The African Pothole by Kingsley Holgate

Kingsley Holgate - Google Image Search Results

“No adventure is complete without them” writes Kinglsey Holgate on his facebook page. He was writing in reference to 'The African Pothole'.

Kingsley Holgate - Mama Africa's Explorer

A new book by Kingsley Holgate has been released.  In this blog, I provide an overview of his books, plus a link to Amazon UK.

Kingsley Holgate - explorer, ambassador, husband, father - is an awesome South African Gent eagerly evangalising about Africa, her people, her life and beauty.  His latest book, Afrika : Dispatches from the Outside Edge has just been released.  The book is based on his recent expedition and can be viewed here - Outside Edge

I am looking forward to receiving my copy in the coming weeks.  Click here for Amazon UK

I have copies of all his books and highly recommend reading them:

Cape to Cairo - A family Expedition along the waterways of Africa
In his first book, Kingsley and his family take the Scroll of Peace, two inflatable boats and head North from South Africa following the waterways of Africa.  A good read that keeps you captivated and enthused about Africa's waterways.

Capricorn - Following the Invisible Line
Following the Invisible Line plots Kingsley and Co. taking two Land Rovers along the Capricorn Line.  Africa, the Americas, Australia and Madagascar form part of the route.  The book uniquely includes a DVD with video and photo highlights of the trip.  The Land Rover Defenders taking a punishing through mud, sand and bush but manage to take the crew around the world.

Africa - In the Footsteps of Great Explorers
There are plenty of Unsung African heroes - in this book, Kingsley and Co. follow those unsung heroes.  Good stories, especially as Kingsley's writing is real and enthusiastic.

Feel free to go ahead and purchase your Christmas gift!

For more information on Kingsley Holgate, see my blog about Vehicle Based Expeditions

Vehicle based expeditions...

Having just watch the internet movie Flying the Fish about a couple of friends who fly their microlights from Cape Town to the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, it lead me to think about overland trips that served a purpose i.e. the vehicle became a means by which something else was achieved.

My first example is Kingsley Holgate and his Outside Edge Expedition.  In all of Kingsley's expeditions, vehicles become key to delivering a scroll of peace, or carrying a cargo load of anti-malaria mosquito nets.  His vehicles are well equipped, driven hard and all have endless stories to tell!  Youtube have plenty of videos relating to Kingsley Holgate.  A favourite is his talk on behalf of the David Rattray Foundation:



A second trip springs to mind - The 1998 London to Sydney Overland Expedition. I am still uncertain if they actually flew the microlights but the idea certainly was to take them along.

A third trip that I thought was unusual was the Pizza Delivery team. This trip, more of a challenge, lead the team to ride motorbikes from South Africa North to deliver a pizza!

There are many trips who have used the Overland journey as means of raising awareness for charity organisations.  I would attempt to list them all but it would take me ages to sift through the full list.  A few charities spring to mind - Anti Land Mines, Malaria, Children and farming - to name a few.

Thinking outside the vehicle, I wonder what other unusual overland trips people have accomplished by using a vehicle as the base for the expedition.


A few alternative ideas that spring to mind:


Mapping Africa - Tracks 4 Africa have already started this and are doing a stirling job.
Flying - following a full Trans-Africa trip that uses a paramotor, microlight or gyrocopter
Sport - Travel through Africa linking up with local sport teams.