Helderberg High School has been hosting photography tours for the last 17 years.
This year, 10 Grade 12 learners and their friends stayed at African Array Backpackers on a hill overlooking Plettenberg Bay, canoed on the Sundays River at Avoca River Lodge and spent two fun days camping in Addo Elephant National Park, where lions roamed the streets and very close encounters were had with elephants.
The highlight of the tour was a trip to Gariep Dam, where the learners were nearly washed away by heavy storms, also slipping and sliding on very bad roads to Tiger Canyons near Philippolis.
The adrenaline-filled 4×4 game drive yielded remarkable photographic opportunities, when huge Bengal tigers interacted with each other very close to the vehicles. A “wow” cheetah interaction ended an amazing morning.
Rain kept the group from seeing the Valley of Desolation at Graaff-Reinet, but the final lap home was just right when the young people soaked themselves in the hot waters of Calitzdorp Spa.
Some of the pictures this year’s group assembled can be seen on the “Helderberg High School” Facebook page.
