Swazi Lubombo MTB Tours

Swazi Lubombo MTB Tours offers a classic four-day (5 night) bushveld MTB tour in the Komati and Mbuluzi river valleys against the backdrop of the Lubombo Mountains.
Total fee is R7950.00 per person sharing, which includes a welcoming dinner on evening of arrival, five nights’ accommodation, all meals including a final farewell dinner at Mabuda, snacks and water en route and evening entertainment. Drinks are for your account. Individual rooms can be provided at a small extra cost.

Number of cyclists: Minimum 6. Maximum 12


After exploring parts of the classic bushveld of the vast 21 thousand hectare IYSIS cattle and game ranch in the Swaziland Lowveld, the Lubombo trail runs southwards adjacent to the spectacular Lubombo mountain range. It passes through the Mhlume Water irrigation scheme, the life- blood of the world-class Swaziland sugar industry, and after criss-crossing the Mbuluzi and Mlawula Game Reserves climbs to the top of the Lubombo’s, with its breath-taking views eastwards over Mozambique and westwards over the Swaziland bushveld.

Day 0 (arrival day)
Plan to arrive on Wednesday at Mananga Golf Club situated at the edge of the village of Tshaneni (Coordinates 25.59.44 S 31.44.57 E; 324 m elevation) between 15h00 and 17h00. You’ll be directed to Mananga Country Lodge which overlooks the golf course, and doubles as a haven for the overflow of wildlife from the IYSIS game ranch.
Settle in, and go for an exploratory ride around the golf course and village. Vehicles will be securely parked here for the duration of the ride. Settle in to the Lodge, and use an hour of the afternoon to explore the village and golf course to get your bike ready for a full days ride tomorrow.
A welcome dinner will be provided at which you can get to know your fellow cyclists, and during which you’ll be fully briefed on the overall Tour route, and Day 1 in particular.

Day 1 - Thursday
Takes you through a section of the game ranch, passing through some of the densest stands of Terminalia species in Swaziland, to the historical ruins of the first commercial farm settlement in the area established in 1947. Front riders can expect to see impala, kudu, warthog, jackal and a number of other wildlife species. After a brief exploratory stop, the route takes you up the Mbuluzi river valley until it reaches the large Mnjoli Dam, where a picnic breakfast awaits you under the fig trees. From here it’s homeward bound, passing through the Nkambeni community area with a few climbs, and then an easy downhill ride back to Tshaneni, including a stop to see IYSIS Ranches beautiful Nguni cattle herd. Total distance for the day is 60 km’s. A snack lunch and a swimming pool await back at Mananga Lodge, and the evening will bring on a specially laid on braai dinner with a fantastic view.

Day 2 - Friday
Luggage is packed into the backup vehicle and after coffee and rusks departure is set for 08h00. Day 2 is all about discovering about the rich history of farming the lowveld as well as discovering the industry as it is today.
The route heads northwards, over more ranch land over the wall of the Sand River Dam. Following 45km of the irrigation canal through the ranch, with signs of wildlife everywhere, the path follows the Mhlume Water Canal which winds its way eastwards adjacent to the Lubombo Mountains. It’s a flat easy ride so we take it nice and slow keeping an eye out for any birdlife we can pick up along the way. After a relaxed breakfast stop at the Mhlume Club, we continue, passing a few formal staff villages and farm buildings. It’s here that we see a number of spectacular fig trees growing alongside the canal. As we approach the end of the ride, we pass through the Vuvulane Irrigation Scheme settlement, a small holder scheme established many years ago, and pass through a number of informal homesteads set up by the Swazi farmers. 54kms later we finally reach the immaculate Tambankulu Estate and settle in to the luxurious Tambankulu Guest House (Coordinates 26.06.23S 31.55.18E; 252 m elevation). After a snack lunch it’s a swim or simply relaxation time, with afternoon and evening entertainment including a visit to the newly opened Sugar Museum, and witnessing the spectacle of a sugar cane burn.

Day 3 - Saturday
After breakfast, the 54 km route takes us through a short section of the Tambankulu Estate and we soon enter the Mbuluzi Game Reserve. This and the adjacent Mlawula Nature Reserve are well stocked with wild life – expect to see giraffe, nyala, impala and others - but no dangerous game. We now ride long sections of specially constructed single track, renowned as some of the most attractive in the bushveld. This is the home of the ‘3 Reserves MTB Tour’, which brings hundreds of cyclists from far and wide to Swaziland each spring. The sting in the tail of the days cycling is the challenge of the Magadzavane climb, a tough 1.5 km climb on a concreted road section which takes us to the highest point of the tour – Magadzavane Lodge. (Coordinates 26.18.59S 31.59.25E; 561m elevation). The swimming pool and bar with its staggering views over the bushveld, iced drinks, and lunch await.

Day 4 - Sunday
Early coffee and rusks get us going, and we head off eastwards on newly constructed single track towards the rising sun. Skirting the Lubombo plateau, the route passes through the Mhlumeni community settlement, and reaches their community Lodge, where we will enjoy breakfast and the views down over the Mbuluzi River Valley and into Mozambique. After breakfast we circle back from the Lodge through the settlement, and head westwards towards the small Swazi hamlet of Siteki (pronounced Stegi).
A sections of this ride will be on the little used, smooth and wide shouldered tar road between the town and the Goba border post. After a few stops, we arrive at our final overnight destination – Mabuda Farm. (Coordinates 26.27.57S 31.56.39E; 643m elevation) This is a working farm with a charming guest house, and for the energetic, there are a number of cycling routes on the farm for those that want some more cycling!

Departure Day - Monday
After a full Swazi breakfast we will pack up luggage and bikes, and making use of some local Siteki taxis, will make our way back to Mananga Lodge, our vehicles and farewells until we meet again.