South African heart-throbs Janez Vermeiren and Siv Ngesi have travelled to some of the world’s exotic places in a cheeky new travel and lifestyle show.
Wingin’ It, is a locally produced series which sees the duo jetting off to foreign cities with no plan, no itinerary and only 48 hours to see, taste and experience the best of each far-flung location.
“This is not your ordinary show,” said Vermeiren.
“We don’t visit your usual run-of-the-mill travel spots.
“We specifically penned the locations that are usually ignored by travellers, but are full of culture and rich heritage,” said Vermeiren.
The show is a 24-minute, fast-paced plunge into the world’s most fascinating and electric destinations, seen through the eyes of the two diverse and intrinsically competitive buddies.
“Siv and I go back way back.
“And I thought who better than Siv to do a travel show with.
“He has a zest for life and loves travelling just as much as I do.
“We get to do what we love and we share that on screen with viewers which is even better,” he said.
During the series, Vermeiren and Ngesi visit places that include Baku, Ho Chi Minh City, Istanbul, Havana and Mexico City.
In each location they visit the local spots and do activities unique to the specific country.
“In Azerbaijan we bathe in crude oil as a spa treatment – they say it’s supposed to be good for the skin and was done centuries ago by the Russians. “In Japan we sumo wrestled and got to use a samurai sword that was 250 years old and in Istanbul we took on a gold medallist.
“We even bumped into David Beckham in Bangkok.
“In each country we tried to tackle activities that were unique to the country.
“And although we couldn’t do everything we wanted to because of time-frames and budgets, we still show the viewers what can be done on a budget,” he said.
Another feature on the show is the informative pop-ups on the screen which give exciting and quirky facts about the country as well as prices if viewers want to travel.
“All the destinations we visit are affordable to travel to if you are able to travel abroad,” said Vermeiren.
According to him, viewers are in for a roller-coaster of a ride with a little something for everyone.
“You will laugh your head off, it’s just two regular guys who take to the streets with their backpacks hoping to experience life like one of the locals – we’re just wingin’ it. It’s cool, it’s fun and it’s 100% organic,” he said.
Ngesi said the most important thing for him was the life-changing experiences he got from travelling.
“I personally feel that it should somehow be compulsory for everyone to get out and travel.
“Simply making human connections with perfect strangers along the way is the stuff that builds real character,” he said.
According to Ngesi Wingin’ It is a travel show like no other.
“It’s like travelling on steroids… The series is high paced, informative and has so many laughs. It’s the future of travel shows,” he said.
Wingin’ It started on M-Net last Sunday at 5pm.
* Follow the conversation on Twitter @MNet with the hashtag #WingingItSA.
