1. Does travelling and exploration run in the Holgate blood?

You could say that. When I was a kid, my dad travelled all over SA to teach in out-of-the-way places. We were always camping by the road side, listening to him telling stories about the early African explorers.

2. This wanderlust thing, can you trace it back to your childhood?

It came with the territory, I suppose. We ended up joining my father on many of his postings further north into the sub-continent. At one stage we even ended up in the Belgian Congo where he worked as a lay preacher at a leper colony, so the travel bug bit early on.

3. Did you start off exploring your own backyard or did you go big from the start?

We started right at grass roots level, travelling in our huge Chevy, camping in old Bell tents with wooden pegs, and pitching camp wherever we fancied. This is where I got my first taste of adventuring.

4. So what was the first adventure you personally planned?  Tell us about it.

Like many of today's 21-year olds, I decided to wander the world with my backpack. I saw most of Europe, explored Scandinavia, even travelled to Iran and a whole bunch of exotic, off-the-beaten-track destinations, and it blew my mind.

5. Since then, there have been many other trips; which one stands out as a favourite?

The one closest to my heart is the African Odyssey, an incredible journey in open boats from the Cape to Cairo.  We used rubber ducks, navigating uncharted rivers, carrying a calabash with water from Cape Point to the mouth of the Nile.

6. What do you find the major stumbling blocks when setting up expeditions in Africa?

Bureaucracy is hell, so getting the paperwork sorted is always an issue. The real challenge, however, lies in raising the funds necessary to make the expedition a success. We're fortunate enough to have brands like Captain Morgan and Land Rover who back us to the hilt though, and you cannot put a value to that.

7. So much for the little irritations; what about the dangers you have to face along the way?

I've had malaria 39 times, and Jill and Ross can‚t be far behind (his wife and son ed.). Plus there‚s tropical diseases, crocodiles, hippos, and of course man, the most dangerous animal of all. On the Congo River alone, we had to face up to 16 interrogations by child soldiers armed to the teeth, but I find you're OK if you wave and smile a lot!

8. Ever lost an expedition member, or feared for one of your crew's life?

A Unita soldier in Angola once told me the only reason they didn't kill me was because I was so friendly. Crocs chomped through our rubber duck on Lake Turkana, and recently one of my crew members got knifed in Pemba at the start of the African Rainbow Expedition. Sometimes things do go wrong, but we‚ve been fortunate enough to always escape intact.

9. Your most recent adventure was the African Rainbow Expedition; tell us more about this?

Our mission was to create a buzz around this adventure‚ and save lives, primarily by creating awareness about malaria. What I loved about this expedition is that we used a traditional dhow - historically used to transport slaves and ivory - to distribute mosquito nets to people along Africa's east coast.

10. Tell us about the manufacturing process of the dhow? How long did it take, where was it built and who were the craftsmen?

We built Spirit of Adventure‚ in Zanzibar using only traditional materials and tools, and the year it took us to create it has been an adventure in itself. Tanzanian artisans started off with pit-sawn timber, then caulked the frame with tar and cotton wool before the hull was finally waterproofed using shark fat. 

Text and photos by Jacques Marais