Adventurer and Wildlife Filmmaker Josh Crickmay comes face-to-face with “City Beasts” in new series on People'sWeather

Exploring the wild side of Cape Town game ranger, and adventurer Josh Crickmay takes audiences on an exhilarating journey through the City's hidden treasures in the upcoming TV series City Beasts: Cape of Chaos on People'sWeather on Channel 180 DSTV and Openview Channel 115 beginning on 29 January.

City Beasts chronicles the journey of Josh Crickmay on a mission to find proof that humans and animals can coexist in harmony. Josh shares his experiences as he discovers these animals in a fun and educational way, imbuing the series with his unbridled enthusiasm and quirky sense of humour. Through tracking, trap cameras, stakeouts, and by following the tales from the locals, he encounters fascinating “beasts” of the City, uncovering their resilience, as they adapt and cohabit with humans, who have increasingly claimed their spaces.

Through honest and genuine encounters with animals like penguins, sharks, porcupines, baboons, genets, and even otters, he proves his theory that not only do people coexist with wildlife in Cape Town, but he also discovers the remarkable impact it has on the locals.

Josh’s passion for wildlife was ignited as a 15-year-old when as a lost and suicidal teen, he spent a “big year’ chasing down bird species in Southern Africa, the Andes, and the Amazon. Following this he produced a magnificent coffee table book: Josh’s Big Year, a photographic record of his experience. Josh qualified as a FGASA nature guide and became interested in creating content and started filming his experiences, uncovering his eccentric and often humourous slant on nature.

“What attracted us to the City Beast series is Josh's unique, genre-bending approach to wildlife film-making. It’s off-beat, unusual, highly accessible and engaging,” says Stephan le Roux, owner and CEO of People’sWeather.  “He has created a fresh approach to an often serious genre that is desperately in need of some humour and young voices to broaden its appeal. Think Tik Tok by the waterhole!”

“Creating the City Beasts was the culmination of everything I love in life: Incredible wildlife, fascinating people, conservation, challenging filmmaking, pirate boats and unbridled havoc,” says Josh. “It was as every bit chaotic behind the scenes as it is on the screen, and I couldn’t have asked for better.”

Josh’s enthralling adventures kick off with a welcome by Cape Town’s dassies. He follows baboons as they navigate the urban landscape and tracks down the four species of cormorants inhabiting the City, unveiling a stunning diversity of avian life. He takes a plunge into the depths of the kelp forests, learning to free dive to bring viewers face-to-face with the shark life beneath the waves. His encounters with the iconic seals of Cape Town, provide a rare glimpse into their daily struggles and triumphs in their natural habitat. He captures the goofy and lovable nature of African penguins. In a breathtaking exploration of shipwrecks off the Cape of Storms, Josh reveals how nature has ingeniously turned man's trash into treasure. He meets a Cape Clawless Otter under the docks of Simon’s Town harbour, searches the dangerous gorges of Table Mountain for the extremely elusive and aptly named ghost frog, and has a memorable experience with a pair of porcupines. Josh also shares his personal story of struggle and success with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as he explores sundews and seabirds and searches for an elusive otter.

It's no wonder that Josh feels that creating City Beasts is a kind of tribute to the Natural World - as it literally saved his life. Josh's curiosity, sheer bravery, and clever sense of humour make him an endearing character, and his passion is undeniably authentic and palpable throughout the series. “My every step forward is an attempt to repay that debt back to the Natural World, through conservation, spreading knowledge and excitement about our world through film - told with humour, adventure, and as always, mayhem.”

Catch this uniquely captivating series on People'sWeather on Channel 180 on DSTV and Openview Channel 115 from January 29 to 8 February at 20:30 with repeats.

To watch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9UBn5T1_n4

For more information go to https://www.peoplesweather.com/.

For more info on Josh Crickmay go to www.Joshcrickmay.com[KC2] 

‘Mission Accomplished’ for the Mzansi Edge Expedition

During these dark days of Covid, an expedition of hope to embrace the outline of South Africa and help those in need.

