Few people have ever lived who have seen as much of Africa as Kingsley Holgate. The quintessential African explorer, he crisscrosses the continent every year, advancing humanitarian causes. He's relied on the latest Land Rovers for his expeditions for decades and is currently in the middle of his 41st expedition. The Afrika Odessey Expedition is taking two brand-new Defender 130s on an 18-month journey across the lesser-known parks of Africa.
Each of Holgate's expeditions has a theme to the routing. This one highlights the work of African Parks, an organization founded in 2000 to take over the management of underfunded and understaffed national parks in Africa. The trip left from Johannesburg in June 2023 and headed on a massive tour of African Parks' units across the continent.
The route will take Holgate right across the spine of the continent, exploring countries that are not part of the typical trans-African expedition route. African Parks focuses on underfunded parks, which means that their work is focused on the less-touristed African nations. Botswana, Namibia, and Kenya are all classics of the African safari, but hordes of international tourists keep those parks funded. Instead, Holgate and company are heading to countries like South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Benin, and the two countries of the Congo.
Holgate's expeditions always have a humanitarian context. They focus on malaria prevention, a scourge that impacts the rural areas of the continent so strongly. They also focus on providing basic vision care to elderly people. Conservation will take a front-line focus with the theme of this trip as they work to spread the message of African Parks and gather stories of the organization's 23 years.
Just because this trip is being done with the support of African Parks, and is headed by one of the greatest modern African explorers, does not mean it is free of geopolitical complications. With things constantly changing on the continent, getting two new vehicles and a large team into many of these less-visited countries can be a logistical nightmare. At this point, the expedition has connected 15 of the 22 parks. There is still a way to go, as the expedition takes breaks.
In late February, the Defender 130s had completed 25,000 miles of rough travel across Africa without skipping a beat. The depth of the expedition has brought some natural wonders that can surprise even the most experienced of African travellers. In South Sudan, the years of conflict and war have prevented humans from severely impacting natural wildlife migration patterns. In Badingilo and Boma national parks, the world's largest mammal migration has been relatively unimpacted by man, and white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, tiang, and Bohor reedbuck all traverse their historic paths across South Sudan and Ethiopia.
The expedition encountered record floods in the Congo, and soon, even the Defenders' market-leading wading depth was exceeded. When their overnight camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Garamba National Park flooded, they had to evacuate the 130s via a hand-hacked path through the muck.
Many old-school Land Rover enthusiasts say that the new Defender isn't up to world-spanning exploration; the computers, unibody, posh interior, and air suspension are too much for Africa's travails. Holgate might beg to differ. His recent expeditions have featured the most recent Land Rover model, and this is his third large-scale adventure in the L663 Defender. They have covered more expedition mileage than possibly anyone else has in a new Defender, without issue. Just as it always has been, it seems like the Defender is a car for all seasons, all needs, and all places.
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