When it comes to adventure, geographic achievements and humanitarian efforts, it’s hard to outdo South Africa’s father-and-son explorers, Kingsley and Ross Holgate and their veteran team, who have recently completed their 41st expedition.
This latest quest – a year-long, 62,000-kilometre journey called ‘Afrika Odyssey’ – reached some of the wildest and most remote regions on the continent. Utilising two diesel-powered Defender 130s, the Holgate expedition team endured extreme weather and brutal terrain on a mission to connect 22 diverse wildlife areas in 12 countries spanning more than 20-million hectares, which are managed by conservation NGO African Parks in partnership with national governments.
“Over the past 30 years, we’ve witnessed the frightening loss of Africa’s pristine landscapes and iconic wildlife,” said Kingsley. “For many years we’ve been asking the question: is there hope for Africa’s wild spaces and unique fauna and flora, as well as for the communities that depend on them? That’s what spawned the idea for this expedition.”
“The good news is we’ve seen first-hand, the incredible work being done across Africa to protect and restore vast tracts of wilderness, and stop wildlife poaching, illegal logging and mining. We’ve heard gut-wrenching, personal stories of loss from rangers on the front line, alongside uplifting stories of hope that bear witness to the revival happening thanks to proactive governments, and the positive impact this is having on both conservation and communities.”
The expedition had to traverse 22 countries to reach all geographic locations. Starting in the Iona desert plains of Angola, it crossed seven southern African countries, reached the highest and furthest source of the Nile in the Nyungwe forests of Rwanda, tackled dense rainforests in the DRC and Republic of Congo and war-ravaged regions in South Sudan and the CAR, traversed the length of Cameroon to reach Chad and the Ennedi massif in the Sahara Desert close to the border with Libya, before navigating through volatile areas of Nigeria to reach the north of Benin in West Africa, which is on the frontline of jihadist insurgency spilling over from Burkina Faso and Niger.
“Never before have we experienced such harsh and difficult conditions,” said Kingsley’s son Ross, who has taken on the mantle of expedition leader. “From record flooding in Uganda and the DRC that turned dirt tracks into rivers, to pothole-infested, treacherous roads to reach Juba in South Sudan, which is prone to banditry and land mines. Some routes were just a whirlwind of chaos as were remote border crossings, many of which had seldom seen overland travellers. Throw into the mix the world’s largest desert, the Sahara: now that’s a test for man and machine, as temperatures soared well over 50°C day after day. It was a constant job of inflating and deflating tyres as sand dunes gave way to sharp rocks; we were amazed at how the heavily-loaded Defenders just kept on going, despite the extreme heat and terrain.”
The expedition also provided humanitarian support to 100,000 people in communities adjacent to each wildlife area, in particular malaria prevention for pregnant women and mothers with young children.
“The unusually high rainfall in East and Central Africa has escalated malaria cases, especially amongst pregnant women and young children. Tragically, statistics show that on average, 1320 children die daily from this killer disease,” continued Ross.
“But sometimes, it felt like we were risking our lives to save lives, as every member of the expedition team also contracted malaria. We know from personal experience just how deadly malaria can be, so along with education on malaria prevention, we distributed more than 15,880 long lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets. With one mosquito net protecting on average a mum and two children, that’s 47,650 people kept safe from malaria on this expedition alone.”
In addition, 2250 eye tests and reading glasses were provided to poor-sighted people in deeply remote areas. “It’s incredibly heartwarming to witness the transformation a simple pair of spectacles makes especially for elderly people, as they are able to become productive members of their communities again,” observed Kingsley.
He went on to explain that the expedition also reached thousands of children through a vibrant, educational Wildlife Art programme, saying, “Children are the future guardians of these critically important natural areas, so it’s important they know from an early age about the values of caring for their environment.”
African symbolism is always a key element. The Holgate’s well-travelled Zulu calabash collected symbolic water from all 22 locations and the expedition carried a 250-page ‘Scroll of Hope for Conservation’, which now contains thousands of inspiring messages handwritten by community members, park rangers, health workers, teachers and government envoys across Africa. This enormous book has been handed over to African Parks as a unique legacy of the Afrika Odyssey expedition.
“When we started out on this mission to find stories of hope for Africa’s wildlife, wild spaces and the communities that depend on them, to be honest we weren’t sure what to expect – or if we’d find anything to celebrate.” said Ross.
“We found plenty. Despite the incredibly tough conditions, we feel very privileged to have journeyed to parts of the continent that we’ve never experienced before, and to have met thousands of extraordinary individuals all committed to preserving what makes Africa so unique and special, for future generations.”
