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Sardine Run
Code (SR01) A 6 Day Package

The Sardine Run is an accumulation of literally billions of small pelagic bait fish that concentrate near the ocean’s surface and forms the basis for one of the largest natural migrations on the planet.

Alan Tours would like to invite you to join us to experience and participate in the Southern Sardine Run in April and May.

The bait fish attract great numbers of predators increasing in size from the rafts of African Penguins, shoals of Game fish to Dolphins, Seals, Sharks and finally the resident Bryde’s Whales which on occasion can be seen lunge feeding on the massed bait balls as these tight concentrations of fish are called. While from the air the concentrated bait fish are subjected to an aerial bombardment from the hundreds of thousands of Cape Gannets and Cormorants that thrive on the teeming waters of Algoa Bay.

 

Rate:

R 19 900.00 per person sharing

Minimum 4 persons

The package includes:

5 night accommodation, bed & breakfast
2 days at sea (covering Algoa Bay and beyond)
1 day safari to Addo Elephant National Park
1 day tour to Cape Recife Nature Reserve etc
Transfers from / to accommodation
Entrance / conservation fees
Meals as per itinerary
Game drives in the National Park in tour vehicle
Game drive in private game reserve in open vehicle
Bottled water in tour vehicle

Sardine run Algoa Bay Port Elizabeth

The Southern Sardine Run is a larger and earlier accumulation of bait fish than that which occurs further North up the East coast in June to August when only 2% of the population are forced inshore in an effort to escape the warmer currents that they are unable to survive.

The Southern Sardine Run plays itself out in the temperate waters of Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth almost every day at certain times of the year but few ever get the chance to experience and witness this action packed phenomenon. We would like to change that!

Alan Tours and Raggy Charters have combined our resources to create exciting packages that includes days on the water, searching the bay for the action packed feeding frenzies around the bait balls and other interesting marine life. While combining the marine experience with a series of land based safaris that takes one into the world of the Addo Elephant National Park with its prolific wildlife, including 700 free roaming African Elephants and other members of the BIG 5. Also included are tours to other interesting destinations in and around Port Elizabeth.

Package A) 17 – 22 April 2022 (sea days: 19 and 20 April weather permitting)

Or

Package B) 15  – 20 May 2022 (sea days 17 and 18 May weather permitting)

Or

Package C) 22 – 27 May 2022 (sea days 24 and 25 May weather permitting)

Please note: The marine tour is from the boat and not conducted below the water

Sea days and land days are interchangeable in an effort to make full use of the weather condition at sea.

It is difficult to say for sure what the program for the day will be as the action of the Southern Sardine run might take us out into the protected waters of Algoa Bay, towards the St Croix Islands or further out across the water to the Bird Island group or we might need to round the southern entrance to the Bay, Cape Recife, out into the open ocean, known locally as the Wildside. Keep on traveling south for a few thousand kilometres and you’ll arrive at Antarctica. One thing is for sure, the Sardine Run is an entirely natural phenomenon and there is absolutely no guarantee that we will indeed find the Sardines but there will be abundant action all the same.

Algoa Bay Sardine Run

Day 1, Night 1

Port Elizabeth

Arrival at Port Elizabeth airport and transfer to your accommodation

Overnight guesthouse, bed and breakfast

Lunch and dinner for own account

 

Day 2, Night 2

The start of the adventure:

8:00 am pick up from your place of residence in Port Elizabeth and, transfer to the Yacht Club. Here we board our boat and depart through the Port Elizabeth harbour to start our search for the action of the Southern Sardine Run in and beyond Algoa Bay.

Packed lunches and soft drinks are provided to keep your energy levels up. After an eventful day on the water we return to the harbour before transferring back to your place of residence and the end of your first day on the water.

Overnight guesthouse, lunch, bed and breakfast. Dinner for own account

Day 3, Night 3

Pick up at your place of residence, we return to the harbour, board the boat and head back out onto the waters of Algoa Bay following the Birds as they accumulate over the bait balls, a clear indication of where we are likely to find the sardines and the day’s action.

After a fulfilling day on the water and getting some great action we will again return to the harbour and transfer back to your place of residence after another exciting day on the water. Lunch packs to be supplied.

Overnight guesthouse, lunch, bed and breakfast. Dinner for own account

Day 4, Night 4

7:30 am pick up at place of residence in Port Elizabeth and depart for the malaria free Addo Elephant National Park approximately 35 minutes’ drive from the city to the southern entrance.

After check in and a comfort break, we immediately start our game viewing experience searching for the many and diverse creatures while learning about the habitat in which they live. 

The Park is home to close to 700 free roaming Elephants and a wide variety of wildlife such as Zebra, Warthog, Ostrich, the elegant Kudu and many more including the traditional BIG 5, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino, the shy Leopard  and of course the Elephants.

Addo Park, buffalo
Addo Park, Alan Tours Port Elizabeth

Making our way through the Park from south to north, we stop for a light lunch at the park restaurant before once again heading back through the Park, searching the thickets for Elephant, Eland, Red Hartebeest as well as the stately Kudu, the males with their huge horns blend into the background. We return to Port Elizabeth at approx 18:00 – 18:30 hrs.

Overnight guesthouse, lunch, bed and breakfast. Dinner for own account

Lion, addo safaris port elizabeth

Day 5, Night 5

Pick up at 8:30 am from your place of residence, we travel in the tour vehicle on land to the southern tip of Algoa Bay, Cape Recife (named in 1497 by the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama as “Cabo do Arricife”, the “Cape of Rocks”) with its working lighthouse.

Here we enjoy the sights and sounds of the beaches, a tour of the working lighthouse, built in 1851 and one of the oldest operating lighthouses in South Africa with its small museum. From the top of the Lighthouse a clear view of the bay, the open ocean and distant Port Elizabeth can be seen.

After Cape Recife, we leave Port Elizabeth, stopping to enjoy a light lunch at a local farm stall packed with homemade preserves and produce before we continue to the nearby private game reserve for an exciting safari in an open game drive vehicle guided by your game ranger, searching for Lion, Elephant, Giraffe and Hippo amongst many other species in the park.

After the safari, we dine on South African traditional fare in an open Boma, around a large wood fire, under the African night sky. 

Following the buffet dinner we depart from the reserve and return to Port Elizabeth and your accommodation at approx 21:30 – 22:00 hrs

Overnight guesthouse, lunch, dinner, bed and breakfast

Cape Recife lighthouse
Cape Recife lighthouse tours

Day 6

Transfer (for own account) to Port Elizabeth airport for your outbound flight and the end of your tour.

The package includes:

  • 5 night accommodation, bed & breakfast
  • 2 days at sea (covering Algoa Bay and beyond)
  • 1 day safari to Addo Elephant National Park
  • 1 day tour to Cape Recife Nature Reserve etc
  • Transfers from / to accommodation
  • Entrance / conservation fees
  • Meals as per itinerary
  • Game drives in the National Park in tour vehicle
  • Game drive in private game reserve in open vehicle
  • Bottled waters

Not included:

  • Flight
  • Travel insurance
  • Evening meals
  • Bar bills
  • Personal shopping
  • Tips/Gratuities

Rate per person sharing: R 19 900.00

Minimum 4 persons

Single supplement applies

You are welcome to extend your stay by choosing any of the various add-on-tours

private reserve game drives

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