Trek to Africa’s heart ends

“IT’S A case of mission accomplished!” adventurer Kingsley Holgate cried excitedly, his face and clothes mud-spattered.

On Monday, Holgate and his team made it to the Heart of Africa – the Republic of Congo.

“We got the Landies and fought them through these dense forests. The rest of the journey was filled with slogging through these rainforests and swamps,” Holgate said yesterday.

It took Holgate and his team 39 days to make the treacherous journey. With the majority of the journey completed in the specially outfitted Land Rovers, the last section required the team to park their vehicles and proceed on foot.

“Joining us on the expedition were 14 Ba’aka pygmies (Congolese men) and three GPS devices to help pinpoint the exact location of the Heart of Africa.

“Vivankwako, I greet you Ba’aka, men of this great forest and swamps. It is only with your knowledge that we can survive and cut a path to the heart,” Holgate said.

The first casualty of the trek was Mike Nixon, who was stung in the mouth by a bee.

“At that point during the final leg, our pygmies decided to share their three big fears: leopards, elephants, and being bitten by the Gaboon viper, for which they had no cure,” Holgate said.

“After 9 000km in our Landies, across six countries, it’s the last 17 that nearly killed us. It became a physical and emotional nightmare of endurance, and the longest seven days of my life.

“A whole week of grabbing roots to drag us along on our bellies, digging through deep mud, and crafting our own pole-bridges,” said Holgate exhaustedly.

Then the Ba’aka started turning back.

Holgate’s son Ross and former rugby player Deon Schurmann used their best French to convince them to continue.

“The pygmies agreed. Seven hours and 1.7km later, we made it,” Holgate said.

The crew and Ba’aka teamed up to screw the Heart of Africa beacon into the roots of an old tree.

“We unscrewed the traditional African gourd, containing symbolic waters from the Cradle of Humankind, and poured its contents onto the site. It was very emotional,” Holgate reminisced.

“We hope this pristine bit of Mama Afrika is protected for generations to come,” Holgate said, signing off with his usual grey-beard smile.

‘After 9 000km in Landies, the last 17 nearly killed us’

@Lanc_02