As Capetonians, we are surrounded by two mighty oceans, the Indian and the Atlantic, so it was only natural for us to divert from our professional careers in the tumultuous 90’s to start running Cape kayak adventures round the Cape and Southern African coast with REAL CAPE ADVENTURES® cc. Our timing could not have been more fortuitous; adventurous travellers were beginning to demand real experiences and sea kayaks provided the perfect means to achieve these without harming the environment. We researched and described sixty kayak routes in our first book A Practical Guide to Sea Kayaking in Southern Africa [Struik, 1999] and more in our international guide: An Essential Guide to Sea Kayaking [Random House, 2000] which proved immensely popular worldwide, eventually being translated into five
major languages.

We launched the PaddleYak® Sea Kayak range, handmade and sea-worthy craft which could face our southern oceans and received accolades and two national design awards for our innovative hybrid kayak concept. Our companies have since become synonymous with our distinctive sea kayak range as well as our Cape and African sea kayak adventures. Most recently we have been instrumental in setting up the first sea kayak operation along the famed Camino de Santiago in Spain.

We are currently celebrating twenty-five adventure-filled years in sea kayaking, the Covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding.
Indeed, the latter has only strengthened our resolve to provide patrons with the best kayak tours and the most suitable, eco-friendly craft to experience our beautiful, but fragile, blue oceans with. We have made a donation of some of our craft to Francesca Trotmat’s Love the Ocean organisation in
Mozambique, trusting that we are helping to set a trend towards a more benign future partnership between humanity and Planet Earth.

To end, a special plea: Please reduce your carbon footprint by exploring the world on a kayak and by supporting local endeavours such as our two pathfinding sea kayak companies and others. Thank You and Happy Paddling!

Note from Francesca Trotman: I run a marine conservation organisation in Mozambique called Love The Oceans. Our mission is to establish a marine protected area in the district we work in. We were recently recognised as 1 of 15 global grassroots forces for change by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and received international recognition for our work. Our area will be launching shortly as a Hope Spot by Mission Blue as a result of our research, and Sylvia Earle [the imminent oceanographer who succeeded
legendary Jacques Cousteau] has personally backed our project. The area is soon to be established as a Whale Heritage Site too. Note: Should you wish to make a contribution to this worthy cause, please contact Francesca Trotman directly, or Johan Loots HERE for more details.