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It is time to turn the key again!!! – Another great adventure is about to begin 

Kingsley Holgate is considered one of Africa’s most colourful modern day explorers. A humanitarian adventurer, author, TV Personality and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Getaway Magazine calls him their Explorer in Residence, the most travelled man in Africa. His humanitarian adventures, many of which are world firsts, have included: A Cape to Cairo crossing of Africa in open boats, the Zambezi and Congo, rivers and a circumnavigation of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake.

He has sailed the Makgadigadi Salt Pans in land yachts and in another expedition called ‘Extreme Latitude’ they travelled on foot, by bicycle, bullock cart, dugout canoe and Land Rover circumnavigating the globe by land following the Tropic of Capricorn.

“After countless expeditions it was time to give something back to Mama Africa.”

Their year long “African Rainbow” expedition to the Somali border and back in an Arab sailing dhow allowed them to distribute tens of thousands of mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and to children under the age of five in a campaign called “One Net One Life”.

Using adventure to improve lives, “The Outside Edge”, a 448 day 33 country geographic and humanitarian expedition to track the outline of Africa has been hailed as the most successful expedition ever undertaken in support of Malaria Prevention.

Kingsley and his team have just returned from the All Afrika Expedition, a somewhat dangerous and difficult odyssey aimed at embracing the entire African continent. – Mission Accomplished!

But the humanitarian adventures are not over and the next world first odyssey is to be called The Great African Rift Valley Expedition.

The Great African Rift Valley

Visible from space, The Great African Rift Valley is the world’s largest surface “crack’ formed as a result of seismic activity of galactic proportions carved through the African continent nearly 20 million years ago. This fault line that ripped through Africa from Ethiopia's Red Sea shore to Malawi and Mozambique, has segregated the plains of Kenya and other East Africa countries from the tropical rainforests and deserts of the rest of Africa. Rich in wildlife, cultural diversity and scenic splendour, the Great African Rift Valley forms one of the most fascinating areas on earth.

The Great Rift Valley cuts a swathe through Africa. Running south from the Lebanon for 6,500 kilometres to the Mozambique Channel, the Rift is the greatest rupture on the Earth's land surface. It is the only geological feature that can be seen clearly from the Moon and its complex system of faults and escarpments has been evolving for some 40 million years.

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 flamingoes. 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. The Rift Valley is .also home for dozens of creatures found nowhere else, such as the elusive Simien fox and the giant mole rat of the Ethiopian Highlands. Further north, the Rift Valley deepens and widens, and the lakes and open plains give way to ocean waters, where an astonishing variety offish inhabit the colourful Red Sea coral reefs. It may even be that mankind itself evolved in the Great Rift, where hominid fossils have been discovered dating back nearly 4 million years.

The Great African Rift Valley Expedition - Geographic Challenge

Led by Kingsley Holgate and his team, the epic adventure challenge is to complete a world first humanitarian, 12 month, 9 chapter Great African Rift Valley Odyssey from its northern point in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi, to its most southern point near Gorongoza in Mozambique.

Humanitarian Objectives – Using adventure to improve and save lives.

United Against Malaria

In Africa, over a million people, mostly woman and children are killed each year by malaria.

The clear objective of this expedition is to use adventure to improve and save lives through a continued link to the United Against Malaria partnership. The chapter by chapter malaria prevention activities will include the following:

• Soccer themed United Against Malaria Trophy Challenge Events to include UAM Man of the Match competitions.
• Malaria prevention education together with the careful distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and to mothers with children under the age of 5 years.
• A UAM malaria prevention education initiative to schools in which colouring-in books and posters will be used.
• UAM research and report back forms will include community details, GPS co-ordinates, names of community leaders, numbers of nets distributed, details of malaria risk and closest clinics or hospitals so ensuring sustainability and follow up.
• UAM malaria prevention Land Rovers will be fitted with P.A. systems and trained local malaria prevention educators will be used.
• United Against Malaria Events will be documented using DVD and stills.

The United Against Malaria partners will endorse a 2011 - 2012 United Against Malaria Expedition Scroll that will be carried to and be messaged by government health officials and community leaders living within the Great African Rift Valley countries.

Rite to Site

The Great African Rift Valley Expedition will continue to distribute spectacles to poor sighted people in remote areas. This programme will be included as part of the chapter by chapter humanitarian work and at some key points will include cataract operations