Natural Wanders is…
a walking tour business specialising in unique, small-group journeys on beautiful trails in the Western Cape. We strive to create tours that are as spectacular as Cape Town while celebrating the city’s unique history, people and wonders.
Our platform allows us to help local communities enjoy our natural wilderness too, which is the fire that fuels our journey.
The Natural Wanders Ecosystem
We’re on a mission to create an ecosystem where the Three Pillars of Natural Wanders are interconnected, yet also independent. We strive to;
Tell Great Stories
Cape Town is an explosion of diverse life and colour at the tip of Africa. There are incredible stories, and characters, around every corner. Through the stories we share, we want to shine a light on our tours…
2. Lead World-Class Tours
These aspire to enchant our guests, spark wonder, leave lasting memories, create jobs and help to establish Cape Town as a world-class destination. Ultimately, our tours can be used to benefit local initiatives too…
3. Support Local Initiatives
We want everyone in Cape Town to be able to access its natural wonders and reap the therapeutic benefits and spiritual nourishment of spending time in nature. Through these partnerships, we can help these initiatives tell their own stories, which allows us, in turn, to improve our own storytelling. We support;
Sentinel Ocean Alliance - runs comprehensive and immersive programmes that provide one-of-a-kind ocean education and ocean immersion experiences to the underprivileged youth of South Africa’s coastal communities.
Earthchild Project - Offers complimentary education to under-resourced schools with a focus on the environment, health and self-development and leadership. Their eco-warrior program is popular and features yoga, gardening and hiking.
About the Founder
Hi, my name is Matthew Sterne, I’m a travel writer, hiking guide and natural wanderer
from Cape Town.
I took my first steps down this path in my early 20s when I decided to go on a “gap decade” and worked my way around the world, doing seasonal work and specialising in unskilled labour.
I worked for a pub crawl in Amsterdam, an ice cream factory in Norway and as a door-to-door lightbulb exchanger in Melbourne. I volunteered at a turtle sanctuary in Nicaragua, a camel safari in India and a newspaper in Colombia.
I moved with the seasons, lived hand to mouth (for large parts without a phone or bank account - a non-digital nomad, you might say) and wrote a book about my travels.
Upon returning to Cape Town, I worked as a travel journalist for 10 years, five at Getaway Magazine, South Africa’s oldest and largest travel magazine. I became fascinated by the relationship between tourism, conservation and community upliftment. And how they have the potential to feed into each other.
I’ve realised that great storytelling can be a key that unlocks it all.
On my assignments for Getaway – on the dusty Limpopo back roads, remote Drakensberg peaks or the banks of the Tugela River – I discovered that South Africa is even more beautiful than I could ever imagine, and blessed with genuinely warm and loving people.
Our people and natural beauty are our greatest riches and sharing this through tourism is one of the best ways to create jobs, develop understanding, and take steps towards a better society.
With this in mind, Natural Wanders was born.