Specialist guides, itineraries and enhanced experiences are gaining in popularity as more travellers seek to engage with experts and specialists while on holiday. Sue van Winsen rounds up some of the best options.

An increasing number of people view travel as a life-enriching and learning experience and this is fuelling a growing desire for something more substantial than just the best suite in a hotel. Instead, travellers really want to connect with the people who live in the destination they visit, creating memories that are far more valuable and enduring.

This is the view of Andre Botha, Sales and Marketing Director of Trans Africa Safaris, who adds that this may take various forms, from private cooking classes or private home dinners to tracking elephant for a research project.

Carina Grüninger, Owner of Safari Destinations, says this growing niche also provides tour operators with an opportunity to offer clients unique experiences that they may not be able to book through one of the many online booking engines.

Andrea Hand, Operations Director at Welcome Tourism Services, says the growing demand for expert interactions was one of the main reasons they company opted to compile an ‘Experience’ brochure. “We have found that more and more often guests want something extraordinary to add onto their itinerary to enhance their holiday experience. This is even more evident in return guests who have seen and done most of the generic tourist hotspots. They have already been to numerous restaurants and sampled local cuisine and on the next trip decide to learn how to make the dish they had previously enjoyed,” she says. 

Tourism Update rounds up some of the best expert and specialist itineraries:

 

1.Bear Grylls Survival Academy

This five-day survival skills course takes place in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls and is delivered by a range of hand-picked instructors who have been trained by members of Bear’s Man vs Wild and Born Survivor crew. Each instructor is an expert in their chosen fields of African bushcraft, wilderness survival and extreme adventure. Activities include lessons in survival, knife skills, fitness training, navigation, shelter construction and how to forage for wild food. This is followed by a 36-hour survival exercise where these skills are put to use – with teams leaving camp with just a knife and an empty water canteen and having to fend for themselves until their helicopter pick-up at the Zambezi gorge.

For more information, visit www.beargryllssurvivalacademy.com/africa.

2. Welcome Tourism Services Jazz Safari

Guests with an interest in music can experience Welcome Tourism Services’ Jazz Safari in Cape Town. They will be invited into the homes of local jazz musicians where they can converse and learn more about their musical background and influences over a home-cooked meal. Afterwards, they will be able to enjoy a live performance by the musicians at a jazz venue.

For more information, visit www.welcome.co.za. 

3.Drifters Enfield Motorcycle Tours

This new offering from Drifters Adventours provides novice, intermediate and experienced motorbike riders with the opportunity to ride a Royal Enfield motorcycle across off-the-beaten-track destinations in South Africa, from the Cape Winelands to the Karoo and the Kalahari bushveld. The 10-day tour is led by a specialist guide and follows in the wagon tracks of the early diamond prospectors and the 1899 British Army’s advance to relieve the siege of Kimberley. Along the way, the motorbike riders will have the opportunity to interact with local experts, while also taking part in in unique experiences, says Christiaan Steyn, Marketing Manager of Drifters Adventours. For example, on the overnight stop at Matjiesfontein, guests will be given a talk focused on some of the events that took place in this historic town, including how it was a refuge for Jamieson Raid reformers, and the site of the controversial Boer War crimes hearings.

For more information, visit www.drifters.co.za/enfield-motorcycle-tours.

4.Dyer Island Cruises and Marine Dynamics whale and shark experiences

Marine Dynamics and its sister company, Dyer Island Cruises, are known for having a marine biologist on every trip, conducting research on the Great White sharks found in Shark Alley and the whales and dolphins also found in the area. “We also have detailed safety and educational briefings before each trip, during which guests are welcome to ask any questions about the marine ecosystem,” says Cari du Preez, Sales and Marketing Manager. “This offers in-depth information to be passed on to guests who in turn become ambassadors for the wildlife in our area,” she adds. The company also has an international marine volunteer programme where participants are offered a more in-depth experience with dedicated talks and hands-on conservation projects.

For more information, visit www.sharkwatchsa.com.

5.Zeitz MOCAA Artist in Residency Programme at Segera Retreat

Segera Retreat in Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau, has launched an Artist in Residency Programme in which it welcomes artists to the property to spend time in nature and also to give guests the opportunity to directly engage with them. This includes studio visits, artists’ talks, dining together and other social activities, during which guests will be able to learn first-hand about the artists’ work, their research at Segera, their studio practice and the current issues they are engaging with.

For more information, visit www.segera.com/artist-residence-program.

6.Cooking lessons with celebrity chefs at African Relish

Situated in the Karoo town of Prince Albert in South Africa, African Relish is a recreational cooking school where guests can choose from a selection of regular short or long courses that focus on local produce and cuisine. The school regularly invites local and foreign chefs so that guests can learn from experts. Experts include charcuterie-specialist, Richard Bosman; celebrity chef, Reza Mahammad; food blogger, Sam Linsell and chef, Stefan Marais from Societi Bistro. African Relish also works with book clubs, yoga masters and artists to arrange weeks of painting, cooking and exercising and offers accommodation in four cottages located throughout the town.

For more information, visit www.africanrelish.com. 

7.Welcome Tourism Services Bushman Safari

Guests can travel back in time to an era when the San people were the first inhabitants of Southern Africa. Welcome Tourism Services Bushman Safari takes place in Botswana and guests are given the chance to gain first-hand tracking experience from their San guide, while learning more about the survival skills Bushmen used when hunting and gathering food.

For more information, visit www.welcome.co.za.