African ecotourism organisation, Great Plains is introducing Stay Fit on Safari, a collection of active experiences that include marathon-training with the Masai in Kenya, hiking in the Botswana bush, canoeing Zimbabwe’s famed Zambezi River and more.
From plant-based dining to in-suite exercise equipment ranging from exercise bikes and yoga mats to dumbbells, the operator has revamped its offering for the health-conscious adventurer.
“The Great Plains guest typically enjoys a healthy lifestyle and wants to keep this up while traveling,” said Great Plains CEO and National Geographic explorer-at-large Dereck Joubert.
The new experiences listed below are available now at Great Plains’ most iconic luxury camps in Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Marathon training with the Masai in Kenya: Available on request at the Mara Nyika, Mara Plains and Mara Toto camps in Kenya, Great Plains offers the ultimate running adventure for athletes of all abilities. Accompanied by a member of the Masai tribe, known for their world record-breaking athletic skills, runners will be put through their paces with this new bucket-list-in-the-bush running experience. Whether participants are after a low-impact 5k run or a strenuous marathon training session, they can count on abundant wildlife-spotting and some breathtaking scenery as part of the experience.
Bush breakfast on horseback at ol Donyo Lodge in Kenya: Kenya’s Ol Donyo Lodge is located in the Chyulu Hills in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro and is home to a stable of 20 horses. The lodge is offering guests the opportunity to swap the rumble of engines for the sound of hooves on the grassy plains, an experience that begins each day with breakfast in the bush on horseback.
Zip down Zimbabwe’s Zambezi and Botswana’s Selinda Spillway by canoe: Aquatic adventurers visiting Great Plains’ Tembo Plains camp, Zimbabwe, and Selinda Explorers camp, Botswana, can take to the water and admire the surroundings by canoe. Guests of Tembo Plains, which sits on the banks of the Zambezi River, can hop aboard to spot elephants.
In Botswana, guests of Selinda Explorers can wind their way along the Selinda Spillway, marvelling at the waterlilies, birds flying overhead and elephant herds as they paddle by.
Biking and Hiking in the Bush in Kenya and Botswana: Guests of Ol Donyo Lodge in Kenya can explore the lush surrounds by mountain bike. The lodge’s fleet of two-wheelers are perfectly suited for all ages and terrains, enabling riders to whizz along the savannah alongside giraffes, wildebeests and other creatures. Farther south, in Botswana at Selinda Camp, Selinda Explorers Camp and Okavango Explorers Camp, hikers can get their 10,000 steps in while following in the hoof prints of the animals.
