South Africa - Featured Trips

Stay Another Day and get to know the real Garden Route. Change or extend your itinerary to include interesting and off-the-beaten track experiences, such as the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour, Homestays in the Knysna area and township tours in Port Elizabeth. You will find more activities and excursions below that you can add to your Garden Route itinerary to extend your stay and learn more about its natural environment, people and cultures.

All of the below Stay Another Day suggestions create jobs & social upliftment and are as environmentally friendly as possible. They are also carefully chosen for their sustainability and many are FTTSA accredited. For more information and prices, please contact us.

The Tsitsikamma Forest is a vast protected conservation area supporting a diverse ecosystem of plant and animal life. This activity gives visitors the opportunity to experience a different side of the forest, accompanied by knowledgeable guides who will tell you more about the area and its diverse eco-system.

The extremely eco-friendly Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour takes about 2.5-3 hrs and is a unique eco-wilderness adventure that takes place high in the magnificent Tsitsikamma indigenous rainforest. The first of its kind in Africa, the canopy tour involves traversing from one platform to another along a steel cable suspended up to 30 meters above the forest floor.

Stormsriver Adventures (FTTSA accredited) strives to enrich the surrounding environment and community of Tsitsikamma. They have emerged as one of the largest new job creators in the Eco Adventure industry in South Africa. The organization has self-funded the training of more than 500 adventure guides since 1998, and is involved in a number of upliftment and empowerment programmes in the area. Some of the community projects include: - Providing 4 meals per week to 200 children, which equates to 3200 meals per month. - HIV Aids education for the local community. - The animal welfare and educational programme embracing 200 children and their animals. This has been very successful in teaching these children a basic value system using their pets as the catalyst.

Experience an African way of life by exploring the everyday life of the Qolweni Community settlement. With this approx 2 hr guided tour you are able to explore interesting facts about the Xhosa history and Tribal culture. Meet the local children at the creche and be entertained by their beautiful voices in song. See where the locals buy their everyday essentials while understanding the life of the local rastars as you tour their homes. On request you can be entertained by the Umthombo Theatre Group performing traditional dances and listening to the exceptional choir singing their favorite songs.

You are able to give back by buying made up food parcels at the local Qolweni shop of R50 and R100 packs. Food bought can be donated to a family or the school.

This around 2 hr long marine eco-adventure leaves from Central Beach in Plettenberg Bay with an exciting beach launch and heads east past the bird sanctuary and Keurbooms beach to Arch Rock, where you can encounter Bottlenose and the rare Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins. From Arch Rock you head out into the middle of the Bay where pelagic seabirds are commonly found together with the resident Bryde's whales and Common dolphins. Southern Right and Humpback whales can be seen during their season (July-October). You traverse the Bay to Robberg Peninsula and cruising back via the growing Cape fur seal colony. Ocean Blue is a licensed SABBWWA permit holder allowing their vessel to approach whales up to 50 m.

Ocean Blue Adventures (FTTSA accredited) marine eco-tours are based on non-consumptive and sustainable utilisation of marine resources. They were awarded the WWF Green Trust award in 2001 for their work on eco-tourism and sustainable tourism in Plettenberg Bay. They donate a proportion of their income to the Ocean Research & Conservation Africa Foundation. Their staff own 10% of the business through a staff ownership scheme.

The Knysna area offers some great homestays. With homestays you not only take away an incredible experience, but you actually contribute in the most direct manner towards conservation, poverty alleviation and women empowerment.

With homestays the accommodation is generally provided in a family (private) home located in rural areas (townships) and the owner/manager lives in the house or on the property. Breakfast and dinner is usually served. Bathroom facilities may or may not be en-suite and/or private. In general, the guest shares the public areas with the host family. Homestays can be organised for just one night or can be created into a multiple day route.

The Port Elizabeth Real City Tour starts in the inner city covering early English Settler history, which helps to put the development of townships into context. It takes you on an exciting journey through the history of Port Elizabeth. Qualified local guides are well informed on local history and will answer your questions as you come face to face with the harsh reality of our past and the great successes of the present. Daily morning departures and last about 3.5 hrs.

Calabash Tours (FTTSA accredited) has a strong social agenda founded on developing communities that guests visit. Working closely with the Calabash Trust, they ensure that local and often disadvantaged communities benefit from the visits made by clients through services provided either by community projects or black owned township businesses. Calabash Trust has many programmes in nearby townships benefiting children & youths, including an education trust, food provision, cultural exchange and furniture provision. Calabash staff is drawn from local communities and a number of guides are from the township and previously unemployed.

Where there is a township, there is a Shebeen. These previously outlawed establishments are the vibrant, throbbing heart of the community where locals meet for a drink and often music and dancing too. The township version of a pub is an essential part of social life and that is where this Shebeen tour focuses on. Enjoy a fun evening out and meet the local people, as you tuck into a traditional dinner. Daily departures late afternoon and last 3-4 hrs.

Calabash Tours (FTTSA accredited) is based in Nelson Mandela Bay, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, offering perfect conditions to explore and understand contemporary Black culture with 75% of its 1.4 million residents being Xhosa speaking, proud and hospitable. The townships of PE played a pivotal role during the anti-apartheid struggle years and it was in recognition of this that out of 800 applications, this was the city nominated by Nelson Mandela to carry his name. It also has the honour of being the first to appoint a black mayor.