With adventures and exploits reminiscent of Jules Verne’s 1872 novel ‘Around the world in 80 days’, the Kingsley Holgate explorer team have completed the Mzansi Edge Expedition travelling in new Land Rover Defenders, by mountain bike and even on foot, on a marathon humanitarian mission that delivered over 250,000 nutritional meals to needy families still affected by the Covid-19 lockdown and clocking up more than 16,000 kilometres in 80 days.

Starting at Kosi Bay mouth in northern KwaZulu-Natal in mid-September with the filling of the Holgate’s traditional Zulu calabash that travels on every humanitarian and geographic journey, the expedition achieved the extraordinary feat of tracking South Africa’s total land borders with Mozambique, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia, circumnavigating land-locked Lesotho, and following the entire length of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines from Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape back to Kosi Bay. 

The expedition ended at Kosi Bay - where it all began 80 days earlier.

Geographic objectives of the expedition included staying as close to the land borders as possible and reaching South Africa’s most eastern, northern, western and southern geographic points. The team also erected symbolic ‘isivivanes’ (stone cairns) at the six points where South Africa’s border meets two other countries and collected thimblefuls of water from 50 important water sources on Mzansi’s Edge in the Zulu calabash. Staying true to the coastal edge of the expedition’s route, they also reached 50 lighthouses along South Africa’s shoreline.

“This expedition turned out to be one of the most exceptional journeys I’ve ever undertaken without leaving my home country,” said the world-renowned explorer and author Kingsley Holgate, who with his team has completed over 30 geographic and humanitarian expeditions in Africa and beyond, many of them world-firsts. “Every day was a new adventure, and we were constantly amazed at the spectacular beauty, geographic diversity and rich history to be found all along South Africa’s borders and coastline, as well as the kindness and hospitality of people who ‘live on the edge’ of our magnificent country, and who fully embraced the expedition’s mission and pushed us along.”

The challenging route was also the first long-distance test for the recently launched Land Rover Defender on South African soil, with Kingsley and his son Ross Holgate putting two expedition-kitted new Defenders through their paces over some of the most difficult conditions on the continent. This included following the entire length of the Kruger National Park’s fence line with Mozambique; tracking the 500-kilometre straight-edge border with Namibia from Union’s End in the north of the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park to the Orange River; steep ascents and descents along the Lubombo and Makhonjwa mountain ranges and the high-altitude Drakensberg border with Lesotho; and navigating the precipitous cliffs of the Wild Coast.

“As a family, we have had the incredible opportunity to have adventured in every country in Africa but we never expected this homegrown Mzansi Edge expedition to throw so much at man and machine,” said expedition leader Ross Holgate. “Following a fence line day after day and week after week, is not easy. The road conditions were a complete mishmash: deep sand ruts, sharp jagged rocks, high Kalahari dunes, overgrown tracks and wash-aways were part of our everyday journey. We also experienced intense heat up to 50 degrees Celsius and days of endless mud and torrential rain.” 

At the Kruger National Park Mozambique border

Joining the adventurous father and son duo were Kingsley’s partner Sheelagh, Ross’s wife Anna, Kingsley’s 19-year-old grandson Tristan who is learning the ‘expedition ropes’, and expedition veteran ‘Shova Mike’ Nixon, one of only four people in the world to have completed every Absa Cape Epic, said to be the toughest mountain bike race in the world. He cycled over 4,500-kilometres of the Mzansi Edge expedition route, including a gruelling, solo 300-kilometre journey along the beaches and cliffs of the Wild Coast from Cintsa to Port St Johns. Other South African adventurers who joined the expedition for short spells included Project Rhino ambassador Richard Mabanga and mountaineers Andre Bredenkamp and Sibusiso Vilane, the first African to successfully summit Mt Everest.

Staying so close to South Africa’s borders created some interesting moments for the team. “With travel bans still in place, some of the fence lines were heavily guarded by the SADF and we had to get permission from the top military brass beforehand,” recalled Ross. “They were always supportive of the expedition’s mission, but sometimes the message wouldn’t get all the way down the line and we’d have to do some fast talking.  On one occasion, Shova Mike on his mountain bike was nearly shot when he crested a hill ahead of the Defender team and surprised a patrol unit on the lookout for border jumpers and vehicle smugglers.”

