Circumnavigating Africa - follow the adventure

[Marc Lurie]

Hi All,

As you know, Kingsley Holgate and his family are circumnavigating Africa. He will be sending me regular updates as the expedition procedes. I'll post them here for your interest. If I get photo's I'll post them here too.

It should make interesting reading... they left on 27th April 2007, accompanied out of Cape Town by 347 Land Rovers, and they hope to complete the trip in about a year.

Marc

[Marc Lurie]

Update from Kingsley Holgate:



The Africa Outside Edge expedition’s objectives are clear, its to circumnavigate Africa in a clockwise direction by Land Rover and inflatable boats and at the same time to improve and save lives through adventure.



Up to a few weeks ago these were just words but now it’s for real. The filing of the Zulu calabash and the launch of the expedition from the Cape of Good Hope with a world record 347 Land Rovers escorting us out of the Mother City has set the scene for one of the most challenging expeditions of our lives. With Bloubergstrand, Langebaan and Lamberts Bay behind us we soon got into the real adventure using farm and diamond mining tracks to take us North into the Namaqualand strandveld.

As part of the humanitarian adventure we have been able to distribute mobile libraries to remote schools. This initiative is aptly called “Teaching on the Edge”. There’s also a “Right to Sight” programme in which readers are distributed to the poor sighted and the big one of course is the Motorola supported One Net One Life campaign in which tens of thousands of long lasting nets will be distributed to pregnant mothers and to children in remote areas where there are no regular health authorities. This malaria prevention work will only begin once the expedition reaches Angola. For now the challenge has been the “Teaching on the Edge” programme and then into the wildernis of the Sperrgebiet, the forbidden coast, only made possible special permissions from De Beers and the Namibian ministry of Environment and Tourism. It’s been an unbelievable privilege, old German diamond mining ghost towns, wrecks in the mist, tens and thousands of sea birds and Cape Fur seals.

Sliding the overloaded expedition Landies down the slip faces of some of the highest dunes in the world then clawing our way, sometimes digging, pushing and winching and always with engines screaming to the summit of the next one – then sliding down to the cold South Atlantic again, hugging the dunes the waves washing against the tyres and then to hep things along an East wind sandstorm. What a great adventure, black backed jackals around the fire at night, brown hyena feeding on Cape Fur seal pups, more whale bones and shipwrecks, Gemsbok in the desert and finally the 1915 lighthouse at Pelican point now its time for a hot shower – thanks again for all the support.



The next challenge is to reach the Kunene by following the Skeleton Coast – then its Angola – will keep you posted.

[Madoobri]

Nice one Marc, look forward to reading about Kingsley & co`s very worthwhile adventure ... pics would be great! :)

[K&S]

Cool stuff. Very descriptive; almost like being there. Wonder where they get the readers from Marc? Do you have any idea?

[Marc Lurie]

Wonder where they get the readers from Marc? Do you have any idea?
No idea Kevin. I'll try find out. Probably made in China.

Marc

[Marc Lurie]

Via satellite phone we get the latest news from the Greybeard himself.

“We can’t believe that it’s really a month since 347 Landies escorted us out from the Cape of Good Hope to commence this crazy circumnavigation of Africa,” shouts Kingsley into the satellite phone from the Skeleton Coast.

“Maybe we should have started with the East Coast instead of the West – this Skeleton Coast is not for the faint hearted. No wonder that early mariners called it the Coast of Death. Anyway, here we are, four Landies overloaded with Gemini inflatable boats and supplies, tyres down to one bar for the sand. We’re nine expedition members plus the Skeleton Coast game warden, Alwyn Engelbrecht, and wonderful characters Eric and Tanja Reinhardt, Kaokoland experts from Wilderness Safaris. It’s bloody freezing, the cold South Atlantic is upside down, the South Westerly is howling and we’re sitting huddled around a fire waiting for low tide so that we can push North up the beach to the Kunene River mouth. This 2 400 km coast of Namibia has provided an incredible challenge, extremely tough on Landies and crew. We’ve crossed the desolate Sperrgebiet – the forbidden diamond coast in the South and the great sand ocean of the ancient Namib, sliding the overloaded Landies down 100 metre dune slip faces, then foot flat clawing our way up the crest of the next, Atlantic on the left desert on the right. Shipwrecks, seals, jackals and brown hyena and the soo-oop-wa, the constant South Westerly that blows sand into your eyes, nose and food and in a moment covers up your tracks. But if you think we’ve got it tough how about the castaways from the Dunedin Star wrecked on the 30th November 1942 close to where we are now camped. As if being a passenger on an unescorted merchantman sailing U-Boat infested waters had not been enough, they had then been forced to brave the surf of the infamous Skeleton Coast. By the end of that day 63 people, including 8 women, 3 babies in arms and some elderly men were left cold and wet on this desolate beach. The ship’s motorized life boat lay high and dry and 500 metres away in the surf 43 crew were left marooned on the wreck of the Dunedin Star that slowly but surely was being battered to pieces by the Atlantic. Fortunately they got rescued by a passing ship but the castaways had to endure 4 weeks of Skeleton Coast hell. Using bits of driftwood they wrote messages in the sand and Captain Naudé, a dapper David Niven look-alike flying a 1942 twin engined Ventura bomber dropped car tubes of water and supplies from the sky. 17-year old Annabel Tailor wrote “face cream” in big letters, he waggled his wings in acknowledgement. Later in an attempt to rescue the women and children the brave pilot landed on a nearby saltpan – but then broke through the crust so adding a stranded bomber and crew to the Dunedin disaster. Much later in the saga Captain Naude repaired her and flew out but crashed into the surf. On the beach we find pieces of scattered fuselage, a tyre, some rusted landing gear and one of the 18 cylinder radial engines. Further south we had come across the mast of a wrecked tug – The Sir Charles Elliot sticking out of the sea and nearby on the shore the lonely grave of Mattias Koraseb, drowned whilst swimming a rescue line to shore. Acting on a SOS from the Dunedin Star the coal burning tug had been sent to assist but it too had become part of the Dunedin Star disaster.

