While we all go to the desert for the silence and the peace, there are many individual reasons for wanting to experience vast views and the timeless energy of untouched landscapes. Whether you are an avid photographer or birdwatcher or enjoy an array of unusual fauna and flora, the opportunity to design the exact tour to suit your passion is rare.
That’s why at Heuningland, we can do exactly that for you. No matter how you would like to experience the desert, we can organise a trip or hike that will encompass the particular aspects that motivate you personally, so that places and points of view tally with your focus.
The point is to make your time spent worthwhile financially and the focus of each day individually fulfilling. Putting together your specific likes and needs is a great pleasure for us at Heuningland. So whether you want to take short walks, nightly strolls, or a drive to specific areas for a glut of good photographic opportunities, we are the people to contact.
A 4x4 tour that covers every angle
This 4-day tour in the heart of the Great Karoo is an adventure from start to finish and will appeal to nature lovers. We concentrate on the area north and west of the Karoo National Park, with its spectacular settings – and overnight at remote places, for the peace and quiet that the Karoo is renowned for.
During the course of our travels, you can expect to enjoy a spectrum of experiences from magnificent sunsets to viewing fascinating fossils in their natural environment. In the evenings an amateur astronomer will tell (and show) us more about our galaxy, the Milky Way. Relaxing around the fire, the smell of wood smoke generally invokes entertaining and fun stories while the group enjoys a delicious supper.
This is a soft 4×4 tour but with enough challenges to take you through your steps. An experienced 4×4 guide will always be around to help with technical advice where necessary.
Fancy walking the Karoo at your own pace?
Here’s a tour that gives you plenty of options to design your day without feeling as though you are on your own. You are welcome to manage this five-day hike at your own pace, following the trail of Sylvester, the lion, by walking a clearly marked circular route for about 103km through the beautiful Karoo.
This part of the Karoo cannot be seen from the highways, so you will be privy to some breathtaking views and a truly ‘far from the madding crowd’ enjoyment. You carry only enough for the day, and the heavy stuff will be ferried to the designated camping spots. Everyone has to put up their own tents. Bush toilets and a bucket with warm water for a shower will be provided.
Ready for some full-moon adventures?
Then join us on a full-moon hike in the Karoo. You will have a choice of 5 different routes, the longest being 18km and the shortest 8km. Some of these hikes will commence late in the afternoon when you will be able to experience the moon rising over the magnificent semi-desert landscapes of the Karoo – an event that is extraordinary, emotional and most memorable.
Basecamp will be at Bergvallei farm for the 4 nights. During the day hikers will have the option to read, play cards, swim in an old cement dam or take an afternoon nap. We will make use of the bathrooms and kitchen of the farmhouse and to escape from the heat during the day if necessary. Unfortunately there are not enough beds in the house to accommodate everyone, therefore we will be camping.
All the routes are jeep tracks into the ravines and onto the koppies where you will be rewarded with breath-taking views. You will have the choice of hiking on your own or with the group.
Designing your unique tour
While all our organised tours offer opportunities for individual adjustment, you can also bring your specific needs to our attention, and we will help you customise a tour that will allow you to engage in your passion of photography or birdwatching, or simple aloneness in the vast silence and healing power of the desert. But contact us early in your plans to ensure we can develop a trip that encompasses your vision.
Heuningland: African & Karoo tours to stir the heart and lift the soul
We are proudly South African and have a fervent love of the Great Karoo, its people and its unique vegetation and animals. We are passionate conservationists of nature and would like to share our knowledge acquired through years of travel and touring experience. We are therefore able to offer custom-designed and distinctively different tour options:
Hiking/camping trails or guided self-driving tours through the ancient landscape of the Karoo.
Tailormade safaris to any destination in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, and Botswana.