The expedition witnessed the illegal cross-border trade, particularly along the Limpopo border with Zimbabwe, where innumerable holes in the fence, well-worn tracks and a busy bush-taxi service showed it was alive and kicking. They also saw first-hand the devastation that Covid-closed border posts have wrought on local communities who rely heavily on tourism and the continent-wide trucking industry. 

“It was disturbing to see border posts like ghost towns,” said Kingsley. “No business at all – from the empty shisanyama and fruit stalls lining the road, to short-stay motels and upmarket game lodges – everything closed. The loss of income must be terrifying; it really brought home the severity of the Covid-19 lockdown and how people in these outlying areas are still struggling to put food on the table.”

“Building on our motto of using our adventures to improve and save lives, this expedition wasn’t just a geographic mission – it also had a strong humanitarian focus,” explained Ross. “Supported by Land Rover, the DoMore Foundation and our partners at Goodbye Malaria and Project Rhino, we were able to distribute well over 250,000 meals-worth of vitamin-enriched DoMore nutritional porridge, as well as thousands of facemasks, sanitizing soap and digital thermometers to early childhood development centres, orphanages and needy families all along the route, especially to those living close to game reserves who have been particularly hard-hit by the loss of tourism. It was a mammoth team effort, and we were amazed at the inner strength of so many South Africans, who seem more determined than ever to improve the lives of others during these difficult Covid times.”

SA Adventurer Sibusiso Vilane helping with humanitarian work near Songimvelo NR on Eswatini border

On the final dash from Durban Harbour to Kosi Bay, the expedition’s well-travelled Zulu calabash was borne up the coast on the National Sea Rescue Institute’s state-of-the-art ‘Alick Rennie’ vessel to Umhlanga Rocks and then flown by microlight from Ballito to the Tugela River mouth. Reuniting with the Defender convoy, it journeyed up the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, still collecting water from key river mouths and lakes in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. To mark the end of its Mzansi Edge odyssey, expedition members then carried it on a 14-kilometre beach trek from Bhanga Nek to Kosi Bay Mouth, where it was symbolically emptied at the exact point where the expedition started from 80 days previously, in a jubilant end-of-expedition ceremony. 

The expedition’s Scroll of Peace and Goodwill is full of inspirational messages from hundreds of remarkable people we met all along Mzansi’s Edge,” said Kingsley. “Especially in these difficult times, it’s been good to be reminded of the unique diversity of nature, culture and community that make up our country. Wherever possible, let’s get out there and enjoy the incredible adventure destinations South Africa has to offer, staying Covid-safe of course.”

-ends

‘Mission Accomplished’ for the Mzansi Edge Expedition

During these dark days of Covid, an expedition of hope to embrace the outline of South Africa and help those in need.

With adventures and exploits reminiscent of Jules Verne’s 1872 novel ‘Around the world in 80 days’, the Kingsley Holgate explorer team have completed the Mzansi Edge Expedition travelling in new Land Rover Defenders, by mountain bike and even on foot, on a marathon humanitarian mission that delivered over 250,000 nutritional meals to needy families still affected by the Covid-19 lockdown and clocking up more than 16,000 kilometres in 80 days.

Starting at Kosi Bay mouth in northern KwaZulu-Natal in mid-September with the filling of the Holgate’s traditional Zulu calabash that travels on every humanitarian and geographic journey, the expedition achieved the extraordinary feat of tracking South Africa’s total land borders with Mozambique, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia, circumnavigating land-locked Lesotho, and following the entire length of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines from Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape back to Kosi Bay. 

The expedition ended at Kosi Bay - where it all began 80 days earlier.

