Adventure Like a Girl

01/09/2022

Spring has sprung!🌸It's a new month! New season! New day! New adventures! Happy

09/08/2022

On this National Woman's Day, it feels right & fitting to be firing up the focus on Adventure Like a Girl again! We've been privileged to have had some amazing international work projects and opportunities these past few months, that have meant we just haven't had the capacity to keep the fires burning on all fronts. But we're back and hoping to put some fab trips on the cards again!

So here's to celebrating today and all the amazing woman out there who consistently take on more than they should but do it with brilliance, grace and a smile, who fight for all the good things with so much passion, who love passionately, who protect fiercely, who shine brightly. The world couldn't do it without us!

And finally, let's celebrate our special friendships with awesome girlfriends who are always willing to go dashing off into the mountains and take on new adventures at the drop of a hat! You ROCK!

10/02/2022

Explorers are we, intrepid and bold

Out in the wild, amongst wonders untold

Equipped with our wits, a map and a snack

We're searching for fun and we're on the right track

~ Calvin & Hobbes

10/01/2022

Rated as the toughest and biggest rally in the world, the Dakar Rally is currently being raced in Saudi Arabia. So cool to an all-ladies team in the race, and doing so well too!

31/12/2021

Cheers to a tough 2021 and looking forward to a cracking 2022!

What are your dreams?

More nature?
More adventures?
Traveling more?
Better health?
Greater fitness?
Working harder on sustainability goals and to reduce plastic pollution?

Time to get started in planning your adventure goals! Join us for some fabulous adventures in 2022! We'll be launching our first adventure for 2022 on the 15th of January!

These are a few of our highlights from 2021...

28/12/2021

THIS. Over skyscrapers. Any day and always!

25/12/2021

Merry Christmas to you!

Although some of us are far from home, our families and many loved ones, we hope that your day today is filled with love, joy and great happiness!
🎄🎅🎁

17/12/2021

So many great memories from our adventures of 2021, but this one was certainly a highlight; finishing 5 awesome days on the beautiful Whale Trail!

We haven't launched our 2022 adventures just yet, but we have another truly spectacular 3 day coastal trail coming up in the first quarter of the year! So stay tuned for updates!

07/12/2021

There are some truly spectacular trees in the forests of the Western Cape and Garden Route; ancient giants whose stems and bulk reach well above the canopy below them. Whilst not indigenous to South Africa, it was a huge treat to see and experience the grandeur of the grove of ancient Californian Redwoods when we spent a few days hiking in the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy.

A reserve that's managed by Cape Nature, it is a sanctuary that was created to protect the last remaining patch of afromontane forest in the South Western Cape and was declared a World Heritage site in 2015. We stayed in their very comfortable wooden cabins and spent 2 full days hiking and exploring both the spectacular forest and fynbos-rich mountains.

This hike is definitely one that's on the cards for us to do next year. Would you like to join us?

26/11/2021

No we don't need more sleep. It's our souls that are tired, not our bodies. We need nature. We need magic. We need adventure. We need freedom. We need truth. We need stillness. We don't need more sleep, we need to wake up and live! ~ Brooke Hampton

25/11/2021

Just a reminder that there's no use in spending your life wondering 'what if' and worrying about the things in your life that you have no control over.

When you focus on being the best person you can be, you draw the best possible life, love and opportunities to you.

15/11/2021

TRAVEL
As much as you can
As far as you can
As long as you can
Life's not meant to be lived in one place!

09/11/2021

Summer is coming and there are so many spectacular places to see and to explore!

07/11/2021

This time last week we watched a special Karoo sunrise from the clifftops. Having made our way to the top of the ridge in semi-darkeness, we perched on the edge of the dropoff and waited in anticipation of the new dawn.

We watched the skies turn from peachy orange to pink whilst sipping hot Amarula coffee, all silent and deep within our own thoughts. Just then a herd of Buffalo came hurtling through the riverbed below us. What a way to start the day!

The last treat of our stay on Sanbona Wildlife Reserve was a walk to see a treasured national heritage; a cave filled with incredible rock art of both the San and Khoi, giving us an unforgettable glimpse into a way of life that was beautifully symbiotic with the environment.

03/11/2021

Up before sunrise on Saturday morning, we headed out with a huge sense of excitement for what the day held. I think it's safe to say that it totally exceeded all of our expectations!

