By: Reon Pillay
Johannesburg - Legendary adventurer Kingsley Holgate is set for another cross border expedition and this time they will be crossing continents as well. After 39 journeys across the world Holgate and Land Rover are not done yet.
Driving in Defenders, the team will start from the most southern tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas and up to the most northern part of Europe, Nordkapp, Northern Norway. From there they head down to Red Wharf Bay, on the east coast of the island of Anglesey in Wales, where Maurice Wilks drew the first Land Rover in the sand in 1947 marking its 75th anniversary.
The journey is estimated to be just over 30 000 kilometres and will take approximately eight months to complete.
This extreme venture will see them leave from South Africa to Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, North Sudan, Egypt, crossing over the Mediterranean and in to Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France and finally the British Isles.
As always there’s a humanitarian angle too. With his talking stick in his hand and a huge smile on his face he said: "We do it because we love to help people and see the joy it brings them when we do it".
This is no joy ride though, it's a challenging humanitarian and geographical journey assisting those in need. To date Kingsley and his team have fed two million starving people across the world, through their many expeditions.
They will also be distributing mosquito nets to people that live in high risk malaria countries, like Mozambique and Tanzania.
Glasses will also be part of their arsenal where people living with bad eyesight and no resources receive the gift of proper sight again.
As part of the expedition, Kingsley and his team have supported the planting of indigenous trees and spekboom plants to offset 100 percent of the expedition’s carbon footprint, on the newly established 760ha Tanglewood conservation area in the Eastern Cape.
The initiative forms part of a biodiversity restoration programme implemented by the Conservation Landscape Institute and aims to restore Albany Thicket, a key component of one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Rhodes University has assisted the Holgate team to accurately calculate the number of trees and plants required to offset the fuel used by the expedition’s two P400 mild-hybrid Defenders on the 30-country route.
As a result, Holgate and his team helped to plant 4 000 trees and spekboom plants, while expedition team member Mike Nixon contributed another 2 000 to offset the emissions of his personal Defender.
“We are acutely aware that as an exploration team delivering important humanitarian aid into remote areas in Africa, we need to ensure that our expeditions do not contribute to the damage being caused by carbon emissions and global warming,” said Holgate.
"It's not easy preparing for an expedition like this," said Holgate’s son, Ross.
As most drivers prepare to navigate through tough weather conditions and rough terrain, his biggest concern is getting through countries currently in a state of war.
Not knowing what to expect, Ross says that he and the team have to rely on the relationships they have built in all the different countries over the years through their expeditions and hope that they can supply them with intel to avoid driving into an ugly situation.
The Land Rover defenders they will be travelling in are designed to make the long journey a little more comfortable.
Some of the items installed are a cooler box to store their protein, the tailgate has an attachment that converts into a table, a rooftop tent, a 270 degree awning that opens up for those blistering days and a separate shower curtain for privacy.
In order to carry more items for their humanitarian work, the team members travel with only a kit bag, a box of mixed canned foods and non-perishables.
Safe Travels Legends.