In the mean time a police convoy of 18 men in two wheel drive 1940’s petrol driven Chevrolet trucks were pushing, pulling and digging its way up the Skeleton Coast to reach the castaways.
65 Years later we too struggle despite our modern Landies fitted with Old Man Emu suspensions, winches and built-in tire compressors. Imagine how it was for them, radiator caps popping, narrow tires peeling off the rims. They had only one hand pump for 36 tires and used bits of boot leather to keep it pumping. We know the only way to get through the sand is to let our down to 1 bar and then pump again to get over the razor sharp rocks of the basalt sections.

At the castaways camp we find bits of canvas and rope, old nails and planks, sand blasted bottles and rusty cans of British Army issue bully beef. How the castaways must have struggled. The eyes of the youngest, 13 month old Sidney had become so gummed up with sand that they feared he might loose his sight. Meanwhile by some miracle in the dry Khumib River, the relief convoy of trucks came upon the stranded survivors of the Sir Charles Elliot tug boat, they loaded them up and pushed north to finally rescue the Dunedin Star castaways.
The tide has turned, we must go. It’s Kunene or bust. We will keep you posted.

Kunene or Bust

Three days later… another satellite report from Kingsley. Foot flat to avoid getting stuck and zigzagging around rocks and incoming waves. Albatross swoop and dive in front of the Landies, seals wobble and flaps into the ocean ghost crabs gawk in amazement at our passing convoy. This is the nature of the outside edge.
Closer to Angola the dunes sweep down to touch the rocky plains above the ocean. The soo-oop-wa howls like never before and then in a moment we are there. Our Garmin GPS records the coordinates as S:17˚15.335’; E:011˚45.135’- mission accomplished. We’ve arrived at the end of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. We jump out of the Landies – it’s bitterly cold. Up goes our Africa Outside Edge flag, attached to the same piece of driftwood is also a simple hand drawn sign with the words KUNENE MOUTH.

Angola here we come

To stay true to circumnavigate Africa around the outside edge the Motorola supported expedition must where ever possible follow the coast. Now Angola and the north bank of the Kunene is only a kilometre away but there’s no way of getting the Landies across the fast flowing river mouth, so it’s a 12 day detour through Kaokaland to get back to the river at Ruacana, cross into Angola and then work all the way back to the north bank of the Kunene. We speak to Kingsley again this time from the expedition camp below the Ruacana Falls…We’ve really been fortunate to have been able to complete the entire coast of Namibia - it’s been a special privilege made possible by unique permissions from the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, NAMDEP diamond mines and Wilderness Safaris. We used the river beds of the Hoarusib and Khumib to detour out of the Skeleton Coast. Fresh water, makalali palms and ancient omborombonga leadwood trees. Traditional Himba girls endorsed the expedition Scroll of Peace and Goodwill with a simple red ochred handprint and we spent hours with the desert elephants of the Hoarusib, Himba tribes people danced in the dust and we distributed mosquito nets to mums with babies – they are the most vulnerable. We roll out our bedrolls under the stars – what a treat after the desolate windblown coast. Now it’s over and we’re back at the Kunene River ready to cross into Angola. Will keep you posted.

[Hubber]

Sounds a very interesting and exciting trip...;)

[Steve HNZ]

Thanks for these updates Marc, some more arm chair adventure to fill in the time till the kids get big enough to have our own. I've read the Holgates Cape to Cairo book & currently reading their book where they follow in the footsteps of the great Explorers. Looks like there'll be another one to look forward to.Yeh :)
I have a book about the Dunedin Star & the Skeleton cost is fairly familiar from the writings of Geoffrey Jenkins & the TV docos of Des & Jen (?), they who lived up the Hoasurib & filmed the desert elephabnts etc from their microlites.
Steve.

[Marc Lurie]

currently reading their book where they follow in the footsteps of the great Explorers.

I'm mentioned in the foreword of the book :) YAY, fame in New Zealand at last :yay:

I'll keep the updates coming as fast as Kingsley sends them.

