The Experience
Burn Camps
All-inclusive, full-service camps that showcase true Karoo hospitality. Everything you need is close by, and every camp is designed for human connection and full immersion.
Inside a Burn Camp
A tent village in the Karoo, built for race week
Lapas, each a ring of about 35 large rider tents around a fire, with stretch-tent lounges, Boma dining areas, a recovery zone, barista coffee and an open bar, and a field hospital, all in the remote Great Karoo, far from the nearest town.
Four camps, two nights in most
- Blaauwater2 nights
- Merino2 nights
- Gwanishi1 night
- Shamwari2 nights
Your Lapa
35 riders, one fire
Each Burn Camp is made up of small camp circles called Lapas, after the traditional Southern African shelter. About 35 riders' tents surround each fire, and a dedicated Camp Master looks after the Lapa, moves your gear and tends the fire. This is where the day's stories are told.
Your Lapa is yours for the week. You're assigned to the same Lapa in every Burn Camp, so you'll come home each evening to the same fire and the same neighbours. Before the race, you can choose the friends you share your Lapa with.
Where you sleep
Frontier comfort, every night
A 2.5 × 2.5 m canvas tent to yourself, with a camp bed, mattress, bedside table, light and camping chair, and a charged lantern and power bank every evening. Your bag is waiting on the porch when you arrive.
Prefer more independence? Rent a motorhome or bring your own: see Optional Extras.
Food and drink
Three meals a day, three bomas
Breakfast and dinner in the Lapa Lounges, lunch at the Finish Boma after the stage. Meals are locally inspired and sourced where possible, with options for dietary needs.
Complimentary Vida e Caffè barista coffee, and beer and wine at the Finish Boma and in the Lapas.
Recover
Revive to thrive
For the body: a daily Hyperice Normatec recovery session, and massage packages as an Optional Extra (booked in advance). For the bike: a daily wash is included, with a Tech Zone on site for maintenance and repairs, and a secure Bike Park.
Each Burn Camp has a full Mediclinic field hospital. On the route, 4×4 ambulances bring any injured rider to it, and on to a regular hospital by road or air if needed.
Evenings
When the sun sets, Night Burn ignites
The Finish Boma is the social heart of camp, with entertainment in the evenings. On the penultimate night it's Night Burn: an after-dark chase fired up by Red Bull, with DJs, bonfires and the whole camp watching. In 2026 it's under the stars at Shamwari, after Stage 6. See Night Burn.
Full Service Burn Camp
Swipe sideways to see the whole camp.
It’s unbelievable what Nedbank Gravel Burn built here. It was a week full of emotions – a lifetime experience, lived intensely minute by minute. Raw, intense, wild, extraordinary. Even after the race finished, it's hard to put into more words…
Questions
How does luggage transport work?
One bag per rider moves between Burn Camps each day. Leave it on your tent porch each morning and it will be waiting at your tent in the next camp. Bike boxes and bags go straight from registration to Shamwari and can only be collected at the finish.
Can supporters join me along the route?
No. Nedbank Gravel Burn is a full-service race. The Burn Camps are on remote private farmland and aren’t open to visitors, and only official vehicles may follow the race. There are no spectator points on the route.
Family and friends are welcome at the finish at Shamwari on the final Saturday, and entry is free. To stay for lunch or the Burn Celebration dinner, they book a Spectator Hospitality ticket in advance: see spectators at Shamwari.