In just over a month I’ll be joining my family on the Whale Trail, one of South Africa’s well known and popular five-day hikes. With this in mind, I have thought of some fun activities for making the most of our official Wild Family Year.
 

This weekend, Cape Town-based adventurer Ray Chaplin begins a 2,300-kilometre source-to-sea expedition. He aims to follow the length of the Orange River – from its source in Lesotho to the Athlantic Ocean – by riverboard. Titled ‘The Plastics SA Nampak Rigid Plastics Orange River Project’, Chaplin will take four to six months to accomplish this mammoth journey.

A river blocks your access to Namibia. There is no bridge. How do you get your vehicle across the mighty Gariep? 

At the exhibition of Cape Union Mart’s gear for winter, Wild caught up with trail runner Andre Calitz. Sponsored by K-Way, this athlete has set the world of offroad running ablaze.

If you like the feel of dirt beneath your tyres, try these roads in the Garden Route area.
 

We've come up with a bucket list for 2013 that'll ensure this year is wilder than ever. Check out our ideas for adventure activities, animals to seek and places you have to try out.

The Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour winds through Table Mountain National Park for much of its route.  So it’s good to know that the race organisers take several steps to keep the event environmentally friendly.
 

What do you get when you throw half-a-dozen kids in a VW mini bus, and take them to a national park that has a beach, mushy wetlands and fields of renosterveld? You get a day of fun and lots of photos for the family slide show. You give a boy an extraordinary 12th birthday party for him, his friends and siblings. And you get a reminder of how precious our environment is. By Bongani Mgayi

I knew I had to find a special treat for my son’s 12th birthday. Luckily, a trip to West Coast National Park made it easy to earn parenting points. By Bongani Mgayi