Cheers,
Marc

[Steve HNZ]

Seeing as you've mentioned it ;) , there was a familiar name lept off the page at me in the acknowledgments. I'm not sick with envy at your proximity to such goings on, not much anyway:D :D .
It can't be all bad out here though, we seem to be getting a lot of ZAs turning up & they often seem to do pretty well. Us Kiwis will have to watch our backs.:)
Steve.

[Marc Lurie]

I have always had a lot of time for the Kiwis, and would love to visit the land of the long white cloud sometime. I also find that the ex South Africans who live in NZ are far nicer people than those who emigrated to Oz. But let's not go into that here...

Now if only we could figure out how to beat you more often at rugby...;)

[Steve HNZ]

I have always had a lot of time for the Kiwis, and would love to visit the land of the long white cloud sometime.

Its a nice bit of dirt in a quietly unexciting way, most of the time I like it like that. Would love to be able to extend some hospitality to you Marc.

I also find that the ex South Africans who live in NZ are far nicer people than those who emigrated to Oz. But let's not go into that here...

You're right, best we don't go there:D :D :D

Now if only we could figure out how to beat you more often at rugby...;)

With the world cup looming, I don't mind if you don't. Your Super 14 teams did very well this year & in truth I'm not sure that having the ABs out of our squads would have made that much difference. Bring it on!:)
Steve.

[Marc Lurie]

Here's a link to some video (http://www.getawaytoafrica.com/content/kingsley/videos-audio/index.asp) taken at the start of the expedition.

And here's a link to a decent website (http://www.getawaytoafrica.com/content/kingsley/index.asp) that will allow you to follow the adventure far better than I am able to provide on the forum.

I'll be posting the stuff that Kingsley send to me, and I'll post when there are changes to the Getaway website.

Cheers,
Marc

[El Stiemo]

Hi Marc,

thanks for the report, makes for very interesting reading! Yes indeed, our coast is one of the reasons why Namibia will never be a mass-tourism destination (and probably is the better off for it), except of course for all the Souseffricans...

By the way, our coast is also one very important factor in why this country became a German colony in the first place... The Portuguese and Dutch and British sailing along our coast could not be bothered to actually go and settle here (except for Walvis Bay) as the coast is one of the most desolate places you can imagine (well, you'd know, but others probably don't) and seeing as there was no big neon sign on the beach saying "please find millions of carats of diamonds here" they left this area well alone until the German Imperial government decided that it wanted to get in on the colonial bandwagon...

But I digress.

Will be very interested to see how they get on in Angola, because a lot of those areas in the southern part I know from previous trips.

Holding thumbs for the expedition!

Cheers Frank

[Marc Lurie]

Hi Frank,

I've just gotten off the phone with one of the Nandos guys who was with them in Angola. They made it through, and are now in Pointe Noire in the Congo-Brazzaville (ex French Congo).

It was tough going through Angola. There were times when they had terrible roads and did 300km in two days. Other times they did beach drives because the road was too far from the coast. They raced against the tides to get through before the water rose.

Eugene left the expedition to return to SA with another two vehicles. They were almost hijacked somewhere near Ganda after they slowed down to avoid a girl in the road. About eight guys ran towards them with AK-47's and told them to get out of the cars. Eugene just put foot, and they were out of there too fast for the guys to react.

That's one good thing about the Disco 3 :) When you put foot, it fooks off.:D

If you try that in a Defender, the guy can run alongside and shoot you at will. :(

Never a dull moment in Africa. ;)

[El Stiemo]

It was tough going through Angola. There were times when they had terrible roads and did 300km in two days. Other times they did beach drives because the road was too far from the coast. They raced against the tides to get through before the water rose.

About eight guys ran towards them with AK-47's and told them to get out of the cars. Eugene just put foot, and they were out of there too fast for the guys to react.

That's one good thing about the Disco 3 :) When you put foot, it fooks off.:D

If you try that in a Defender, the guy can run alongside and shoot you at will. :(

Never a dull moment in Africa. ;)

Hi Marc

re the beach driving - been there done that. On your left is the Atlantic Ocean, on your right is one big mother of a dune, too steep to get up onto, you are in the middle (which incidentally is about 4 m wide...) going flat out in High 3 and then comes the wave from the left... Option one: brake so you don't go through the seawater, get stuck, end up in the seawater anyway. Option two: Do not brake, end up in sea water. Option 3: put foot, try to evade the wave, which does not work, you end up in seawater.

re the guys with the AK's: :( BTW there is a report in todays local paper that guns are currently very cheap in Nigeria on the black market... Now why do I want to know that...? Sad. Glad everybody made it through OK though.

