June 2017| 77
up, laugh a bit at our ridiculousness and get into the
swing.
The rest of the morning flew by as we talked about
a range of things: from the opposition the mambas
faced when the ro ect first started, to the ride their
communities now have for their work. They also ran
us through some of the hairier moments they’ve had
on night patrol; involving walking into a pride of lions
sleeping!
The Mambas themselves are extremely proud of what
they do and, having battled with the criticism of a male
dominated industry, they have proved everyone wrong
and established themselves as an incredibly unique and
effective anti- oaching unit. any of the ambas are
supporting families of up to 15 on their small income and
they are very aware that their salary, like many others in
the area, relies on the wildlife.
During the evening patrol, one of the girls was having a
slight clutch nightmare which ended up in Charlie driving
his first ever anti- oaching atrol through a big five
game reserve at 11:00pm during the full moon period.
The full moon is the most feared time for the Mambas
as the poachers are able to enter and exit the park
using its light. This makes the process of spotting their
torches much more di cult. alule lost six rhinos in the
previous full moon period but fortunately during our stay,
the Mambas detected three incursions and managed to
prevent every single one of them. I’m sure Charlie’s mad
driving also contributed.
The mambas are incredible role models for the young
boys and girls in the community and we all felt very
lucky to have had the opportunity to speak to them and
highlight some of the work they’re doing.
On the next day, we got an idea of the physical and
mental challenges that the Mambas face. After another
5:00am start, we joined the Mambas on their daily 20km
inspection of the fences. During the Mambas training,
one of the key aspects is how to track animals and
without knowing it, we spent the next two hours tracking
a pride of lions on foot with unarmed Mambas as our
only protection – bloody terrifying!
Over the past few days I have grown very fond of Balule
and it’s incredibly sad to say goodbye. The whole team
have made us feel very welcome and I have learnt a huge
amount from them.
Things we’ve learnt
• Cars are fast, bikes are slow.
• Kilometres are more satisfying than miles.
• Mosquito nets don’t prevent lions.
• Showering is not a priority.
• Cars don’t protect you from elephants.
• Cycling through Game Reserves is not advised.
To follow the Cycling for Rangers progress,
visit the website at cyclingforrangers.com.