First Six Hope Spots launched in South Africa by Dr Sylvia Earl e
4 December - 13 December 2014

Russ and Barbara van Aardt were thrilled and humbled when meeting the famous Dr Sylvia Earle, a world renowned Marine conservationist and National Geographic explorer. This meeting took place during her visited to South Africa, at the official Launch of the Cape Whale Coast Hope Spot in Hermanus.

The first six Hope spots launched by Dr Sylvia Earle in 2014 were:

Aliwal Shoal in KwaZulu-Natal.
Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.
Plettenberg Bay.
Knysna.
The Cape Whale Coast (Hermanus area).
False Bay in the Western Cape.

Mission Blue defines a Hope Spots as special conservation areas that are critical to the health of the ocean — Earth’s blue heart.”

"We were in awe of Dr Sylvia Earle's dedication and achievements" Barbara said, "a truly inspirational conservationist."

Dr Sylvia Earle with Barbara and Russ van Aardt.

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28 December – 02 January 2015

Russ filming in the Tsitsikama pine plantations.

Being the Festive season in South Africa meant that the roads would be full, and all the resorts would be packed to capacity. So, not particularly liking crowds of people Barbara van Aardt booked her family into the stunning Armagh Country lodge and Spa. This is tucked away in the fyn bos, far enough from all the maddening crowds. What prize location had Barbara stumbled on? What bliss!

They had decided to leave their dive gear behind for this trip but had some really wonderful top side photographic opportunities. This area is full of fun filled activities. They explored the Featherbed Eco Experience and particularly enjoyed the view of the majestic Knsyna heads from the Featherbed Nature Reserve.

They managed some unusual footage on our Storms river Kayak and Lilo trip up the Storms River. This fun filled activity is run by Untouched Adventures and is something that can be highly recommend.

The Tree Top Canopy Tour, run by Stormsriver Adventures was exhilarating fun and seeing the forest floor from zip lines high up in the tree canopy gives it a totally different perspective.

They managed to do quite a few day hikes, including the first day of the Otter Trail and The Big Tree (A Yellow Wood Giant :±800 years old, 9 meters wide and 36.6 meters high) and parts of the Tsitsikamma East Forest.

So their photographic opportunities ranged from bubbling brooks, swinging on trees, admiring huge green ferns, cascading waterfalls, floating on brown cold mountain water and many more. They had a great time at this picturesque South African location, that is an easy five hours drive away from Cape Town. Barbara said,“Definitely somewhere we will return to.”