Geographic objectives of the expedition included staying as close to the land borders as possible and reaching South Africa’s most eastern, northern, western and southern geographic points. The team also erected symbolic ‘isivivanes’ (stone cairns) at the six points where South Africa’s border meets two other countries and collected thimblefuls of water from 50 important water sources on Mzansi’s Edge in the Zulu calabash. Staying true to the coastal edge of the expedition’s route, they also reached 50 lighthouses along South Africa’s shoreline.

“This expedition turned out to be one of the most exceptional journeys I’ve ever undertaken without leaving my home country,” said the world-renowned explorer and author Kingsley Holgate, who with his team has completed over 30 geographic and humanitarian expeditions in Africa and beyond, many of them world-firsts. “Every day was a new adventure, and we were constantly amazed at the spectacular beauty, geographic diversity and rich history to be found all along South Africa’s borders and coastline, as well as the kindness and hospitality of people who ‘live on the edge’ of our magnificent country, and who fully embraced the expedition’s mission and pushed us along.”

The challenging route was also the first long-distance test for the recently launched Land Rover Defender on South African soil, with Kingsley and his son Ross Holgate putting two expedition-kitted new Defenders through their paces over some of the most difficult conditions on the continent. This included following the entire length of the Kruger National Park’s fence line with Mozambique; tracking the 500-kilometre straight-edge border with Namibia from Union’s End in the north of the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park to the Orange River; steep ascents and descents along the Lubombo and Makhonjwa mountain ranges and the high-altitude Drakensberg border with Lesotho; and navigating the precipitous cliffs of the Wild Coast.

“As a family, we have had the incredible opportunity to have adventured in every country in Africa but we never expected this homegrown Mzansi Edge expedition to throw so much at man and machine,” said expedition leader Ross Holgate. “Following a fence line day after day and week after week, is not easy. The road conditions were a complete mishmash: deep sand ruts, sharp jagged rocks, high Kalahari dunes, overgrown tracks and wash-aways were part of our everyday journey. We also experienced intense heat up to 50 degrees Celsius and days of endless mud and torrential rain.” 

At the Kruger National Park Mozambique border

Joining the adventurous father and son duo were Kingsley’s partner Sheelagh, Ross’s wife Anna, Kingsley’s 19-year-old grandson Tristan who is learning the ‘expedition ropes’, and expedition veteran ‘Shova Mike’ Nixon, one of only four people in the world to have completed every Absa Cape Epic, said to be the toughest mountain bike race in the world. He cycled over 4,500-kilometres of the Mzansi Edge expedition route, including a gruelling, solo 300-kilometre journey along the beaches and cliffs of the Wild Coast from Cintsa to Port St Johns. Other South African adventurers who joined the expedition for short spells included Project Rhino ambassador Richard Mabanga and mountaineers Andre Bredenkamp and Sibusiso Vilane, the first African to successfully summit Mt Everest.

Staying so close to South Africa’s borders created some interesting moments for the team. “With travel bans still in place, some of the fence lines were heavily guarded by the SADF and we had to get permission from the top military brass beforehand,” recalled Ross. “They were always supportive of the expedition’s mission, but sometimes the message wouldn’t get all the way down the line and we’d have to do some fast talking.  On one occasion, Shova Mike on his mountain bike was nearly shot when he crested a hill ahead of the Defender team and surprised a patrol unit on the lookout for border jumpers and vehicle smugglers.”

The expedition witnessed the illegal cross-border trade, particularly along the Limpopo border with Zimbabwe, where innumerable holes in the fence, well-worn tracks and a busy bush-taxi service showed it was alive and kicking. They also saw first-hand the devastation that Covid-closed border posts have wrought on local communities who rely heavily on tourism and the continent-wide trucking industry. 

“It was disturbing to see border posts like ghost towns,” said Kingsley. “No business at all – from the empty shisanyama and fruit stalls lining the road, to short-stay motels and upmarket game lodges – everything closed. The loss of income must be terrifying; it really brought home the severity of the Covid-19 lockdown and how people in these outlying areas are still struggling to put food on the table.”

