The Three Cranes Challenge
The Three Cranes Challenge was started 13 years ago by the farmers in the valley to raise funds for our ongoing conservation and educational projects. The Three Cranes Trail run is an opportunity to expose people to parts of the Karkloof that they wouldn’t normally have access to. Our motto is to Conserve, protect and educate, so by exposing them to the Karkloof and the unique biodiversity that we have, we are educating them on what to protect and how to conserve them. We are home to the second largest indigenous forest in South Africa which houses unique flora, fauna and mistbelts forests.We are home to all three cranes species, only a handful of places in South Africa can boast this privilege, and we work very closely with EWT to monitor and protect these beautiful birds.
Our base camp for the Three Cranes Trail run is at the beautiful Bushwillow Park in the Karkloof which is nestled in the indigenous forest.
Registration is from Thursday afternoon at 3pm onwards with a welcome and debrief in the evening before dinner.
Friday –  Day 1 runners start at 6 am and run approximately 29km through grassland and forests, past the Conservation centre, through an organic dairy farm ( Andrew Morphew was the Organic farmer of the 2022 and supplies milk to Woolworths) down to Karkloof Canopy tours where there is a time out zone, this is a highlight of the run as you can go on two slides through the tree canopy as part of the race unless you have a fear of heights, and then back to Bushwillow.  Dinner will be at 6pm, during which we will have a slideshow of photos which were taken during the day, of runners on the course, and then a short talk by Andrew Morphew on his Organic farming.
Saturday – Day 2 starts at 6 am again, approximately 39km and this time it’s a run up to Mbona Private reserve, through the most amazing forests, past ancient Yellowwood trees and waterfalls, through grasslands and then on to the beautiful Benvie gardens, where there is the infamous tea garden time out zone. Some runners hardly stop and others spend almost an hour there under the trees relaxing and enjoying the delicious treats provided by the Mbona ladies for the race. Then it’s back to Bushwillow again. Dinner will be at 6pm, and again a slideshow of the day’s photos, with a talk by Dr Ruth Coziens, an ecologist from UKZN, giving a talk on fly pollinators.
Sunday – Day 3 is an early start at 4 am, approximately 22km and this time it’s a run in the dark, so bring a headlamp, up the mountain to a breakfast table serving delicious bacon and egg rolls. Up to a new waterfall that is beautiful and then back through the forests down to Bushwillow where a delicious champagne breakfast will be waiting. Prize giving will be at about 10 am.