Heat and heart

Kingsley Holgate on the vast ocean of salt of Lake Chew Bahir in the south of Ethiopia, against the Kenyan border. Picture: Ross Holgate

A journey back in time… this is the extraordinary road being travelled by a South African family into some of Africa’s seldom-seen corn-ers.

And their experiences have allowed them to capture a mosaic of enthralling images.

The epic adventure is the “Great African Rift Valley Odyssey”, by Kingsley Holgate, his son and lieutenant Ross, and a small crew.

Their aim: to complete a world first humanitarian journey down the world’s largest surface “crack”, formed as a result of seismic activity which carved through the African continent nearly 20 million years ago. Running south from Ethiopia’s Red Sea shore for 6 500km to the Mozambique Channel, the Rift is the greatest rupture on the earth’s land surface.

“This is the fault line that ripped through Africa and segregated the plains of Kenya and other East Africa countries from the tropical rainforests and deserts of the rest of Africa,” Kingsley Holgate explained.

Convoy

The humanitarian mission saves lives by providing mosquito nets for mothers and children. Picture: Ros Holgate

The team left the Rift Valley’s northern-most point in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in October and have since rumbled their convoy of three Land Rovers through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

Still ahead of them are Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi, and ultimately the Rift Valley’s southern-most point near Gorongosa in Mozambique.

The entire journey will take more than 12 months, split into nine mini-journeys.

Holgate said: “The geological movements which created the Great Rift have resulted in a rich diversity of terrain and wildlife, from the lush rain forests which clad the volcanic mountains, home of the magnificent mountain gorillas, to the spectacular double chain of lakes which, enriched by minerals, throng with millions of flamingos.

“The plains of the Serengeti and Masai Mara, formed by fertile volcanic ash, support the largest concentration of big animals found anywhere on earth, notably wildebeest, zebras and gazelles.

“It may even be that mankind itself evolved in the Great Rift, where hominid fossils have been discovered dating back nearly four million years.”

In the ancient walled city of Harar in Ethiopia, they met Abbas the Hyena Man. A scary thought when you think a hyena has enough jaw power to crush a human skull. Picture: Ros Holgate

The team has travelled in a pair of Land Rover Discovery 4s, piloted by Holgate and his son, Ross, with a third team in a Land Rover Defender 130 – nicknamed “The Stomach” for the crew’s food and supplies it carries.

The Holgates have three humanitarian objectives to their odyssey: helping to mitigate the impact of the deadly killer disease of malaria, helping the poor-sighted see and helping communities access clean drinking water.

“Malaria kills nearly a million people a year in Africa. Most of these are women and children,” Kingsley explained.

They are operating under the banner of United Against Malaria, which issues mosquito nets to vulnerable communities down the length of the Rift Valley, and supporting a wide range of educational programmes.

Second, they issue reading spectacles under the “Rite to Sight” campaign.

And then there are the LifeStraws, which prevent diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases such as cholera.

In the Danakil Depression, the hottest place on earth, standing on the rim of an erupting lava lake from the volcano Erta Ale, the most active in Africa, Holgate reported: “Here people survive by drinking whatever water they can find, be it stagnant pools or puddles left over from the last rain… we distribute LifeStraws to the Afar communities. Each LifeStraw filters a thousand litres of clean drinking water. It is fulfilling to improve lives through adventure.”

It was while performing these humanitarian duties that the Holgates racked up their astonishing experiences.

Holgate reported: “Leaving one of the soldiers with the Landies, we cross a blistering-hot, solidified lava flow on foot to reach Dallol – it’s as if we’re on another planet as we step gingerly through a surreal, bubbling, multi-hued field of sulphurous hot springs studded with steaming conical vents, caramel-coloured mushroom shapes and rippled rock formations.

“These craters are the lowest known sub-aerial volcanic vents in the world. The area hisses and steams, the heat is unbearable – we undoubtedly stand at the hottest place on earth.”

Anyone reading their dispatches soon realises this was just another day of expedition travel for the hardy Holgates.

Perhaps their “craziest” experience was in the old walled city of Harar, Ethiopia, meeting Abbas the Hyena Man.

“With only the expedition Land Rover’s headlights to illuminate the crazy scene, we watch in amazement as Abbas the Hyena Man calls into the night. There’s that familiar whooping sound and hyena eyes shine in the dark… Soon they are all around us.

“It’s breeding season, so we must be careful,” says Abbas, as the alpha male comes forward to snatch a piece of rotten camel meat from the end of a short stick held between Abbas’s teeth.

“According to legend these wild hyenas are fed in good times, so that in times of drought they won’t attack livestock or people (that’s if you’re not possessed by an evil Djinn).”

Holgate’s wife, Mashozi, warned: “Careful… you never know what they may find in your beard.”

The father-and-son team are due to arrive back home at Zinkwazi on the North Coast this week, for a rest of around three weeks, before heading north to resume their trek in Burundi.

* The Holgates’ adventures can be followed online at www.kingsleyholgate.net