Kingsley Holgate starts 41st Africa expedition

Humanitarian adventurer, author and Land Rover ambassador Kingsley Holgate and his team this week left from the Lesedi cultural village in Lanseria, Johannesburg, on an eight-month expedition into the African continent behind the wheel of the new Defender 130.

Forty times in 30 years the travel veteran has criss-crossed this continent on various philanthropic missions, including distributing mosquito nets for malaria prevention measures, disaster relief missions, provision of eye tests and reading glasses to the poor-sighted (mostly elderly people) and much more.

His latest excursion, titled Afrika Odyssey, is a collaboration with African Parks — the nonprofit conservation organisation manages 22 national parks and protected areas across the continent covering over 20-million hectares.

In his 41st adventure the bearded legend is showcasing the pursuits of revival of critical biodiversity landscapes and iconic wildlife populations in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The route will connect all 22 African Parks across the continent.

“For many years, we’ve been asking the question: where can one find stories of hope for Africa’s critically needed wild places? Thankfully, there are powerful, positive stories emerging from across the African continent — uplifting narratives that need to be told,” says Holgate.

Holgate will document ancient indigenous cultures, traditions and historic places of interest on the challenging journey, and fill a Scroll of Peace and Goodwill with messages of support from traditional leaders, community beneficiaries, park rangers, conservation partners, government envoys, VIPs and other supporters met all along the way.

This journal will be presented to African Parks at the conclusion of the expedition, and used as a historic artefact that celebrates the gold standard of conservation at scale. His well-travelled Zulu Calabash will once again collect symbolic water from iconic rivers and lakes in each Park, to be emptied upon his return over a symbolic “Isivivane” (stone cairn) ceremony at African Parks’ head office in Johannesburg. The tale doesn’t end here.

This trip will also be the first expedition test on African soil for the new Defender 130. The model, which was recently launched in SA, is the largest of the range and stretches 5,358mm in length. It can seat up to eight people in three rows. Holgate and his travel mates will be using the potential 2,291l of loading space liberated when the rear seats are down, and a roof rack, to carry gear, nets and other adventure implements.

The pair of kitted-out Defender 130s have their off-road abilities enhanced by knobbly and tougher rubber, an intelligent all-wheel drive, terrain response system, and electronic and adjustable air suspension that provides up to 290mm of ground clearance and 430mm of articulation to clear obstacles, and up to 900mm of water fording ability. This should come in handy for the 30,000-plus kilometres through some of the harshest terrain and off-road routes expected.

“This expedition is going to be one of our most challenging journeys ever attempted. It’s not just the long distances we’ll be travelling on dirt roads, goat tracks and probably no tracks to reach all of the Parks,” said Ross Holgate, Kingsley’s son and the expedition’s leader.

“We’ll also be tackling dense Congo forests, heart-in-mouth, seat-of-your-pants river crossings, vast desert and rocky mountain terrain where water and fuel will be hard to come by, and wetlands that are near-impassable especially in rainy seasons.”

Mpyanep@businesslive.co.za