Africa – In the Footsteps of the Great Explorers, by Kingsley Holgate.

Africa – In the Footsteps of the Great Explorers, by Kingsley Holgate.

Adventurous Kingsley Holgate follows the footsteps of the great explorers through Africa and tackles journeys along the Nile, Congo, Rovuma and Rufiji and on the lakes Niassa, Victoria and Tanganyika.

Kingsley Holgate  

A Dedication: Africa, Cradle of all Humankind, and one of the last great frontiers of adventure. The river Nile, longest and most historic in the world, the mighty Congo, Rovuma and Rufiji. The Sahara, the world s largest desert, the Namib, the most ancient. The lakes and wildlife of Africa's Great Rift Valley. The Ruwenzori's Mountains of the Moon, Izinthaba zo Khahlamba - 'barrier of spears' - the mighty Drakensberg, and Kilimanjaro, largest freestanding mountain in the world. Drinking blood with red-ochred Nilotic Maasai, following the migration of over a million wildebeest as they move across the vast plains of the Serengeti, the silver-backed gorillas of the equatorial rainforests. This is Africa. But it wasn't easy for those tough, courageous individuals, the early explorers, who attempted to open up this so-called Dark Continent. Without maps and with only the most basic of navigational equipment and medicines, they faced starvation, fever and often death. Many of them became famous, were awarded gold medals from the Royal Geographical Society and honoured by royalty. Their reports brought about the Scramble for Africa, in which large portions of the continent - without thought for the indigenous people - were cut up like a cake and devoured by the five rival nations: France, Germany, Italy and Britain (with some crumbs for Spain). But who were the real heroes of this early Victorian exploration of Africa? Without taking anything away from the glorious deeds' of the explorers themselves, I believe it was the African guides, askaris, translators and porters who deserve the real praise

Men like Chuma and Susi, David Livingstone's companions who carried his body across Africa, and the Makololo porters who supported Livingstone on his transcontinental expedition. Mohammed Sief, one of Count Teleki's bodyguards who, refusing to give up, climbed with the count to 15355 feet, so becoming the first men to penetrate the moorlands of Mount Kenya. Juma Kimameta, the Swahili trader who befriended Joseph Thomson and Teleki. Brave Mabruki who travelled with Stanley and died on the shores of Lake Victoria. There's a long list of brave men, not to mention the porters who invariably followed their leaders with great loyalty and bravery, often risking their lives in the endeavour. It is the same today. We would not succeed without the generous help of our African expedition members who help, guide and translate. Men like Lumbaye Lenguru, Mohammed the Brave, Fai Chababe, and Selous game scouts Edward Ngogolo and Jabili Ngau. It's such people that are the backbone of every successful expedition and so I dedicate these humble scribbles from my expedition journal to them - the true unsung heroes of African exploration.

Full Moon, Cape Agulhas 5th February 2004

Friends, the Southeasterly blows cold as I scribble you this note whilst seated on a windswept rock on the southernmost tip of Africa. The waves crash below me and, to the west, the setting sun lights up the clouds over the cold South Atlantic. At the same time, to the east, the full moon, a giant yellow orb, rises slowly over the warm Indian Ocean. It's a magical moment. At the end of the 15th century, the early Portuguese seafarers christened this southern tip of Africa Cabo das Agulhas - 'Cape of Needles'.The 1848 lighthouse, which first used oil from sheep's-tail fat for its lamp, still stands above the jagged rocks, flashing a warning to passing ships, way out into the darkness where the two oceans meet. I close my notebook and turn to face this ancient and mysterious continent, cradle of all humankind. In the back of the Land Rover is a crate of old expedition journals, maps and reference books, some kit, supplies, a few bottles of Captain Morgan Rum, a bicycle, and Thatcher the dog. I'm not computer literate, so there's no laptop; just ballpoint pens and jotters.

I've come to the southernmost Cape to piece together this personal account of our crazy family journeys in Africa, adventures in the footsteps of early explorers such as Teleki, Stanley and Livingstone; Chuma and Susi, the two unsung heroes of African exploration who carried Dr Livingstone's salt-dried corpse for over a thousand miles across Africa, from Lake Bangweulu to Bagamoyo opposite Zanzibar; and Frederick Courtney Selous, the great hunter and naturalist after whom Africa's largest game reserve is named. I feel privileged to have been born in Africa, and to be able to share with you this humble collection of stories taken from our old sweat-stained, leather-bound expedition journals. I have decided to call this anthology: Africa - In the footsteps of the Great Explorers. I do hope you enjoy it. Siyabonga and thanks, Kingsley Holgate.

This is an excerpt from the book: Africa – In the Footsteps of the Great Explorers, by Kingsley Holgate.

Title: Africa – In the Footsteps of the Great Explorers
Author: Kingsley Holgate
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Travel and Heritage
Cape Town, South Africa 2006
ISBN 9781770071476 / ISBN 978-1-77007-147-6
Softcover, 18x25 cm, 304 pages, throughout photos and sketches