KAROO TOURS

Karoo Photography Tour

TOUR INFORMATION

Duration

6 days / 5 nights

Format

Formal accommodation

(occasionally with shared bathrooms)

4x4 bakkie or SUV with good ground clearance

Distance: Roughly 450 km

Next tours

19-24 March 2025

Cost

R14 800 pp sharing (2025)

(single: plus 30 %)

Max Amount of Persons

Maximum of 14 guests

PRACTICAL INFORMATION:

Included:

3 meals per day, starting with dinner on Day 1 and ending with breakfast on Day 6
The services of a professional tour guide and photography guide
5 nights of accommodation
Entry fees to relevant photographic sites
Proper car radios

Excluded:

Vehicle costs (fuel, etc)
Personal drinks and snacks

TOUR PLAN

Douwe Vlok from Heuningland Tours and well-known travel photographer Toast Coetzer are both born and bred in the Karoo. On this tour they personally accompany you to some of their favourite places. You drive on back roads and get to take some epic photographs!

Day 1: Nelspoort & Theefontein

We meet at 11 am at Travalia Padstal next to the N1 near Three Sisters.

At the nearby forgotten railway town of Nelspoort we visit something few South Africans know about: A rich collection of San rock etchings scattered over the koppies around the town. We also see a so-called gong rock, possibly used by the San during rain-making ceremonies.

We enjoy a picnic lunch and then continue southwards to Theefontein, where we meet Karoo plant expert and renowned storyteller Antoinette Pienaar.

Tonight, we enjoy the Karoo stars in all their glory. After dinner Toast Coetzer shows off some of his inspirational Karoo photos.

Day 2: Murraysberg & Vintage Car Museum

After breakfast at Theefontein we visit – surprise! – a vintage car museum where we get to photograph classic cars in a private collection.

We eat a picnic lunch by the roadside, and Toast shares his landscape composition tips. After this we take a backroad towards Murraysburg.

If time allows it, we drive the Sneeuberg Loop, a gravel road with scenery for days.

For the next 2 nights, we stay at Doornberg Guestfarm near Nieu-Bethesda.

Day 3: Stone Folk, Compassberg and Nieu-Bethesda

We eat breakfast at Doornberg and then drive to Nieu-Bethesda where we visit the famous Owl House created by outsider artist Helen Martins. Toast is at hand to explain how you can make the most of colours and textures, and how to create striking images by focusing on smaller details.

After lunch we photograph Compassberg, the highest peak in the area. By late afternoon we visit the “Stone Folk” on the farm Ongeluksloot. These stone statues (similar to those in the Kaokoveld) were created by artist Ryno Greeff. We enjoy dinner at Doornberg, where we spend time together in the farmhouse.

Photographers can book feedback sessions with Toast for tonight during which he provides constructive feedback on your best photos taken so far.

Day 4: Fossils and Ganora Guestfarm

After breakfast on the farm, we drive through Nieu-Bethesda to Ganora Guestfarm on the other side of town. Owner JP Steynberg takes us on a guided tour of their Fossil Museum which consists of fossils (and stone tools) collected by him and his sons over the years. It is one of the most impressive private collections in the country.

We eat lunch at Ganora and then check into our rooms. In the afternoon we relax and later, with Toast at hand, enjoy all the photo opportunities of the homestead, kraals and farm animals.

Photographers can book feedback sessions with Toast for tonight during which he provides constructive feedback on your best photos taken so far.

Day 5: Waterval Farmstay, Graaff-Reinet

After breakfast we drive towards the Graaff-Reinet district. Once we turn off the tar road, we take a gravel road which loops past the foot of Nardousberg, which often receives snow during winter. It is an area where few tourists ever get to. There are spectacular landscapes to photograph along the way.

Today, we are hosted by Ansie Malherbe at Waterval Farmstay, where we eat lunch. In the afternoon the photographers gather for a portrait photo session with Toast, and the evening is spent with dinner around the campfire before retiring to your cottage.

Day 6: Until next time!

As dawn breaks over the Karoo, we meet for a farewell cup of coffee and breakfast – see you again next time!

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