HermanusTimes

A production company based in the Netherlands, an internet platform and information hub for people with special needs and a sponsor chose South Africa as the location to shoot a reality TV show, Expedition Unlimited, based on the popular series The Amazing Race screened on SABC 2.

Instead of the usual mix of couples and groups of family members this show pairs disabled people with able-bodied models from diverse backgrounds in five groups of two. Each team represented a colour in the South African flag.

The challenges the teams face have been infused with South African culture and even the tokoloshe has been brought into the mix. While many South Africans would shudder at the thought, these contestants battle one another in the challenges for the prized tokoloshe figurine that ensures them a head-start in the race to follow.

Participants are required to race between 10 and 15 km in custom-designed tandem bicycles with two seats next to each other, adapted to the disabled participants' needs. Among the disabled contestants is an international basketball player who lost both of his legs, a paralysed man and a woman with no arms while the show's presenter is also a paraplegic.

The teams and the film crew set off on their South African journey from Cape Town a week ago and used Hermanus as their base for two days.

On Sunday the teams had to complete a challenge in Kalkbay. Teams were told to retrieve crates filled with fish from the seabed.

After bringing the crates back to shore, teams then had to sell the fish at the local harbour. The team who managed to sell the most fish received the tokoloshe and a headstart on Monday when participants raced from Hermanus to Elim. There the proceeds from the previous day's challenge (R1 000) was donated to a centre for disabled children.

According to local occupational therapist Karin Coetzee, the Eye-to-Eye-Media production company and Kees van der Eijk from YUUB - an internet platform (Your Ultimate Unlimited Bridge), chose South Africa for the show because it is a country that epitomises people from different backgrounds and cultures living and working together. Another drawcard was the vast changes in climate and variations in scenery that can be found in South Africa. After their time spent in the Western Cape, teams can still look forward to travelling through Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

Coetzee told the Hermanus Times that Van der Eijk contacted her after coming across her website, www.disabledtravel.co.za offering disabled foreigners and South Africans assistance in finding accommodation and means of travel suited to their needs.

Surprised at how many hotels and guesthouses in South Africa are geared to receive disabled travellers, Van Eijk and Coetzee have already partnered to put together special packages for people with disabilities aimed at 2010.

While this exposure is a huge boost for South Africa's tourism industry, Coetzee adds that she has found that only approximately 22% of South African accommodation claiming to be disabled-friendly actually is and says that we still have a lot of work to do if we want to place ourselves firmly on the disabled adventure seekers' map.