Thermalling – South Africa
January 20, 2027 – January 29, 2027
Who runs it?
Is it for you?
Do you want to spend half of February (the most depressing month of the year) in the South African sunshine? Do you want to build up your airtime and confidence in reliable summer conditions? Do you want to soar next to the sea spotting dolphins playing in the surf? Do you want to finish the day chatting about your flights while you watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean?
The answer is obviously yes! So if you’re a newer pilot wanting to build your thermalling skills or a more experienced pilot just looking for a chilled out winter break, this is the perfect trip for you!
Requirements
About the trip
We’ve explored all over the world for the perfect winter destination and we’ve found nowhere as reliable as South Africa.
South Africa’s Garden Route is one of the best places we’ve found in the world for low airtime and rusty pilots to build their airtime and thermalling skills at this time of year. With friendly launches and landing zones, easy access to both soaring and thermalling sites, a reliable climate and plenty to do on the rare non-flyable days.
During the week our focus is to get you as much airtime as possible, improve your thermalling, and really focus on building your confidence and fine tuning all your flying skills.
Trip schedule
20th January – arrival at George airport.
21st January – 28th January – we have eight days to fly, fly, fly! We usually have a briefing after breakfast before heading out to fly. We regularly fly a couple of different sites in a day. Once we’ve had enough, we head back to the accommodation for a sunset drink before heading out for dinner.
29th January – return to George airport.
Flights
You can fly to either Cape Town or Johannesburg airports. There are direct flights to both these airports from Heathrow with British Airways and Virgin. There are also great value flights with Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa and other airlines with a change along the way.
You’ll need to get an internal connection to George. There are several local airlines flying these routes. We’ll be dropping you back to Cape Town so you can fly directly home from there.
It’s also worth considering adding some extra days onto your trip to experience some of South Africa’s many tourist attractions.
Accommodation
We’ll be staying in a newly renovated guest house right next to the beach, with a launch at the end of the road.
Rooms will be single occupancy included in the price.
Breakfast is included.
Cost
£1600
The trip cost includes
Contact us to book. Your place will only be confirmed once we have received your deposit of £350. The balance is due eight weeks before the trip.
“I’ve come away feeling that I’ve had a really good holiday, an amazing time in the air, spent time with a group of very lovely people, and having learnt a huge amount at the same time. I was pretty nervous coming away, the whole idea of the trip seemed pretty daunting, but from the start Amy & Tiger provided such a safe environment to fly within that I felt a lot less nervous and was able to relax, focus on the flying, and enjoy myself. I really appreciated the briefings at the landings so I knew what to expect, and at take-off I appreciated the calm adjustments and advice. It was great to have time to try things out, and play with the wings.“