After a one-year sabbatical, Southern Africa’s iconic Expedition Africa adventure race will return with their ‘Back to the Berg’ themed event.

This multi-day, non-stop expedition adventure race will take pairs and four-person teams back into the Drakensberg mountains, an area last visited by this race back in 2013.

After hosting the AR World Series World Championship in October 2023 and an expedition in Namibia in May 2024, Expedition Africa changed hands with event founders Heidi and Stephan Muller passing the baton to Franco Olivier, Damon de Boor and Malusi Molewa.
Course directors Olivier and de Boor missed out on the 2013 edition of Expedition Africa that was held in the Drakensberg and attended by numerous international teams and photographers.

“I wish I had been there,” Olivier says wistfully.

He explains that the region through which the 500-kilometre racecourse will pass offers much in terms of significant historical sites, variety in terrain and ecological diversity, a multitude of waterways, and the iconic majesty of the towering Drakensberg Mountains.
“We are enjoying the challenge of planning a course for Expedition Africa’s return in 2026 that the teams will find interesting, stimulating and rewarding.”

Drakensberg is an Afrikaans word meaning ‘dragon mountain’. The Dutch settlers that first set eyes on the imposing mountains thought that the range’s jagged peaks and profile resembled the scaly spine of a dragon. In Zulu, another of South Africa’s official languages and the cultural people of this region, the range is called ‘uKhahlamba’, which means ‘barrier of spears’ for the sharp pinnacles that look like up-pointing spears.

Giving her support and encouragement to the new owners of Expedition Africa, Heidi Muller says, “We are so proud that Franco, Damon and Malusi, people who have put so much into the sport through their participation, organising events, sponsorship of teams and events, and development of new participants over the past decade, are now behind Expedition Africa”.

She adds that numerous race directors have come up through the ranks to complement the strong adventure racing community that has been developed over many years.

Entries open on 1 March 2025 and pairs and four-person teams are invited to submit their entries. Teams can expect to cover around 500-kilometres by mountain bike, on foot and kayak. The course will include a ropework section, and every leg is connected through the discipline of map-and-compass navigation to locate checkpoints and transition areas. This is a non-stop event, where teams decide when they want to sleep, and for how long, on their race to the finish. The fastest teams are expected to take four days; back markers have six days to enjoy their journey to the finish.

For seasoned adventure racers and newcomers to the sport of adventure racing that participate in Expedition Africa 2026, the Drakensberg will be the perfect backdrop to test limits, forge new friendships, and create lifelong memories.

Dates: 13–23 March 2026
Location: Alpine Heath Resort, Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Entries open 1 March 2025
www.expafrica.net/EA2026
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