Leonore Beukes, marketing manager for Boundless Southern Africa and her team has done a great job of setting up the Boundless Southern Africa Expedition.
Last year there had been a conference to bring together all interested parties, people with a passion for Transfrontier conservation and now on Friday 8th May 2009 it is all happening as some 200 people gather at the Grindrod tent at the Royal Natal Yacht Club for the start of another world first Kingsley Holgate led expedition and a story best told in Kingsley’s own words:
I’ve got that normal feeling of nervous anticipation in the pit of my gut. My beard blows sideways in the strong southerly wind.
The Shakaland Zulus chant and wave their spears and shields. The waves crash against my knees.
Cameras click and flash to capture the moment.
Slowly Indian Ocean Sea Water glugs into the same Calabash that has carried water from Cape Point to the mouth of the Nile, circumnavigated the globe along the Tropic of Capricorn and followed in the footsteps of the great explorers. More recently the calabash has successfully carried cold South Atlantic seawater from the Cape of Good Hope on an expedition to track the Outside Edge of Africa through 33 countries, to be emptied 448 day later at the same place on Madiba`s birthday.
Today marks the start of the Boundless Southern Africa Expedition – this time the Calabash will take water from the Indian Ocean on a 120 day journey across the continent to the Atlantic across 9 Countries, 7 Transfrontier Conservation Areas, 30 National Parks and Reserves and the Communities adjacent to these areas. It’s all about Nature, Culture and Community.
The official launch of the expedition will be from the International Tourism Indaba in three days time. Whilst on expedition we’re going to send you regular dispatches, sometimes they might even be a bit irregular, depending on the circumstances of the day. But whatever happens, we’ll keep you posted.
