The trail is conducted in conjunction with the Wilderness Leadership School. Their track record of 50 years and more than 60000 people on trail speak for themselves.
Please peruse www.wildernesstrails.org.za. All participants to be 16 years of age or older.
The trip is educational based whereby we explore ideas about conservation, water consumption, wilderness and our carbon footprint on planet Earth.
Basically, the logistics/itinerary is as follows:
We depart on a Sunday at 9am from my home and drive to Pilanesberg National Park which is about a 2-2.5 hour drive and meet at manyane gate. We then make our way to the allocated “camping area” where we will offload the equipment etc and set up “camp”. A short walk into the wilderness in the afternoon is enjoyed by all. Afterwards, we all prepare dinner together and an interesting conversation about many topics takes place around the fire. Because of an early wakeup, we retire to sleep as soon as possible. Each person has a rewarding opportunity to spend about an hour of private time with themselves and the wilderness as well as having the responsibility of overseeing the safety of everyone in the camp since it is unfenced. The second day is a repeat of the first day where there are generally 2 walks-AM and PM depending on time of year and weather conditions.
The last day commences with a short walk in the morning with a period of time given to all to be alone with themselves. After which we group together to share ideas and thoughts.
Once the camp is packed up and cleared which is normally about early afternoon, we depart for our return journey to Joburg with many memories to last a lifetime.
It is very important to bear in mind that time in the bush has its own agenda and the above times stipulated are just guidelines. For example, a sighting of elephants can easily delay us for many reasons for up to an hour or two.
The “camp” is very basic in its entirety and most of the trappings of modern life are unavailable.