Kingsley Holgate and the Holgate foundation recently completed a 14,200km humanitarian expedition through Southern Africa.
Image: Supplied
KwaZulu-Natal recently played host to a unique gathering of adventure, conservation and humanitarian storytelling as media spent time with the Kingsley Holgate expedition crew alongside Defender South Africa.
The event offered deeper insight into the remarkable Africa Traverse expedition undertaken by the Kingsley Holgate Foundation and Defender. Covering 14,200 kilometres across Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique.
The humanitarian-focused journey marked both the foundation’s 43rd expedition and a remarkable 25 years of partnership with Defender.
Beyond tackling some of Africa’s harshest terrain, the expedition focused heavily on malaria relief efforts, sight restoration initiatives and youth conservation education, with the team using Defender vehicles to reach remote, flood-affected communities in need of urgent assistance.
Some of the sight restoration efforts include the Right to Sight campaign, which provides elderly, poor-sighted villagers with corrective spectacles.
The Right to Sight campaign provides elderly, poor-sighted villagers with corrective spectacles.
Image: Supplied
Perhaps the most heart-touching moment during our time in KwaZulu-Natal was a visit to Bongimfundo Primary School, where we had the opportunity to see the children's drawings of rhinos and elephants.
It aimed to teach them the importance of preserving these animals, which are regularly killed by poachers.
More than 700,000 learners across the continent have been reached through the conservation education programme.
The Litterboom Project protects ocean and marine life by sending out teams to install plastic barriers.
Image: Supplied
The inaugural Defender Awards, which aim to recognise heroes across four categories, namely: Land, Wild, Humanity and Sea, saw entrants from South Africa under the Sea category, The Litterboom Project receiving a Defender 4x4, a bursary worth £100,000 (approximately R2 183 000), and mentoring support from a community of experts.
The Litterboom Project protects ocean and marine life by sending out teams to install plastic barriers in the waters called Litterbooms in various rivers.
These work by effectively stopping waste from reaching the ocean and harming various wildlife.
An estimated 5 tons of waste per month are prevented from reaching the ocean.
Visiting the mouth of the Umgeni River, we saw firsthand just how severe the problem of waste is, and can only commend The Litterboom Project for the amazing work that they carry out.