'You'll probably be kidnapped on this road."
The warning was from a police chief in Somaliland, an autonomous region of Somalia. But for explorer and humanitarian Kingsley Holgate, avoiding the road wasn't an option. He and his companions were on a trip to the extreme eastern point of Africa, an outcrop about 120km south of the continent's horn. The "pimple" of land, as he describes it, is near Hafun - spelt Ras Xaafun locally - a remote village in Puntland, in northern Somalia.
Having travelled for about five weeks through nine countries since leaving South Africa, Holgate's team arrived in Somalilandon the Horn of Africa. Somaliland broke away from Somalia 26 years ago and tensions between the two remain high.
The party was relatively safe in a place that Holgate described as "incredible", but the dangers ahead were also apparent."We've also had some close encounters with wildlife. Lions in camp, charged by elephants and, on a circumnavigation of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, a croc took a bite out of the inflatable [boat].
"On the world-first Cape-to-Cairo waterway expedition in open boats, joining the lakes and rivers across Africa, I had to run for my life. I could feel the hot hippo breath on the back of my neck," he said. In the nick of time, he escaped.
But Holgate isn't one to be deterred by the challenges, not even when he felt he was going to die on his 2015 expedition to the "heart of Africa".
"The constant wading waist-high through swamps, vines tearing you apart, running out of food, constantly wet and bleeding.
"Just 1.7km from the exact GPS point [identifying the centre of the continent], I collapsed under a huge, 1000-year-old tree and thought it would be my final resting place. But Ross and the rest of the team urged me on. At times I was crawling on my stomach and pulling myself along on roots. It's often like that, surviving these journeys is about the 'bravehearts' that I travel with and the wonderful team spirit that pulls us through," said Holgate.Back at the village they handed out mosquito nets (on his various expeditions Holgate and his team have distributed a total of 325601 of them), water purifiers and vision-correcting spectacles to the Hafun villagers.
It was a momentous achievement. They had completed a 12000km journey and the Holgate team had achieved its goal of reaching all seven extreme points of Africa.Going home should have been easy.
Back in Garowe the team was interrogated by a senior Puntland official. Were the team members US or al-Shabaab spies? Or geologists coming to "take our minerals"?
Thanks in part to a picture of Holgate with Nelson Mandela, the team was allowed to resume with a handwritten message from the interrogator: "You guys are very brave that you come and visit Somalia this time. Thanks."
"We were touched by the human spirit there. It's a few people who mess it up for the rest."
With this trip completed, will the 71-year-old explorer hang up his 4x4 keys?
"Not by a long shot. There are far more journeys than we've got lives."YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:..