{"id":19606,"date":"2024-02-27T15:45:21","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T13:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/?p=19606"},"modified":"2024-02-27T15:45:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T13:45:21","slug":"afrika-odyssey-update-on-the-kingsley-holgate-expedition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/places-of-interest\/afrika-odyssey-update-on-the-kingsley-holgate-expedition\/","title":{"rendered":"Afrika Odyssey – update on the Kingsley Holgate Expedition\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legendary South Africa-based explorer Kingsley Holgate and his team are two-thirds of the way through their 41st<\/sup>\u00a0humanitarian and geographic expedition which began in June\u00a02023, and are now gearing up to reach some of the wildest and most isolated regions in central, north and west Africa.<\/p>\n

Utilising new Defender 130s, the Afrika Odyssey expedition that began in June 2023, has already surpassed 40,000 kilometres along some of the most treacherous routes in Africa, withstanding torrential rains, excessive heat, and record floods in the past eight months.<\/p>\n

\"Road<\/a>
Road to Malawi crossing the Lungawa river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This\u00a0expedition is delving into the wild heart of 12 diverse African countries and\u00a0has a strong conservation,\u00a0culture, and community\u00a0focus. The aim is to reach 22 unique wildlife reserves, managed by the conservation NGO African Parks in partnership with the government of each country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past 30 years of adventuring in every country on the continent, we\u2019ve come to realise that Africa\u2019s iconic biodiversity and wildlife is under immense threat,\u201d said Kingsley. \u201cFor a long time, we\u2019ve been asking the question: is there hope for Africa\u2019s wild spaces as well as the people who depend on it, in the face of burgeoning global demand for natural resources?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what spawned the idea for this expedition and there\u2019s good news. We\u2019ve been privileged to see first-hand the incredible work being done to protect and restore vast tracts of wilderness and the frontline fight against criminal networks that profit from illegal trade in wildlife, logging, and mining.\u00a0 We\u2019ve 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 in many countries thanks to proactive governments, and the positive impact it is having on both wildlife and neighbouring communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rwanda<\/a>
Rwanda Akagera NP roadblock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The expedition has now reached 15 of the 22 wildlife regions on their list. Starting in the northern tip of the Namib desert at Iona National Park in south-western Angola, it has journeyed through nine national parks in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi; reached the furthest and highest source of the White Nile in the mountainous rainforests of Nyungwe in Rwanda; tackled a difficult route to two remote wildlife parks in South Sudan; and nearly lost the expedition Defenders to the worst floods in 20 years at Garamba national park in the remote north-eastern corner of the DRC.<\/p>\n

\"Malawi<\/a>
Malawi Majete NP welcome to the Afrika Odyssey expedition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Afrika Odyssey expedition is also providing humanitarian support to communities living alongside these wildlife regions.\u00a0\u201cUnusually high rainfall in the East and Central African regions have escalated malaria cases, especially in young children and babies,\u201d said expedition leader Ross Holgate. \u201cThe whole team also contracted malaria whilst in East Africa and we know from personal experience how deadly malaria can be. So, we\u2019ve distributed over 7,600 long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to date on this journey. With one mosquito net protecting on average a mum and two children, that\u2019s nearly 23,000 people safe from malaria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rwanda<\/a>
Rwanda Akagera NP malaria prevention Anna Holgate and mums<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rwanda<\/a>
Rwanda Akagera NP reading glasses for the elderly Ross Holgate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also provided 1,800 reading glasses to poor-sighted, mostly elderly people in these isolated areas. Additionally, conservation education forms an integral part of this expedition. Through our Wildlife Art programme, we\u2019ve helped educate thousands of children living alongside African Parks-managed protected areas about the values of caring for their environment. They are the future guardians of these wildlife gems and it\u2019s important to pass on the baton of conservation, to ensure they continue to benefit from Africa\u2019s wildlife resources in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DRC<\/a>
DRC Garamba NP Wildlife Art<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAhead lies the most difficult part of the expedition, to reach seven wildlife regions in Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Benin,\u201d continued Ross. \u201cWe\u2019ll be tackling dense rainforest conditions, difficult river crossings, vast desert and rocky mountain terrain where water and fuel will be hard to come by, as well as potential security threats. The logistical issues for this chapter are extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran expedition member \u2018Shova Mike\u2019 Nixon, one of only three people in the world to have completed all 19 Cape Epic mountain bike races, will attempt to cycle 600 kilometres on a specially-adapted Evo-bike through Chad\u2019s Sahel and Sahara desert to reach the World Heritage Site of Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve near the Libyan border.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnnedi is said to be the most beautiful part of the Sahara but I\u2019m expecting a hard, physical test with powdery soft sand and temperatures above 40\u2019C,\u201d said Mike. \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve researched, this route hasn\u2019t been attempted before by bicycle; hopefully it becomes another \u2018first\u2019 that adds an extra level of adventure and excitement to the expedition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Malawi<\/a>
Malawi Nkhotakota ranger sign the Afrika Odyssey Scroll for Conservation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Afrika Odyssey\u2019s Scroll for Conservation \u2013 with hundreds of pages already filled with inspiring messages from community\u00a0leaders and beneficiaries, park rangers, conservation partners and government envoys \u2013 \u00a0will also complete the journey, as will the well-travelled Zulu calabash that is collecting symbolic water from all 22 African Parks-managed protected areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust that the Zen of Travel will continue to ride with us,\u201d concluded Kingsley. \u201cWe need to\u00a0showcase the inspirational potential of Africa\u2019s people and wild places \u2013 it is not all doom and gloom. We\u2019re raring to go for chapter three of this incredible journey, continuing the humanitarian work, and meeting more passionate individuals who are dedicating their lives to this beautiful continent\u2019s wild heart and rural communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow the expedition on Facebook:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KingsleyHolgateFoundation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legendary South Africa-based explorer Kingsley Holgate and his team are two-thirds of the way through their 41st\u00a0humanitarian and geographic expedition which began in June\u00a02023, and are now gearing up to reach some of the wildest and most isolated regions in central, north and west Africa. Utilising new Defender 130s, the Afrika Odyssey expedition that began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2517],"tags":[6085,5910,6086,6084,2607],"class_list":["post-19606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-places-of-interest","tag-african-parks","tag-conservation","tag-environment","tag-kingsley-holgate","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}