Our very first sighting of the day was a herd of elephants making their way into a dry riverbed in the early morning sunlight. Shortly afterwards we left the vehicle and headed off on foot for a 3 hour bush walk that took us up and along a small ridgeline where we stopped for a break whilst sipping Amarula and taking in the views to the Warmwaterberg mountains. It was an unexpected treat to have had a herd of Buffalo moving through the Acacia thickets below us.

Back at the lodge over the midday heat, it was time for a snooze or G & T's in the Jacuzzis.

Incredible game sightings, a perfect Karoo sunset & sundowners and deep emotions filled our late afternoon/ evening drive.

What a spectacular and very special day!

📸 3 & 9 Riana Hanekom
📸 7 Nikki Schumann

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02/11/2021

Sanbona Wildlife Reserve stole a big piece of each of our hearts this past weekend! There are very few places that match it; arid Karoo landscapes, a raw and untamed wilderness with unique and incredible fauna and flora, endless cloudscapes, crazy star-studded night skies and a true rewilding success story that accompanies it all.

Arriving on Friday afternoon, we dropped our bags in our luxurious rooms and were whisked off into the afternoon heat by our brilliant guide, Casper.

The hours before sunset were spent on foot and in the game viewer with wonderful sightings of giraffe, gemsbok, amazing succulents and one incredibly relaxed male cheetah. We then shared sundowners with with the clouds on the edge of a wide pan, recently filled with good, Karoo-soaking rains.

📸 3, 4 & 7 Riana Hanekom
📸 1 Brenda Mohr

28/10/2021

Our bags are being packed as we speak and we're champing at the bit with excitement about our adventure this weekend!

We will be heading to the very special Sanbona Wildlife Reserve tomorrow and will spend 2 days on a Walking Safari there!

Got any wonderful weekend plans?

26/10/2021

Crazy to think that at exactly this time last week we were walking along this stretch of exquisite coastline, our last day of the Expedition hike!

Shortly after this beautiful rocky section, we transitioned onto 18kms of the softest sandy beach EVER!

We have loads of catching up to do in sharing all about our experience, so keep an eye out on our pages for more this week!

19/10/2021

Strandloper Project research expedition hike 2021 done and dusted! 185kms of coastline walked. So many highs and so many lows! We have loads of pics and need to take some time to sort both pics and thoughts.

But after walking 24kms today, 19 of it on soft sand from Gansbaai to Hermanus, what we need right now is a celebratory drink, alot of food and even more sleep!

📸 Chris Leggatt

14/10/2021

And this is how we look at the end of the day on Expedition hike after 22kms over sand and rocks; sore feet, tired muscles, salty and sunburnt... cheers!

13/10/2021

The good, the bad and the ugly. We knew we'd encounter it all on the Strandloper Project research expedition. It is, after all, an expedition to document plastic pollution and ghost fishing (when a baited hook snags under water and continues to catch fish) & create awareness thereof.

3 days down and 53kms of the 163km total distance done and dusted.

The bad and the ugly have held hands along the long stretches of beaches and the rocky & pebbled bays we've walked thus far and have revealed shocking numbers of water bottles of both local and international origin, plastic packaging of all uses, shapes & sizes, masses (& masses) of monofilament (fishing gut) from recreational shoreline & boat-based fishing, mammal and bird carcasses and clear evidence that nurdles will be on our beaches for eternity.

The good is that we are a priviliged few who, despite the trash, get to hike and witness an extraordinarily beautiful part of our South African coastline: azure blue waters with whales frolicking on the backline, flowers that pop with colour along all the winding coastal paths, murmurations of terns at the estuary mouth at De Mond and divine dips in the late afternoon that rejuvenate sore and tired feet.

Yesterday was particularly significant in that we rounded the southern most tip of Africa and had coffee at the meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

The good, the bad and the ugly... all in a day's work with the Strandloper Project research expedition hike.

07/10/2021

The excitement levels are fairly high!

In a few day's time, Adventure Like A Girl will be joining the Strandloper Project team for their 3rd coastal research expedition hike! A team of 7 of us, all eco-volunteers and all equally passionate about ocean and marine health, will be hiking roughly 165kms of coastline from Arniston to Hermanus to document and map the distribution and densities of plastic pollution, micro-plastics and fishing debris.

