AARDWOLF Adventures

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AARDWOLF Adventures

Born from a love of the outdoors, AARDWOLF is for those who choose adventure, wherever it leads. Get out there. Learn as you go. Carry what matters. AARDWOLF

AARDWOLF is just the two of us and the way we experience being outdoors.

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Hannelie · AARD
Born 3 March 1983. She notices things. Patterns, symbols, small details most people walk past. She tends to sit with meaning a bit longer. Water grounds her. Birds are teachers. The number three keeps showing up. Not just a number, more a rhythm that follows her. Cinnamon on everything. Amarula coffee.

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Rudi · WOLF
Born 25 December 1979. Drawn to open ground and places that ask something of you. He leads without making noise about it. Just shows up, stays steady, keeps moving. That instinct sits at the core of AARDWOLF. Chocolate cake is non-negotiable.

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AARDWOLF
We don’t chase distance or tick boxes. We go to slow down, to notice more, and to spend time in places that remind us what matters.

21/08/2026

As the day cooled, camp came alive again. The kettle went on, followed by the fire. We had coffee on the rocks while the sun still held some warmth, then a quick dip in a hot KolKol. When the light finally faded, jackets came on and we drifted closer together.

What’s your favourite campfire moment: first coffee, or last light around the fire?

19/08/2026

We didn’t come out here to cover distance, we came to notice what was living and growing all around us, which is why we kept stopping to look a little closer.

When was the last time you went for a walk just to see what you might discover?

17/08/2026

Two years ago today, on 17 August 2024, my heart stopped for 15 minutes. I was resuscitated and defibrillated twice.

The recovery that followed took months physically, and much longer mentally. It changed how Hannelie and I think about time, how we spend it and who we spend it with.

We started making a more deliberate effort to get outdoors. To camp, hike, explore new places and slow down long enough to appreciate where we were and who was there with us.

AARDWOLF grew from that change, and we did not start it because we had life figured out. We started it because we had been reminded just how quickly life can change.

My own life has moved between difficult times and incredible experiences: sinus thrombosis, pulmonary embolisms, open-heart surgery and cardiac arrest, intertwined with marrying and building a life with Hannelie, raising two ambitious children, summitting Kilimanjaro twice, hiking the Fish River Canyon and completing many ultra endurance races.

The lows and the highs have never arrived separately. They have always been part of the same life, and each has taught me to appreciate the other.

Today, I celebrate the people who were there when my heart stopped, through my surgery and hospitalisation, during the months of physical recovery and throughout the mental recovery that followed.

I also celebrate being given more time. More time with my family. More mornings outside. More nights around a fire. More opportunities to explore, learn and make memories together.

That is what AARDWOLF means to us.

16/08/2026

Forget basic trail lunches, Hannelie doesn’t do them. We found the slightest bit of shade, she unpacked the cheese board, and suddenly no one was in a hurry to move on.

What’s your ultimate trail snack setup: simple grab-and-go or a full picnic in the wild?

14/08/2026

We set out to explore the surrounding area, but soon found ourselves stopping frequently as Cape sugarbirds and various sunbirds moved through the fynbos. We quickly realised this was not going to be a fast walk, and honestly, we didn’t want it to be.

What’s the last place that made you slow down and just take it all in?

31/07/2026

Field Note 07 - West Coast Sunset

We thought the show was over when the sun slipped below the horizon.

It wasn’t.

For the next thirty minutes the sky kept changing. Every few minutes there was a different combination of colours, and every time we thought it couldn’t get better, it did.

29/07/2026

Field Note 06 | Following a Call

Some camp evenings have a rhythm to them.

The fire’s going, someone is making coffee or pouring a drink, jackets come out as the sun disappears behind the mountains, and everyone slowly settles in for the night.

That evening started no differently.

I was preparing the braai while Hannelie and Jaime disappeared into the caravan to find something warmer to wear.

Then I heard it. Just a single bird call.

I couldn’t tell you exactly why it caught my attention, only that it didn’t sound familiar. Instead of carrying on, I wandered up the hill behind camp to see if I could work out where it had come from.

I stopped and looked into one particular tree, and there it was.

An owl.

The light was already fading, and before I could even think about a photograph, it swept silently across camp.

I ran down the hill and called for Hannelie to bring the Canon and tripod while I tried to keep it in sight.

What followed wasn’t a chase. It was more like being invited to follow along.

The owl would settle, we’d quietly move a little closer, take a few photographs, film a little, and then it would move again.

Each time it landed, the scene somehow became a little better.

Eventually we were right up against the river, and the owl chose a completely open perch with the mountains behind it and the last of the evening light falling across its face.

If we’d been allowed to choose the perfect place ourselves, we couldn’t have done any better.

For almost an hour we stood there in the cold, quietly taking photographs and mostly just observing.

Eventually there wasn’t enough light left for either the camera or our eyes.

We packed everything away and walked back to camp in the dark.

We almost spent that evening around the fire. Instead, we spent it following an owl.

Funny how an ordinary evening around the fire can change because of one sound we decided not to ignore.

06/07/2026

Reflections from Tweede Tol | 06 | Carry What Matters

Somewhere between the river, the hikes and the campfire conversations, you remember what it means to carry what matters.

Get out there.
Learn as you go.
Carry what matters.

03/07/2026

Reflections from Tweede Tol | 05 | Not Quite Ready to Leave

By the last morning, none of us were really in a rush to leave yet.

Get out there.
Learn as you go.
Carry what matters.

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Dwarsberg Trout Hideaway

6845

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