



The Call of the Wild - back to Africa

HERO-ERA launches Classic Safari 2027
*Spellbinding driving extravaganza, Namibia - Botswana - South Africa, will
captivate crews
*Exclusive rally will major on magical African Experience with limited competition
HERO-ERA are going back to the magical Continent of Africa for the first time since 2017
in what promises to be an exclusive and spellbinding rally trip from the dry desert of
Namibia to Botswana, Eswatini and South Africa. Entrants will be immersed in a total
African experience.
With limited competition, the 28-day 6,500-kilometre Classic Safari Rally in February
2027 will offer all the highlights the Continent has to offer. Fantastic driving roads,
National Parks, Game Drives, Lions, Elephants, Whale watching, Deserts, Mountains,
Waterfalls, Jungles and the Veldt. Teams will stay in Game Lodges and boutique hotels
after a day of great driving, including competitive regularities, and at some venues they
will take in both sunrise and early evening Game Drives to view the incredible wildlife.
The Continent of Africa produces a special magic that leaves you spellbound. To sip a
sundowner as the orange glow over the Veldt fades, giving way to twilight and a chorus
of wild animal calls, is guaranteed to send tingles down anyone's spine. After driving
some brilliant dirt roads with some competitive regularities, teams will be off again, this
time on a Game Drive as the sun rises from some of the wonderful Game Lodges where
they have been resting.
The 28-day 6,500kms route will encompass many African highlights, but at the same
time follow the safest routes possible to enable competitors to share this unique and
exclusive African experience as it comes to life. Crews in cars with their hoods down will
breathe in the intoxicating mix that is Africa.
The event will start in the dry heat of Namibia, travelling from Swakopmund to the great
sand dunes of Sossusvlei, secret Namibia, and then the capital Windhoek which leads to
the first game park at Etosha before heading into Botswana and the Popa Falls on day
seven.From Popa Falls, crews will have the chance to drive through the Chobe National Park,
which has a huge elephant population before stopping at Kasane. Kasane is the
gateway to the amazing game viewing experience of the Okavango Delta, unique even
by African standards.
The highlights of Botswana continue with a visit to Nata and the opportunity to
experience the African Salt Flats of Makgadikgadi Pans.
Rally crews will have already enjoyed some competition over desert and dirt tracks and
there will be more opportunities as the event heads into South Africa.
The South African province of Natal offers more great driving after day 13, but the
wonderful private reserves of Sabi Sands and Phinda offer tremendous game viewing
and excellent lodges. Umhlanga and its rocks is a renowned coastal location for sights
and hospitality, where Indian cuisine is a highlight in the Durban area.
Staying coastal, the now eastern rally route will offer some spectacular roads with the
chance to enjoy more fun behind the wheel on a few regularities before heading inland
for the final game viewing experience at the beautiful Shamwari Private Game Reserve.
Heading further down the ocean there will be the chance of some whale watching at
Hermanus before a visit to the beautiful vineyards of Stellenbosch on the penultimate
night of day 27.
The Classic Safari will finish in Cape Town along the V&A Waterfront, simply the best
location for a celebratory finish of one of the best rally and topographical life
experiences HERO-ERA offers.
Route Master for the rally, Kim Bannister, commented;
"Game viewing in Africa is truly an
experience that you will never forget. Watching a lioness as she walks past your jeep so
close that you can reach out and stroke her, or stopping to watch elephants cross a river,
are memories that you will carry forever. Africa gets into your soul.
”
The Chairman of HERO-ERA, Tomas de Vargas Machuca expressed his pleasure with the
fact that his Historic Motoring Events Company was returning to Africa for the first time
in ten years in 2027.Tomas said: "This is one of the few motoring opportunities that allows us to explore
authentic landscapes with the diversity of regions and geology. Namibia is very different
to Botswana, Eswatini and Natal in South Africa, with cultural and geographical
changes to enjoy in relatively safe areas of the African continent, which is important.
Most of these regions have been aspirational locations for as long as we can remember
but are still largely unexplored by the vast majority of people, and certainly not within
the backdrop of our classic car passion.”
For more information on the Classic Safari, or other HERO-ERA Rallies, please contact
Tony Jardine, Communications Director: tony@hero-era.com