The impact of plastic pollution on marine life and ocean health is enormous. While many of us think that most plastic that washes up on our beaches is 'ocean plastic', it isn't. 90% of plastic pollution in the Southern Cape actually comes from inland municipal sources and flows from effluent outlets and stormwater drains, down rivers and into the ocean. We as humans need to adjust our habits of plastic consumption and find more effective ways of disposing thereof. Until then, we need to gather data that will assist in how the disposal thereof is better managed and how we can prevent it from flowing into our oceans.

What we will also be doing whilst on this coastal expedition is choosing a section of this coastline that we will do as a 3-4 day citizen science coastal hike for one of our Adventure Like A Girl trips in 2022. We'll be posting pics on both accounts- Adventure Like a Girl and Project. Follow us on our journey and you can help choose which section we do!

06/10/2021

At our core, most of us are still the same as we were when we were young. It's the experiences that we choose to participate in that keep us there.

Don't forget to laugh, love and enjoy the simplest things a little more at every moment in your life!

05/10/2021

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is good for us... and is something we should all be doing from time to time. 🌿

A Japanese concept from the early 80's, it simply means immersing yourself in a forest setting. It's a natural way to calm your senses in a busy world and reconnects you to the forested planet that we as humans grew up in and, in doing so, imparts you with a profound sense of peace.

We went forest bathing in this beautiful patch of indigenous afromontane forest on the slopes of the Langeberg mountains.

Here's hoping you find your patch of peace in a forest this week! 🌿

02/10/2021

Sometimes adventures teach us to trust strangers and lose sight of the familiar comfort of home and friends. Nothing is yours. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things; air, focus, your mind and the thoughts you allow.

tested her boundaries in getting through a tricky section of the coastline near Kranshoek and had to trust our guidance. Her heart rate may well have been forever changed, but she did it... with a smile and a high five at the end too!

24/09/2021

Such a great way to start heritage day! We were interviewed on today's CapeTalk Outdoor Report by conservation and outdoor media man, Jeff Ayliffe. If you missed it, here's the link to the interview.

However you're choosing to celebrate Heritage day, be sure to celebrate YOU... because there's no one alive that's you-er than YOU!

https://omny.fm/shows/weekend-breakfast-capetalk/the-outdoor-r-994250bc-75a9-47b7-923f-74366450e157

We cross to Jeff Ayliffe for our weekend Outdoor Report.

23/09/2021

Yippeeee! It's a lovely long weekend ahead!

Whatever you have planned, be it trail running, mountain biking, hiking, paddling, or a combo thereof, remember to make time for spontaneity! It is, after all, the purest expression of our free will!

21/09/2021

Our Wilderness Walking Safari is fully booked! Just over a month to go and we can't wait to share this distinctly unique experience with six adventurous women!

We'll be striding out into the open bush each morning, with views across wide Karoo landscapes, in the hope of seeing some of the traditional 'Big 5', as well as some of the shyer and more elusive special animals, like this Bat-eared Fox. And our nights will be filled with incredible starlit skies!

We simply cannot wait!
📸 By guide

17/09/2021

Tomorrow is International Coastal Clean Up Day.

Held annually on the third weekend in September, it's the largest volunteer effort for our ocean's health. People around the world gather on beaches, coasts, rivers, waterways and underwater dive sites to remove trash and record information on the debris collected.

Tomorrow we'll be teaming up with Strandloper Project, a volunteer organization who do fantastic work researching coastal plastic pollution, reef condition and the impact of ghost fishing (where a baited hook and fishing line gets snagged on rocks or broken and continues to fish under water).

It is only by getting involved in these kind of initiatives that we can play a small role in ensuring that better waste management policies/plans and product packaging designs are made going forwards.

Where are you heading to tomorrow to play your part in this worthy international event?

16/09/2021

There's a special place in heaven for farmers and landowners who step up and embrace their responsibility to ensure that irreplaceable environmental treasures that occur on their properties are preserved for posterity.

Being a farmer and a conservationist isn't always easy, practical or possible. But what a treat it was to have stayed at Grasberg Guest Farm where farmer and owner, Mandie Kotze, has managed the challenging balance of farming and conservation so well. She knows her farm, she cares and provides ample food and grazing for her animals, has some very special geophytes and flowers on her farm, knows what they are and where they are and she works hard to protect the biodiversity that occurs there.

We were lucky enough to have Mandie show us some of the treasures on her farm; San Bushmen rock art and 3 endemics; the stunning Painted kalkoentjie (Gladiolus watermeyrii), Mask Flower (Alonsoa unilabiata) & the Red catstail (Bulbinella latifolia doleritica).