Cheers Frank

[Marc Lurie]

It looks like Kingsley and team made it through Angola and crossed into the Congo. Here's a report from the expedition:

"We're still in the Congo, but tough going following the edge. Our journey stopped from time to time by lagoons that have broken through and are rushing out to the Atlantic. Then back-tracking through the forest, finding a ferry and back to the coast again, the endless beaches, not a footprint, crystal clear lagoons, mangrove forests and when we do meet people, curious and kind. Few people come this way and they tell us that in the rain forests there are still gorilla and chimpanzee. We see elephant tracks on the beach, then near Gabon we get completely and utterly lost. The forest track so overgrown that we loose satellite reading on the Garmin GPS's. The track sometimes wide enough to take a Land Rover, at other times we walk ahead to cut and chop our way through. The sweat drips down our backs and off the tips of our noses - thank god we've got Deon Schurmann with us - he's built like a brick ****house (used to play professional rugby in France), he’s just flown in to Pointe Noire as French interpreter to the expedition. He's as tough as nails and at 134kg we have him hanging onto the side of the big Landie to stop it tipping over into the rain washed trenches that make up the road to Gabon. Somehow we miss the border and find ourselves illegally in Gabon and not booked out from the Congo. The track continuous - deep mud holes with oozing black goo - we stick for hours at a time, winching, pushing, pulling and digging. Gorilla and elephant tracks in the mud. We inch forward, rebuilding plank bridges and swatting tsetse flies, finally we make it to Mayumba in southern Gabon and as the Zen of Travel dictates meet up with Mike and Linda, two South Africans who work with national parks in Gabon. They help smooth the way forward with immigration.

We take a ferry across the lagoon. The beautiful forests continue, that's the secret of Gabon, more trees than people. Wilderness forever. You can see hippo and buffalo frolicking in the waves, yesterday a sititunga on the beach with her young, and now we're sitting chatting to you toes in the sand, elephant tracks around our camp, some local peri-peri chicken on the braai - the South Westerly is blowing so no mozzies tonight.

You'll be pleased to know that our humanitarian efforts continue and that yesterday at Mayumba, with the help of Aimee Saunders who does community conservation work, we've visited a school where she dressed the kids up as dolphins, sharks and turtles, did a conservation skit and then we gave out pens, pencils and exercise books together with malaria prevention education. In the villages we continue to distribute mosquito nets to pregnant mums and children, together with spectacles to the poor sighted. The way ahead will be tough, more lagoons, rivers and forests - we always knew Gabon would be a great challenge. Will keep you posted."

[Marc Lurie]

As is often the case in expeditions like this, you don't hear from them for weeks, and then two report come through at the same time. :) Here's the latest report from Kingsley:

"Greetings from Gabon, a jewel on the raw edge of Africa. President Bongo established a national park system encompassing 11% of the country’s territory. More than 70% of Gabon is covered in pristine rainforest. The national bird of Gabon is the African Grey. You can find forest elephant walking through patches of savana grassland, separated by clumps of forest, or padding softly down a snow white beach. Gabon is one of the few, if not only, places on earth where one can see “surfing” hippo and we’re not referring to Kingsley catching a wave. A clever hippo will sometimes swim parallel to the coast in search of better grazing off another beach, surfing in for a nocturnal feast and then swimming back in the early hours of the morning to ride a wave home.

The road to Gamba, where we are now camped, is a great adventure as we follow an overloaded bush taxi through jungle and savana grass to the Mayonammi River which translated into English means the “River that belongs to me”. No sign of a ferry, just a wide river. A few fishermen fixing nets and a dead slender nosed crocodile – its neck chopped deep with a panga. “It’s a delicacy” says the fisherman, “we’ll cut off a piece for ourselves – the rest will go by bush taxi to Gamba.”

Gamba has a tarred road, fuel and cold beer. The director of the park here says there’s no way forward and we’ll have to retreat and go hundreds of km’s inland – cant bear the thought, it’s a hammer blow for the expedition – it reminds me of the Cunene crossing and the 1000km Land Rover detour between Namibia and Angola – all for 600 metres of river which we did by rubber duck. Now we learn that to follow the beach up towards Port Gentil is impossible – too many rivers flowing into the sea and no ferries. The only way is to speak to the Shell guys who control the oil operation here and any transport north. We meet Kiwi John who offers us the use of his air-conditioned home and piping hot shower – bloody luxury. We speak to one the senior Shell men in Libreville explaining the humanitarian nature of our journey. “Phone back tomorrow at 9h30, and if all goes well we’ll put your Land Rovers on a barge that will take you north across the massive Ndougu lagoon, then into primary forest and a track that will take you to Iguela in the north of Loango National Park. It’s a pristine wilderness but there is no guarantee that I can get permission – it will depend on a YES from the general manager who’s in an oil plane right now flying to Gamba.” And so we camp in Kiwi John’s garden and wait for the hand of fate to play its card. This is the nature of following Africa’s outside edge – will keep you posted."

[Steve HNZ]

Hey Marc, thanks for those, that was just great to read them, I can feel an attack of the itchy feet coming on again. :)
You gotta watch those Kiwis, they pop up everywhere. :D :D
Steve.

[Marc Lurie]

Here's a copyt of an e-mail that Kingsley recently sent to Leslie Sutton at Land Rover South Africa. Have a look a the last paragraph...

