EXPEDITIONS

GREATER GORONGOSA EXPEDITION 2025

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Objectives

• Geographic: explore the vision of the ‘Greater Gorongosa zone’, including a circumnavigation of the 4,000-square-kilometre Gorongosa National Park, Mount Gorongosa, and conservancies that stretch north to the Zambezi River.

• Humanitarian: support Gorongosa National Park’s human development programmes in five districts through malaria prevention for women and children, and provision of eye tests and reading glasses to poor-sighted elderly community residents.

• Youth conservation: fun-filled education through the Wildlife Art campaign with soccer/netball activities at Gorongosa schools and Girls Clubs.

• Ranger support: in partnership with Jim Green Footwear, provide rugged boots to all Gorongosa rangers and community workers.

• Exposure: In partnership with travel and adventure magazines and other media networks, the Expedition will showcase Gorongosa National Park’s remarkable story of revival and resilience.

Route

• South Africa
• Zimbabwe
• Mozambique

MISSION

Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique is one of Africa’s greatest wildlife restoration stories. Declared a national park in 1960, this 4,000-square-kilometre Park became internationally known as ‘Africa’s Eden’ for its diverse range of habitats and prolific wildlife. However, the Mozambican civil war that began in 1977 all but wiped out the Park’s wildlife. It languished until 2008, when Mozambique’s government and US philanthropist Greg Carr joined forces to create the Gorongosa Restoration Project to restore the Park to its former glory as well as improve health, education and livelihoods in neighbouring communities.

With Gorongosa now thriving again, a pioneering concept is taking shape: the vision of a Greater Gorongosa zone, which will connect a vast landscape of Mozambique’s last remaining indigenous forests and conservancy areas, from the northern boundary of the existing Park to the banks of the Zambezi River.

EXPEDITION ROUTE

Following a vibrant send-off at the launch of the revamped Koru Environmental Youth Camp near Hoedspruit, the six Defender expedition convoy took an adventurous route through Zimbabwe, crossing the historic Birchenough Bridge over the Savé River to reach the spectacular Eastern Highlands and explore the Vumba and Nyanga mountain range, before crossing into Mozambique to reach Gorongosa National Park. 

Expedition member Mike Marchington (who with his wife Anne, spent 10 years working in Gorongosa) carefully mapped a roads-less-travelled route that became known as ‘the Marchington Line’. Unseasonal rains turned much of the route into a 4×4 adventurer’s dream of exploring areas that are thankfully, still off-the-beaten track.

It included:

  • A challenging circumnavigation of Gorongosa National Park, ferrying heavy loads of humanitarian and conservation resources to remote communities;
  • A slippery ascent into the mists of the 1,863-metre-high Mount Gorongosa;
  • Negotiating rocky, over-grown tracks to reach geographic locations such as the little-known caves and grottoes of the Grutas do Khodzue, which is home to numerous rare species;
  • Traversing the spectacular Inhaminga and Catapu forest conservancies to reach the banks of the Zambezi River;
  • Paying tribute: a visit to the grave of Mary Moffat Livingstone (wife of Scottish explorer/missionary Dr David Livingstone) who died from malaria on the banks of the Zambezi River in 1862.
  • A memorable, twisting 4×4 descent of the eastern escarpment of the Great African Rift Valley;
  • An old-fashioned crossing of the Urema River by hand-pulled pontoon;
  • Culmination of the expedition on the shores of Lake Urema, which marks the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley.

A HISTORIC DEFENDER CONVOY

The Greater Gorongosa expedition convoy was made up of six heritage Land Rover Defenders, which between them have clocked up nearly one million kilometres of travel and adventure.

2023 DEFENDER 130D – ‘MOYO’ (‘heart’ in Swahili)

Moyo, a new-gen Defender had already travelled 62,000-kilometres throughout Africa, tackling flooding rivers, equatorial rainforests, Sahara Desert sand and 4×4 mountain tracks on the Africa Odyssey expedition last year. Driven by expedition leader Ross Holgate, a veteran of all 41 previous geographic and humanitarian journeys, who handles all expedition logistics.

2023 DEFENDER 130D – ‘ISIBINDI’ (‘courage’ in Zulu)

Driven by Kingsley and Sheelagh. Like ‘Moyo’, it’s just completed the year-long, 22-country Afrika Odyssey expedition. Kingsley, armed with his trusty ‘Zulu Talking Stick’, and Sheelagh are the scribes and storytellers of each Holgate journey, and their Defender is the guardian of the expedition’s symbolic beaded calabash and the Gorongosa Scroll for Conservation and Communities.

