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The NSRI says the two tourists reported missing in Natures Valley on the Garden Route have been airlifted to safety after being located by the Skymed rescue helicopter.
NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, says Plettenberg Bay Mountain Rescue Club members assisted with hoisting them into the Skymed rescue helicopter on Saturday morning before they were flown to the Joint Operations Command Centre set up at the Forest Hall Platform in natures Valley.
"It appears, from their reports, that the two men may have missed a turning while hiking along a path on the hiking trail causing them to walk into a barely accessible area of the Salt Rock vicinity, Natures Valley, and they may have lost their way," he said.
"When night fell they bunkered down for the night rather than attempting to negotiate the unfamiliar terrain in the dark. They were able to make a fire, remained in good spirits and they slept."
Lambinon says they were spotted from the air by the Skymed rescue helicopter during the ongoing search on Saturday morning.
"Yolann de Boeve', 24, from Belgium, and Kwangnam Kim, 33, from South Korea, are both on an approximately months holiday in South Africa. They were found in good spirits, a bit hungry, with a few minor scratches and bruises, but are otherwise not injured," he said.
Lambinon also praised the staff of the Wild Spirit Backpackers Lodge, at The Crags, Natures Valley, Plettenberg Bay, for raising the alarm early.