Hi Les

Thanks so much for the visit and all the support you and the media team and Rory gave to our humble expedition whilst travelling through Benin, Togo and Ghana. We’ve prepared this Land Rover update which we thought you might like to copy to all the Land Rover dealerships.



Land Rover Update from the Outside Edge of Africa

To all the Land Rover dealerships in South Africa we say greetings from Accra in Ghana where we’re still proudly carrying the Land Rover endorsed Scroll of Peace and Goodwill in support of malaria prevention around the outside edge of Africa.

The scroll, also endorsed by Nobel Prize laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, has now gathered over 4000 signatures and messages in support of malaria prevention. These include goodwill messages from the drivers and teams of the 347 Landies that escorted us out from the Cape of Good Hope 128 days and 16 427 km ago.

The Scroll has gone on to be messaged by government officials, health workers, prime ministers, governors, administrators and chiefs. In Kaokaland the Scroll was endorsed with a simple red ochred handprint from a near naked Himba mother, in Luanda by a member of the Dos Santos family and by the chief at Ponta Padrao where in 1482 the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cao erected a stone cross at the mouth of the great Congo River.

On the island of Principe in the Gulf of Guinea the much travelled Scroll was messaged by top government ministers and in Gabon by the director of the Malaria Research Institute at the Dr Albert Schweitzer memorial hospital on the Ogooue River.

At a media function in Libreville additions to the Scroll continued as the South African ambassador and the embassies of Sao Tome and Principe, Egypt, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Conakry and the Democratic Republic of Congo all added their signatures and messages. Added to the endorsements in support of malaria prevention are those of ordinary people as well. In the forests of Cameroun a simple pygmy signed the historic Scroll. In Nigeria it has been endorsed by High Chief Edem Duke, the Royal Chiefs of the ancient city of Calabar and the governor of Cross River State who wrote: “We commend your wonderful humanitarian effort aimed at the mothers and children of Africa. We are proud to be part of this initiative.”

At a banquet in Lagos the First Lady of Lagos State endorsed the humble expedition scroll as did the Roll Back Malaria team who joined us in a 10 000 mosquito net fight against malaria in Nigeria. Dodging the wild chaotic traffic of Lagos the three expedition Landies made it to the King’s palace for an official signing and distribution of mosquito nets to pregnant mums and babies. In the Kingdom of Badagry, his Royal Majesty the Akran wrote:

“This is the greatest mission of the 21st century in the fight against malaria in which you have taken on the No. 1 killer.” His majesty gave us the freedom of the city and signed certificates that made us pilgrims of historic Badagry.

In Ouidah, Benin to the accompaniment of drums, singing and dancing in the sacred forest his majesty the voodoo king Mito Daho Mindji Kpassenon wrote “I do appreciate what you are doing for peace and malaria. We voodoo people thank you for this great work.”

In Ghana the Scroll is messaged by the Paramount Chief of Aflau, the regional administrators and the honourable Kofi Osei deputy minister of tourism. In Accra the director-general of education writes: “AKWAABA!!! Welcome to Ghana, the land of people who love peace – we cherish and appreciate your concern for the welfare of ordinary Africans – God bless you – BRAVO!!”

Dr Bernard Kwazi Glover who is assisting us with our One Net One Life campaign against malaria writes: “This is a wonderful venture and adventure. Malaria has been endemic in this part of West Africa for centuries – in fact in colonial times the area was referred to as the ‘white man’s grave’ – caused by malaria. This venture will make a difference.”

Yao Dzide writes that “Malaria is still a major killer and that the long-lasting mosquito nets we are distributing will drastically help in reducing malaria, especially in children.”

Last night the South African ambassador in Ghana at a dinner party in our honour wrote this message: “Thank you for flying the flag of our Rainbow Nation in a noble mission of saving and improving lives.”

And so the Outside Edge Expedition moves slowly on around the rim of Africa, saving and improving lives through adventure. Land Rover, many thanks for your support for the most exciting and adventurous humanitarian expedition ever to circumnavigate Africa. Our three Landies are integral to the success of the expedition. They have not missed a beat and growl on relentlessly. Congratulations on a fine product.

Best wishes from Kingsley and the expedition team.



