Keira - New to Epic Enabled

Me!

Hello! I am going to be the face behind the online presence for Epic Enabled. I just finished my first week working for Alfie and Sabine, and absolutely loved it! I’ve made good friends already with Cosmo, the scruffy dog who lives here.

My name is Keira Cresswell and I hail from Durban, but grew up in Cape Town. My passions lie in reading, writing, cooking and yoga. I love animals, nature, traveling and attempting to play the guitar. I have various qualifications behind me but I am still continuing my studies.

  

My friend, Cosmo.

You will be seeing more action happening across all our pages. I will be writing blogs on a wide selection of topics which I hope that you will enjoy reading. The Facebook posts will range from humour to facts and more. 

I would love to connect with the current and new Epic Enabled fans, so please share and pass on the message.  

To end off, here’s a joke for your pleasure.

Q: What is as big as an elephant but weighs nothing?

A: Its shadow!

Get your hands on a cycle

A handcycle offers one of a kind ride for those enabled adrenaline junkies! It is powered rather by the use of arms than a pair of legs and the brakes are found on the handholds.

It was developed in the 1980’s to create different means of human-powered transport, ever since it has been rising in popularity. Perfect for those with a form of a physical disability. It was first included in the 2004 Paralympics.

There are lots of handcycling clubs to join worldwide for people to be a part of. Regular races to be done and championships to be won.

Balcony offering prime view of the riders.

It isn’t just used for those who want to do races, but can also be done as a hobby for everyone, those with disabilities or not. It is great exercise, and will leave you with some rather toned arms as well as being known to improve circulation among other things.

The Cape Town cycling tour (previously known as the Cape Argus), is the worlds’ largest timed cycle race. It covers 109km of the stunning Cape, and attracts 35 000 cyclists each year, of which some are handcyclists. The race is on for Sunday 8^th March 2015. Why not come stay at our beautiful guest house? We offer not only affordable, accessible accommodation, but also a prime view of where the racers can be seen. Relax on the balcony, sip on some wine from Cape Towns’ prestige wineries and watch the racers go by.

Join the likes of Alex Zanardi, former Formula One driver, turned paracyclist, who loves this exhilarating sport. So go on and give it a try. Enjoy the wind in your hair, as you whizz past the world. There will be a few pieces on various fun packed sports to be done, so keep an eye out. Just because one’s body has been changed in some way, does not mean one has to miss out on experiencing new adventures. Happy handcycling.

Alex Zanardi, the world renowned paracyclist.

Tim's journal

In November of 2014, I (Tim Siebrand – intern from Sweden) was lucky enough to go on a wild African Safari tour with Alfie Smith, the owner of Epic Enabled.

We went to the famous Kruger National Park, followed by a stay at Tshukudu Private Game Reserve.

We left the hotel in Johannesburg at 8am to make the interesting drive to the Kruger National Park. The journey offered some amazing views, and some great conversations with the guests I was on this adventure with.

 

When we arrived at the majestic gates of the park, we added a short game drive, looking out for some wild animals. What we spotted was an elephant, herds of buffalos and giraffes, as well as many different flocks of birds. We unpacked at our camp Skukuza before we all sat down to a delicious meal.

We awoke early to enjoy our very first morning game drive. Every time we went out, we were taken on different routes and to different places within the park, by Alfie who made for a splendid tour guide.

Next morning we moved onto a camp further up north called Satara. Here we saw lots of different animals we hadn’t seen at the previous camp.

After spending 2 nights at the Satara camp, we left for our next and final destination, The Tshukudu Private Game Reserve. It is a smaller and more intimate game reserve than that of the Kruger National Park, about 50 km outside.

During our 3 night stay, we got up close and personal with some wild animals. We stroked a cheetah, fed Jessica the hippo, and played with a honey badger which is normally quite a fierce animal.  We saw lions, rhinos, giraffes and elephants. We did both morning and evening games drives with the owner David, while we stayed at Tshukudu.

To summarize this whole experience: Unbelievable! It was an African bush safari dream come true. Epic Enabled, empowers those wheelchair travellers, to experience this amazing adventure with ease.

An elephant, lion and rhino. 3 of the famous Big 5 in Africa.