1995 DEFENDER Tdi – ‘SENGI’ (little elephant shrew)

Driven by the widely travelled Gorongosa National Park stalwarts Mike and Anne Marchington. Well-kitted Sengi recently completed a 10-country journey through Africa to Ethiopia and has clocked up an incredible 373,000-kilometres on the odometer. Mike and Anne’s long association with Gorongosa National Park was invaluable in guiding the expedition’s community efforts and mapping routes along off-the-beaten tracks between Gorongosa and the Zambezi River.

2006 DEFENDER Tdi – ‘MASHOZI’ (after the late Gill Holgate)

This historic expedition Defender is one of only three Landys that completed the Outside Edge expedition in 2008 – a 33-country, 449-day world-first journey to track the entire outline of the African continent. It was rediscovered last year and purchased by veteran team member Brad Hansen and adventure-seeking Ken Wilcox (USA). It was great having this historic Landy back in the Holgate expedition convoy, along with Brad’s wife Svetlana, on her first African humanitarian expedition.

2021 DEFENDER 110 – ‘MAMBA’

Crewed by seasoned adventurers ‘Shova Mike’ and Fiona Nixon. Not only has Mike climbed the world’s 7 Summits, he’s also a Cape Epic mountain bike champ and was part of our Great African Rift Valley expedition that also ended at Gorongosa’s Lake Urema in 2012. In ‘Mamba’, Fiona and Mike also completed the 2021-2022 Hot Cape-Cold Cape Transcontinental Expedition from Cape Agulhas to Nordkapp in Norway, and recently participated in the Afrika Odyssey Expedition to Chad in North Africa.

2012 DEFENDER 130 – ‘THE STOMACH’

This veteran Defender started out as the iconic ‘Rhino Landy’ that was covered in thousands of messages against rhino poaching, then went on to complete six gruelling journeys: the Ma Robert Expedition tracking the Zambezi River (2014); Chew Bahir expedition to Ethiopia (2016); Extreme East expedition to Somalia (2017); Cape Town to Kathmandu transcontinental expedition (2018); Zambezi-Congo expedition (2019); and the humanitarian Mzansi Edge expedition during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The Stomach carried the expedition’s food, 4×4 kit, most of the humanitarian/conservation supplies and Jim Green boots for Gorongosa’s rangers. It was driven by 3rd generation, 24-year-old Tristan Holgate (Kingsley’s grandson, Ross’s son) on his first journey as a bona-fide expedition member and Ross’s right-hand-man.

HUMANITARIAN ACHIEVEMENTS

Working with Gorongosa’s human development teams and clinic staff, community members in five districts on the borders of the Park benefited from the following:

Malaria Prevention: 3,000 pregnant women and mothers with young children protected from malaria in high-risk communities through the provision of malaria prevention education and long lasting insecticide-treated PermaNets provided by Vestergraard.

Mashozi’s Rite To Sight: 1,250 eye tests and reading glasses provided to poor-sighted, mostly elderly people.

Conservation & Environmental Education: Over 1,500 children participated in the Wildlife Art campaign along with vibrant, educational soccer/netball matches and environmental activities. 

Boots for Rangers: the expedition also facilitated the donation of 260 pairs of rugged boots for Gorongosa’s rangers and community teams, kindly donated by Jim Green Footwear.

AFRICAN SYMBOLISM

This 42nd expedition continued the tradition of African symbolism.

A dedicated Gorongosa Scroll for Conservation and Communities (handcrafted by Melvill and Moon) is now filled with messages of hope and inspiration, handwritten by hundreds of people: community leaders and government representatives, doctors and nurses, school teachers and children, agricultural trainers and scientists, as well as rangers and staff from Gorongosa National Park and other conservancies that formed part of the expedition’s route.

A symbolic iSivivane (stone cairn) was built by the expedition team and Gorongosa staff to celebrate the opening of Chicari Tented Camp in the heart of Gorongosa.

Water collected at the expedition’s launch at Koru Kids Camp in Hoedspruit, South Africa and carried in the well-travelled beaded calabash, was symbolically emptied into Lake Urema at the end of the expedition.

Accompanied by photo-journalist Ollie Keohan and film-maker Calvin Fisher, this expedition also helped shine a spotlight on the incredible revival and restoration of Gorongosa National Park, now risen from the ashes as a ‘People’s Park’ and deservedly reclaiming its title as ‘Africa’s Eden’. Links to their compelling stories can be found under the MEDIA and NEWS tabs, or on our Facebook Page: @KingsleyHolgateFoundation.

EXPEDITION PARTNERS

Land Rover Defender
Gorongosa National Park
Gorongosa Safaris
Tyre Life
Vestergaard
Fleet Logix
Jim Green Footwear
Coca Cola Mozambique
4×4 Megaworld
FrontRunner
Melvill and Moon
Koru Camp
Rotary Club Chimoio
Brad Hansen Safaris
Patrons: Rick and Amy Smith