Cape to Cairo – One Family's Adventures Along the Waterways of Africa, by Kingsley Holgate

Cape to Cairo – One Family's Adventures Along the Waterways of Africa, by Kingsley Holgate.

Cape to Cairo introduces to Kingsley Holgate's adventures along the famous and tremendous waterways of Africa that he undertook with his familiy.

Kingsley Holgate  

Dear Friend, Sawubona. The pages of this book are simply a copy of the handwritten descriptions, sketches, scribblings and ramblings in my original leather-bound expedition journal. It was the first one that I ever kept and in it I attempted to keep a humble record of our family journey in open boats and four-wheel-drive vehicles across the African continent. Sometimes sweat from a malaria-fevered brow blotched the ink, and on some occasions I was simply too weary to write and have had to go back and fill in the gaps as best I could. Our 1993 crossing of A frica was a turning point in our lives. For South Africans the first wind of change was blowing across the continent, and we were blessed to be a part of it - a South African expedition heading across Africa armed only with ra Zulu calabash of Cape Point seawater and a scroll of peace and goodwill. When we departed from Cape Town, Mozambique was still smouldering from its long and bloody civil war; the tension in the Great Lake was soon to explode; banditry was rife in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia; and the civil war raging in southern Sudan. Ethiopia was closed to overland travellers, and there was virtually no overland traffic between Sudan and Egypt. But at least there was an opening up of the African continent to us South Africans, and so there we were, our own little diplomatic corps, about to set out into the great unknown. The key ingredients to our expedition recipe seemed to be blind faith, determination, humour, courage and a liberal measure of good fortune: It was an expedition that we as a family will remember forever. It opened our souls to 'Mama Afrika' and made us citizens of this great continent. Its success was the start of many other great family adventures - but for us this early expedition will always be our great first love. Please understand that I'm really just an ordinary sort of fellow, blessed with an extraordinary passion for Africa: You probably share that passion,so I guess were kindred spirits. Siyabohga and best wishes, Kingsley Holgate.

PS: The pages of this journal are best read by the light of an old paraffin lantern. Settle the legs of your favourite canvas camping chair into the Kalahari sand, smell the hardwood burning as it sparks into the starlit sky. The blackened camp kettle hisses on the coals, and you refill your did dented enamel mug with kenoster coffee laced with Captain Morgan rum. By the light of the fire you can make out the familiar shape of the Land Rover, the tent, and the old wooden camp' box that Dad used. A simba roars in the distance, as you pull your chair closer to the fire and add another twisted log, Fortunately, there's a cool breeze blowing, so no monies tonight. I wish you safari njema as you journey with us across Africa.

This is an excerpt from the book: Cape to Cairo – One Family's Adventures Along the Waterways of Africa, by Kingsley Holgate.

Title: Cape to Cairo – One Family's Adventures Along the Waterways of Africa
Author: Kingsley Holgate
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Travel and Heritage
Cape Town, South Africa 2005
ISBN 9781770071766 / ISBN 978-1-77007-176-6
Softcover, 18x25 cm, 208 pages, throughout photos and sketches