Media Release
Kingsley Holgate Foundation Team Completes
East to West – Zambezi to Congo Expedition
World-renowned modern-day adventurer Kingsley Holgate and this team have recently completed their 10,000-kilometre geographic and humanitarian adventure across Africa from the mouth of the Zambezi River on the Indian Ocean to the mouth of the Congo on the Atlantic, traversing some of the world's most torturous 4x4 roads in the vast Democratic Republic of Congo in their Land Rover Discoverys.
The team was led by Ross Holgate, who heads up the Foundation, together with Foundation administrator Anna Holgate, well-known rhino conservationist, and writer Sheelagh Antrobus, logistics manager Bruce Leslie and Kingsley Holgate, arguably the most travelled man in Africa.
The Zambezi-Congo Expedition started from Chinde, Mozambique in the vast, 18,000Km² Zambezi Delta. Here, as tradition dictates, the Holgate expedition team filled the symbolic Zulu calabash with Indian Ocean seawater from the mouth of the Zambezi River before embarking on their next major humanitarian expedition to support the Doctors for Life volunteer team in the Delta.
Doctors for Life, were in the Zambezi Delta to carry out life-changing eye surgeries on blind and partially blind villagers who have no access to appropriate eye-care health facilities.
"We were able to provide much needed logistical support to the Doctors for Life team," enthuses Ross Holgate. "The doctors were able to do 130 eye surgery operations bringing back the gift of sight to people living in scattered villages in this remote region."
"Using the expedition Land Rovers and a gigantic pontoon boat we assisted with the pre-screening and then the transportation of patients to two mobile operating theatres set up on the opposite banks of the Zambezi River," explains Ross. “It was incredibly humbling to witness people's joy at getting back their sight or seeing for the first time."
From here the geographic challenge was now to cross Africa from East to West across Mozambique, Zambia and the wild Democratic Republic of Congo to the mouth of the world's deepest river, the Congo.
According to Ross, this part of the expedition had some tough challenges, "The journey across the DRC was an absolute hell-run. The road was a graveyard littered with vehicles that had previously attempted this route. There were also some tough geopolitical pressures especially as there had been xenophobic attacks in South Africa at the time, and we were experiencing threats of reprisals against our team, which could have endangered the journey. Then, of course, there were the usual dangers of contracting diseases such as ebola, malaria, dengue fever; as well as the possibility of encountering rebel activities. These were all things that we had to be mindful of as we travelled."
Through the Congo, the team averaged only 50km a day and spent over 2500km in 4-wheel drive low ratio in their Land Rover Discoverys, negotiating 3 metre-deep mud ruts, trenches, powder-soft sand, and treacherous potholes. "Days were spent winching, pushing and digging across the continent," says Ross. "We even had to do temporary repairs to a wooden bridge on one of the main roads in the DRC, to cross one of the rivers."
The team carried their ubiquitous Scroll of Peace and Goodwill and collected hundreds of messages of support from health workers, chiefs, ambassadors and ordinary people living along the route. After 8 weeks the vehicles rolled into the port town of Banana and the symbolic calabash of water from the mouth of the Zambezi emptied into the Congo River.
"As with all our expeditions, it was another truly incredible experience meeting and engaging with people along the way," says Kingsley Holgate. "We are constantly reminded of the power of connecting with people from different cultures and backgrounds in spreading the message of goodwill and peace, as we conduct our humanitarian work in partnership with so many generous people and agencies."
And what's next for the team? "For now we are taking a much-needed break, as we document our experiences, take stock of the equipment and do the repairs and maintenance on the Landies, all the while as we plan the next expedition!" laughs Kingsley.
For more details and to watch some of their videos of the expedition go to Kingsley Holgate Foundation on Facebook.
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