starting today and running up to Sunday.

The GMTFCA, which is located some 100km west of Beitbridge town, is made up of national parks from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The event is being co-ordinated by a tri-national working group made up of authorities from the three countries. Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson, Mr Tinashe Farawo, said yesterday that the participants were drawn from South Africa, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Great Britain, United States of America, United Kingdom and Belgium.

“The event exposes tourists to a wildlife rich running experience through the bush veld of the Greater Mapungubwe Trans-frontier Conservation area where the mighty Limpopo and Shashe Rivers converge,” said Mr Farawo.

“This concept sees the tourists running for fun in the wild and covering an average of 30km per day for three days in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

“The group of runners will be led by experienced ZimParks rangers to ensure that the experience for all runners is safe but still interactive with wildlife. The route will follow elephant paths and game trails, pass through the ancient Mapungubwe fortress in South Africa’s Mapungubwe National Park, Botswana’s Tuli Game Reserve, and the Maramani Community lands and Sentinel Ranch in Zimbabwe.”

According to Zimparks, key highlights along the Wildrun route include crossing the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers, running through magnificent riverside forests, past huge Baobab trees, Khoisan rock paintings, and dinosaur fossils, the rural villages of Maramani, and covering kilometres of ancient elephant trails in Zimbabwe.

Mr Farawo said the event enhances sustainable cross-border conservation efforts by leaving tangible benefits to the rural communities in the area and unlocking future tourism opportunities.

He said the Wildrun concept also boosted the marketing and publicity of Zimbabwe and GMTFCA as a destination of choice in the region.

“The Maramani Community in Beitbridge are essential to the success of this venture and in turn they are the largest beneficiaries as the Maramani Camp is used as the base camp for four nights and five days.

“The initiative also creates employment opportunities for members of the community at the camp, growing vegetables for the event, camping fees and traversing fees,” said Mr Farawo.