Program

Typical 14 day program:

Day 1

Arrive in Johannesburg Airport and transfer to Port Elizabeth to be met by your enthusiastic ExplorAider guide. Your first day will be spent exploring the Addo Elephant National Park. That evening will be true African Safari style in a wooden lodge overlooking the Sunday's River on the borders of the Addo Elephant National Park.

Day 2

An early morning professionally guided game drive allows you to explore "Addo", the only host of the big seven in the country. Then we head into the wilderness and to Leopard Mountain! We shall hike up Pederberg hill to take stock of the wilderness you are to explore! Tonight you shall sleep in your own Native American style Tipis on thick mattresses beside a smouldering fire (inside the Tipi).

Day 3 Kouga River

Put in at Riverside after breakfast. Make your way through the deep gorge and the sheer vertical cliffs colored red and yellow with lichens. Baboons bark their welcome as eagles soar overhead. Spend the night on the banks of the river on white sandy beaches as your guide prepares dinner on a roaring camp fire.

Day 4

A morning dip in the crystal clear water, hot drinks and porridge and its back in your Kayak to continue to paddle along this 37km stretch of untouched wilderness. Through the gorge and into the vast unknown while you make your way through an area known as the Guerna Wilderness while keeping a look out for game along the banks of the river. Spend another night on the river, wilderness camping style, with a fire for warmth and top equipment for comfort.

Day 5

The concentration of game increases the deeper we go into the Baviaanskloof, Eland, Kudu, baboons even Cape Mountain Leopard. We shall be met by Herki on the banks of the river at the extraction point where lunch awaits. Then after loading the equipment a drive to BergPlaas Wilderness Hut along a twisting dirt track (not for the faint hearted!). Sit back with a cocktail sundowner overlooking the whole wilderness area you have just travelled through. Hot showers, comfortable beds and a Barbeque feast await.

Day 6

Watch the mountain landscape awake in fiery reds. We take a hike to Pete's pools a beautiful series of clear pools linked by waterfalls for a morning dip and some canyoning (leaping into pools and sliding down natural slides). We then head to the Indian Ocean where we take a sea Kayaking adventure in search of whales and dolphins!Alternatively you can take a surf lesson on the world renowned surf contest beach "Jefferies Bay ". That night we shall sleep in ExplorAider dome tents by the shore and take part in a traditional South African "Braii " (barbeque)!

Day 7

Tsitsikamma hosts the adventure Mecca of South Africa. Activities on offer include, Gorge gliding, jumping the highest bungee jump in the world, a forest hike to the 'big tree' South Africa's largest yellow wood tree and many other adrenaline excitements. We shall spend the night in the ancient Bushman caves 'Klaises River caves' overlooking the Indian Ocean. Archaeologists believe these caves were inhabited 115,000 years ago and very few people have access to them, but with ExplorAider we can allow you this window to a past age.

Day 8

Your guide has an in depth knowledge and years of experience of African rivers and the famous Storms River in particular. Today you'll experience one of the most renowned wilderness rivers in the world. After spending the whole day in the river retire to luxury tree top level huts for the evening.

Day 9

A morning swim, breakfast by the beach and its off to the land of the Zulus! We transfer to Durban via plane to be met by our Kwazulu Natal expert and our mobile adventure unit. We head to Howick for lunch before heading into the Drakensberg! Take our Mountain bikes off the roof and cycle the Notingham road. Arrive at Symes Cottage, our exclusive ExplorAider accommodation nestled in the remote Lotheni Wilderness area. Take a short wildlife walk to get your bearings in this awesome landscape.You shall dine on a long table under the stars cooked for by your own professional chef.

Day 10

Full breakfast with all the trimmings and then a morning hike to the nearby waterfalls. We then get ready for a tubing extravaganza. This sport was developed by ExplorAider's Cobus and Harry and involves throwing yourself down rivers in tough inflatable tubes! Head back to the cottage fishing for bass in the small lake next to the cottage and an evening taking in the sounds of the bush.

Day 11

An early rise and transfer to Umzimkulu river. This is a gentle flowing river that takes us through stunning landscape and past a myriad of bird life. We shall spend the night by the river bank in our ExplorAider style camp site.

Day 12

The day is spent paddling this beautiful stretch of water and then we transfer to Garden Castle's scenic camp site. A gentle hike and wilderness connection as we watch the sun set from a height before collapsing into our comfortable dome tents.

Day 13

We take a morning hike to Peppermint pools, a beautiful natural feature of smooth rocks and crystal clear water. We then saddle up for a horse riding expedition, to take us high up to the Lesotho border. We shall take a picnic lunch with us and return to the campsite for our last evening by the camp fire.

Day 14

A morning ramble to a high top view point to try out some rock climbing and bouldering techniques. We then head off on a mountain biking expedition over a high mountain pass. We shall be met by the vehicle and transferred to Durban airport to head home!

The above program is only illustrative and your exact program will be tailored to your specific requirements.

Activities Available

Accommodation

You begin this adventure in rustic cabins then progress to experiencing the wilderness by sleeping out under the Southern stars on nothing but your thermorest. We also use the ExplorAider bush camp, which consists of dome tents set around a communal fire area with all the luxuries needed to be comfortable yet secluded and out of the mainstream tourist camp areas. But fear not your wilderness hardships will be broken up by nights in comfortable and well equipped accommodation with soft beds and hot showers.

Pricing Policy

We price the experiences based on what they cost us to provide plus a fixed mark up. We do not try to profit from putting more people onto your experiences, these are exclusive trips where you manage who you go with.

One Price for the Group

Our prices are the price for the whole Group, based on the different possible group sizes up to the maximum group size, which is set by reference to an acceptable guide to client ratio and to ensure exclusivity and safety.

As the cost of the guiding does not vary with the group size the larger the group the cheaper per person. This means that you get the benefit of bringing more people and not us. For your reference only we will show a cost per person, but we do not accept individual bookings

Price Includes

• All accommodation during the 14 days
• All ExplorAider catering
• An ExplorAider activities guide / driver for all 14 days
• All activity equipment required
• All transport except flights

Pricing Excludes

• International and internal flights
• Restaurant meals and drinks (approx three)
• Personal expenditure