Humanitarian Action – Saving and Improving Lives Through Adventure

In a campaign called “Teaching on the Edge” the expedition had distributed mobile libraries to remote schools up the West Coast of South Africa, and in Namibia around Luderitz, Walvis Bay and Ruacana. The One Net One Life malaria prevention campaign in which mosquito nets are distributed to pregnant mothers and to children under the age of five is in full swing as is the Right to Sight programme in which spectacles are given to the poor sighted. In Angola thousands of pencils, pens and exercise books have been distributed to remote bush schools. At Centro de Saude Boavista, a downtown clinic in the centre of Luanda mosquito nets were distributed to pregnant mums and babies. This very successful event went out on local radio, TV and press, the story of a South African led expedition caring for the people of Africa. At Ponta de Padrao at the mouth of the Congo where Diogo Cao first erected a stone cross in 1482 we distributed mosquito nets to pregnant mums with babies and continued to do so as we made our way across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabinda and Congo Brazzaville. In Gabon with the help of the Wildlife Conservation Society we used theatre and costuming to add a conservation message to our Teaching on the Edge programme. At the Albert Schweitzer institute in Lambarene Prof Sadoo agrees that the best results that they’ve had in preventing malaria have been through the distribution of mosquito nets. We are on the right track. Working in the mud and rain in Cameroun we distribute more nets, Teaching on the Edge material and much needed spectacles to the poor sighted. In Nigeria we distribute close to 10 000 life saving mosquito nets, 6 mobile libraries and 600 spectacles. We continue our humanitarian work in Benin and Togo and in Ghana we will distribute mobile libraries, spectacles and over 3000 life saving nets.


A note from one of the journalists – a credit to our product:

In Accra, the three Land Rovers are attended to by Land Rover South Africa’s technical head, Rory Beattie, who is as astonished as Kingsley and Ross at how little damage the vehicles have suffered – considering the beating they have routinely been subjected to over the past five months. The roof racks have been seriously overloaded, a winch is broken – but that’s it, the Landies are ready to push on to new dangers, like Sierra Leone …

[seekingserenity]

Marc, while sitting at Nando's recently I noticed a Kingsley poster, and got pondering...

Any idea how the tens of thousands of mozzie nets and mobile libraries end up in the areas they're being distributed in? I mean, a Defender is reasonably big... but there's no way they can carry that lot with them!

[Steve HNZ]

Great job Marc, I've been wondering when we might get an update, knowing though how tricky coms can be on the move. I'm "holding thumbs" that they can successfully negotiate Somalia when they get to that area, its got a sort of perverse fascination for me. Don't ask me to explain why, I couldn't.;)
Thanks again.
Steve

[Marc Lurie]

Any idea how the tens of thousands of mozzie nets and mobile libraries end up in the areas they're being distributed in? I mean, a Defender is reasonably big... but there's no way they can carry that lot with them!

Michelle, one of their major sponsors is Grindrod Shipping. They have depots all over the place, and they make arrangements to get the nets shipped into the country. They also help with distributing/warehousing within the country where possible. Nandos have also been helping out with logistics.

In East Africa they have a dhow that travels with them, and it can takes thousand of nets at a time.

BTW, at one net drop in Mozambique we carried 1600 nets in three Defenders. I think the photo illustrates why the roof racks have taken damage :D

[Marc Lurie]

I'm "holding thumbs" that they can successfully negotiate Somalia when they get to that area, its got a sort of perverse fascination for me. Don't ask me to explain why, I couldn't.;)

THAT is going to be their biggest problem area. I don't fancy their chances at the moment though - it's far too dangerous.

[Steve HNZ]

I suspect that you're right Marc, looking at the map on their website, they're are obviously & wisely keeping their options open on that one. A fantastic & truly worthy undertaking.
Steve.

[Marc Lurie]

Here's the latest from Kingsley. They're behind schedule (surprise surprise ;)) and will be in Cassablanca in mid December. They had planned to be in Alexandria by then, but the going is tough, and slow.

Conakry on the coast of Guinea

Traffic choked downtown Conakry on the coast of Guinea, West Africa at a school for the deaf and dumb. The children are bright eyed and beautiful, and to greet us they wave both hands in the air. With us is Isaac Kekana, South African Ambassador to Guinea. Dressed in a t-shirt branded with the South African flag he makes us feel proud to be South African as he assists us in giving each and every child a long lasting mosquito net and a pack of exercise books and pencils. All part of our humanitarian expedition to circumnavigate Africa in Land Rovers and inflatable boats. Then with a police escort we’re off to the general hospital where every mother and infant receives a life saving net. You would think that we’d have become battle hardened by now – but still the emotion hits you in the pit of your stomach. The desperate poverty, children dying from malaria because the mums cannot afford a mosquito net. In the children’s ward we place a net on each bed. Bed by bed down the corridors, the smiles of appreciation and handshakes from the parents is heart warming. Poor electricity supply with constant power cuts has little premature children’s lives, two and three to an incubator, hanging on a thread – now there is a mosquito net for each mother and infant, at least they will be safe when they get home. A ministry of health official makes a speech. The minister of lands and mines endorses the Mandela Scroll in support of malaria prevention. The media scribble in their pads, local TV and radio are present. The Ambassador writes… “Viva the expedition, viva.”

A journalist pulls me aside: “Congratulations,” he says in his French accented English. “Hand by hand, it’s the only way. If you gave the bales of nets to the officials they will sell them in the market – and these poor people they will never get.” Next day with local malaria prevention volunteers we make our way past the notorious camp Boro where many anti government supporters were tortured and killed, some even hung from a bridge over the highway. Careful not to be seen taking pictures of the bombed out palace and loaded with mosquito nets we launch into the Atlantic – our destination are the islands of Roum, Kassa and Tamara – small island village communities that are desperate for mosquito nets. That’s the nature of the expedition – saving and improving lives through adventure – tomorrow we will load up the Landies and head up the coast for the ex-Portuguese colony of Guinea Bissau. Like Mozambique and Angola it had a long war of liberation followed by bitter civil war – We don’t know quite what to expect.



