Dubbed the All Afrika Return Dash, the aim is to meet up with legendary explorer Kingsley Holgate in the hot, wet capital city of Bangui in the Central African Republic before heading off to explore Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

Whilst in Bangui, which is rated as the second most dangerous city in the world after Baghdad, the Return Dash team will meet up with a group of conservationists working with the Jane Goodall Institute SA and assist in the rescue and relocation of four chimpanzees back to Chimpanzee Eden Sanctuary in Nelspruit, South Africa. Continuing with Kingsley Holgate’s Saving and Improving Lives Through Adventure campaign the team will also distribute much needed life saving mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and to children under the age of five.

Once the Chimpanzees have been rescued, Kingsley will hand over the expedition Land Rover to his son, Ross, who will lead the Return Dash team back to Ghana. The new team will retrace the countries traversed by Kingsley and so enable the Holgate family to complete Africa in its entirety.

Ross has spent most of his life travelling the African continent and beyond; and by the end of 2010 hopes to have visited each and every country on this magnificent continent of Mama Africa. A documentary filmmaker and cameraman by trade, Ross has produced numerous documentaries for the National Geographic Channel, History Channel and the BBC. His Land Rover journeys have taken him from Cape To Cairo following the waterways of Africa and East to West from the mouth of the Zambezi to the mouth of the mighty Congo River. Ross has spent over a decade following in the footsteps of the great missionary explorer Dr David Livingstone and has even circumnavigated the globe in a Land Rover expedition to follow the Tropic of Capricorn around the world.

Joining Ross on the Return Dash, are Patrick Cruywagen, bush editor for SA 4x4 Magazine, and Deon Schürmann, a legendary South African who played professional rugby in France.

Both were chosen from the huge of pool of experienced adventurers and writers who volunteered to join The Return Dash on the Captain’s Mate’s Facebook page facebook.com/The Captain’s Mates. One of the two adventures chosen should be a photojournalist who could send back blogs, pics and stories. The other needed to be an experienced African traveller with good 4x4 knowledge and also speak a bit of French.

Patrick has travelled extensively in East, West and North Africa both on his own and with numerous international expeditions over the last eight years generating fascinating stories of the continent. A Land Rover owner himself Patrick has vast experience in off-road driving in Africa.

Deon is fluent in French and, thanks to extensive travels in West and Central Africa has learnt it’s many local dialects and variations. Deon has worked on projects in Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic and is also the proud owner of three Land Rovers - which he services and maintains himself. Deon’s 100 000 km of travel experience in Africa have made him an expert in managing the hardships and tricks of African travel and border crossing.

His six feet six and 130kg will also help smooth relations with potentially difficult bureaucrats along the way

The Return Dash will cover nearly 8000km in 14 days through the southern Sahara where temperatures reach a scorching 47 degrees Celsius and the risk of violence, terrorism and the ongoing Tuareg rebellion is a real threat – Should they succeed it will mean that the Holgate’s and their team have driven a Land Rover through every country in Africa and truly going Beyond.