The road to nowhere



Tired and worn out by the insistent rain and humidity, the elephant grass taller than the battered Landies – reverse, forward, reverse again, the spotlights on the bush bar casts a wide beam as we use the vehicles to flatten the grass, allowing us a patch big enough to camp on. The rain hits us again and we dive for our tents. Up early we push on, the mud, water holes and deep river crossings make it really slow going. I chat to Omar on the radio – he’s our new expedition member, joined us in Conakry. He’s a mature 24 year old who learnt English in Sierra Leone, lost his mother in the war, and speaks French and the local languages. “Omar, at the next village, ask if there’s a ferry and if people are still crossing into Guinea Bissau and is the border post open?” A few minutes later I get the answer: “Yes Papa King, yes. There’s a ferry and the people they are crossing and the border is open.” I give a sigh of relief – I’d been worried, the road had now become just a narrow hardly used mud track – it certainly didn’t look like the route nacionale to an international border. We stop the Landies and ask again at the next village. Omar gives a big grin. “Yes, there’s a ferry,” he says and so we push on. First and second, low range difflock, grinding and growling through the mud, water cascading over the bonnets, the constant swaying and jerking, the heat and humidity intensifying as we inch up the coast. “Watch out!” shouts Mashozi as I swerve for a goat and slide sideways into a deep slimy mud hole. Ross winches me out. How much more can these poor vehicles take? The Garmin GPS shows we’ve reached the river boundary between the Republic of Guinea and Guinea Bissau. A man in a tattered blue uniform jumps out from under the thatched eaves of a hut – there’s a rusty chain across the road. “Where’s the ferry?” we ask quite agitated. It hasn’t worked for a year comes the reply, it’s got a big hole and the engine’s ******ed – the government people from Conakry said they’d come and fix it but they’ve forgotten about us, you’ll have to turn back.”



I feel sick. Two days of slogging down a rotten road to nowhere and now all the way back. But then I cool down and see the humour of it all. How stupid, I’ve traveled enough in Africa and I should have known how these things work by now. Is there a ferry, I’d repeatedly asked – YES, had come the reply – but I’d failed to ask if it was working and ARE PEOPLE CROSSING? YES! But in dugout canoes, and YES the border IS open – that’s of course if you’ve arrived on foot or by bicycle having crossed by pirogue or swam and risked the crocodiles. We slowly turn the Landies around and stop under a tree for a bully beef and dry bread “sarmie”. There’s a type of fly here that bites like hell and leaves a blistery welt on your skin that itches and burns like **** – always happen at the end of the rainy season they tell us. Further up the same river is another ferry. “Is it working,” I ask. “Can it carry Land Rovers like these, when did you last see it?” We can’t say comes the answer – it’s a long way away but we have heard that people cross to the other side…

[Marc Lurie]

Guinea Bissau



Eventually we find a working ferry and cross into Guinea Bissau, one of the least known countries in West Africa. The Cashew nut trees and war torn Portuguese buildings remind us so much of Mozambique and we all get a little home sick. After frenetic francophone Conakry the small relaxed city of Bissau is alive with bars and music and even has an annual Rio type carnival. We wander out onto the wharf side at Pidjiguiti where half sunken wrecks line the old jetty. It was here on August 3, 1959 that a ‘dockworkers’ strike for a living wage took place and police opened fire at point blank range killing fifty men and wounding more that a hundred. Jose Emillo Costa who took part in the strike worded it this way….



“This old captain friend of mine, Ocante Atobo, was leaning against the wall of the office shed. When the line of police reached the spot where he was, an officer suddenly raised his gun and shot him point blank in the chest. Ocante collapsed in a pool of blood. For a split second everyone froze – it was if time stood still. Then hell broke loose. The police moved down the pier, shooting like crazy into the crowd. Men were screaming and running into all directions. I was over by my cousin Augusto Fernandes’ boat, the Alio Sulemane. Augusto, who was standing next to me, had his chest shot wide open; it was like his whole inside was coming out. He was crying: ‘Oh God, João kill me please”. But it wasn’t necessary; when I lifted his head from the ground he was already dead. The last one to die was a boatman hiding in the mud under his pirogue, out of sight of the police. A Portuguese merchant, however, spotted him from his apartment window and shot him in the back with his hunting rifle.”



The massacre and the police interrogations that followed lit the spark for armed conflict and the war of Liberation against the Portuguese followed sadly by a civil war that brought Guinea Bissau to its knees. BUT now there’s peace. We meet with the minister of health and arrange to distribute life saving mosquito nets outside Bissau. Our Scroll of Peace and Goodwill in support of malaria prevention is endorsed by the local governor and a Guinea Bissau foreign affairs representative.



Outside the bombed out palace, with near naked, white clay faced tribesmen around the Landies we meet Steve who with a team of experts is lifting landmines in the interior. He directs us to a river north of Bissau where we go about preparing to launch the expedition boats into the Bijagós Archipelago. Made up of more than 40 islands, it is the largest island group along the West African coast.



There’s the familiar smell of outboard fuel and the sweat of pumping the pontoons, inserting the boards and bolting the tough Yamaha Enduros onto the transoms of the two 6m long One Net One Life Gemini inflatables. Then it’s the loading up and tying down of camping equipment, basic supplies, first aid kit, a change of clothes, bales of life saving mosquito nets for remote island communities, some Captain from the Land Rover water tank, paper maps and the Garmin GPS’. It’s low tide and hot as hell by the time we snake through the mangrove swamps and out into the sharp chop of the waves of Guinea Bissau’s warm North Atlantic. Pelican fly overhead in perfect formation. We find an island filled with birds and baobabs. Ross catches a good sized barracuda. Another island is knee deep in shells but too rocky to camp on and somehow the spirits don’t seem right. By late afternoon, the setting sun an orange ball in the west, we find our island paradise – 90 m long by just 30 m wide – a beach and a lone baobab tree, plenty of firewood and not a human being in sight. Ross and Anna fillet the barracuda whilst Egyptian vultures dive and swoop over the sharp toothed big eyed carcass. Bruce, with his shirt off, map of Africa tattooed on his back and now looking a bit skinny after all the months of hard travel, chops the fillets into chunks and fries them up with hard round onions from the Central Market in Bissau. He then adds some precious Nando’s hot peri-peri sauce and we all sit with our backsides in the sand under a starlit sky, helping ourselves thumb and forefinger African style to succulent pieces of Bijagos peri-peri barracuda. There’s no menu, no bread or salads, no music or TV, no cellphone reception and there’s not a sole in the whole wide world that knows where the bloody hell we are, other than somewhere on the outside edge of Africa – will keep you posted…

[Roger Whittle]

Oh wow! :eek: It makes our little weekend jaunt look like a run down to the shops. :D

What a place! Great objective. Such a simple thing - a net - yet such a valuable gift to actually hand to someone who will use it. Awesome.

Roger.

[bvudzichena]

This was published on p6 of The Star this morning:

Kingsley Holgate, his wife Jill and son Ross were among the members of the team that set off in three Land Rovers to travel across the outer borders of Africa on a humanitarian expedition to prevent deaths from malaria.

The Holgates left Cape Town on April 27 last year with a calabash of water from the most southerly point of Africa and travelled across 33 countries and for 65 319km through some of the most difficult terrain on the continent.

They arrived back in Cape Town on July 18, just in time to celebrate Madiba's birthday in true explorer style.

Calling themselves the malaria warriors, the family - sponsored by various companies, including Nando's - handed out malaria nets throughout the continent to mothers and children, who are most vulnerable to the disease.

"Three African babies die every minute of every day from malaria," said Kingsley Holgate. "It's a disease far worse than Aids, so it's important that we get this message across."

Thanks to the sponsorship they received throughout the tour, Holgate handed out more than 500 000 malaria nets, saving about three-million lives, as well as libraries for children and reading glasses for the old.

Holgate could barely hide his exhaustion and sense of achievement on Saturday when a party was held in his honour at The Castle in Cape Town.

Welcomed by Zulu dancers, the Land Rovers drove in through the ancient gates as hundreds of people applauded the modern-day hero. Holgate had finally achieved what he had set out to achieve 449 days earlier.

What he couldn't share in words, Holgate explained in a picture presentation that went through every country he travelled through. Each had an exciting story, more exotic than the rest.

"My family and I have just been through 449 camp fires together, so it's all a bit emotional for us," he said.

Holgate recited an experience he had at a school in Port Elizabeth where he asked the children how many had gone skiing in their lives. A few put up their hands. "How many have been to America?" he asked. A few more put up their hands. "How many have travelled through Africa?"

Not a single child put up their hand. "We need to be more pan-African," Holgate said. "We all need to understand this continent better."

The Land Rovers he travelled in were covered in dust, with marks that went all the way up the windshield and onto the roof. Holgate explained that each mark was there for when they encountered a problem on the journey. There were many lines drawn.

Holgate puts the success of his trip down to the South Africans he met along the way who were always willing to give a helping hand. "There was an enormous energy about this journey, and that energy came from the South Africans who live on the outside edge of this continent. Wherever you go there are South Africans who are willing to help others out."

The event ended with a skydiver landing at The Castle. He carried a letter from Desmond Tutu to Holgate.

"Dear friend," it read. "You have done us proud. Welcome back home. You are amazing. God bless you."

It was added to the Scroll of Goodwill which travelled the whole journey and had messages from people all over the continent. Holgate plans to hand the scroll to Nelson Mandela - a present for his birthday.

Is another journey in the pipeline for Holgate?

For now the intrepid explorer is going home to KwaZulu Natal to rest and reflect on his journey. A book will soon be coming out on the trip. After that? Who knows ...