“Building on our motto of using our adventures to improve and save lives, this expedition wasn’t just a geographic mission – it also had a strong humanitarian focus,” explained Ross. “Supported by Land Rover, the DoMore Foundation and our partners at Goodbye Malaria and Project Rhino, we were able to distribute well over 250,000 meals-worth of vitamin-enriched DoMore nutritional porridge, as well as thousands of facemasks, sanitizing soap and digital thermometers to early childhood development centres, orphanages and needy families all along the route, especially to those living close to game reserves who have been particularly hard-hit by the loss of tourism. It was a mammoth team effort, and we were amazed at the inner strength of so many South Africans, who seem more determined than ever to improve the lives of others during these difficult Covid times.”

SA Adventurer Sibusiso Vilane helping with humanitarian work near Songimvelo NR on Eswatini border

On the final dash from Durban Harbour to Kosi Bay, the expedition’s well-travelled Zulu calabash was borne up the coast on the National Sea Rescue Institute’s state-of-the-art ‘Alick Rennie’ vessel to Umhlanga Rocks and then flown by microlight from Ballito to the Tugela River mouth. Reuniting with the Defender convoy, it journeyed up the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, still collecting water from key river mouths and lakes in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. To mark the end of its Mzansi Edge odyssey, expedition members then carried it on a 14-kilometre beach trek from Bhanga Nek to Kosi Bay Mouth, where it was symbolically emptied at the exact point where the expedition started from 80 days previously, in a jubilant end-of-expedition ceremony. 

The expedition’s Scroll of Peace and Goodwill is full of inspirational messages from hundreds of remarkable people we met all along Mzansi’s Edge,” said Kingsley. “Especially in these difficult times, it’s been good to be reminded of the unique diversity of nature, culture and community that make up our country. Wherever possible, let’s get out there and enjoy the incredible adventure destinations South Africa has to offer, staying Covid-safe of course.”

-ends

New book from Kingsley Holgate: Africa – a Love Affair with a Continent.

Media Release

New book from Kingsley Holgate 

Africa - A LOVE AFFAIR WITH A CONTINENT

KINGSLEY HOLGATE the well-known humanitarian adventurer, TV personality, Land Rover Ambassador, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, renowned speaker and a legend known as  ‘the most travelled man in Africa’ has launched his new book Africa – a Love Affair with a Continent.

Holgate is the author of four previous best-selling books on travel and adventure:  ‘Cape to Cairo’, ‘Capricorn – following the invisible line’, Africa – in the footsteps of the Great Explorers’ and ‘Afrika – Despatches from the Outside Edge’.  

This widely-anticipated 5th book, Africa – a Love Affair with a Continent has been five years in the making and spans 30 years of adventure and exploration in every country in Africa, including all of her island states.  

Armed with a Zulu calabash and Scrolls of peace and goodwill, by Land Rover, inflatable boat, Swahili dhow and on foot, Kingsley and his adventurous team have traversed the continent on world-first expeditions, touching over a million lives through their humanitarian and conservation efforts.

Packed with stories taken from Kingsley’s pile of dog-eared expedition journals and laced with his legendary humour, each chapter is a stand-alone chronicle of a life of adventure; the excitement, escapades and characters met along the way, with beautifully detailed descriptions of Africa’s wildlife, wild places and fascinating tribes – and the downright scary moments when things go wrong, from a croc chomping the inflatable boat and attack by pirates, to child soldiers high on cocaine. 

With dramatic, full-colour images taken on each expedition, it’s a must-have for all adventurous souls and is arguably the most comprehensive African adventure book ever written.

Africa – a Love Affair with a Continent was launched in Cape Town on Madiba Day, 18 July 2018 as part of Kingsley’s next world-first Land Rover expedition (Cape Town to Kathmandu) and will be available by direct order from the Kingsley Holgate Foundation in August.

For more information go to http://www.kingsleyholgate.com/books/

EARLY REVIEWS OF ‘AFRICA – A LOVE AFFAIR WITH A CONTINENT’

‘No-one I know has done more African miles in a Land Rover than Kingsley Holgate, which is why he has been able to unearth these incredible true tales from the beautiful continent.  This book will teach you more about Africa than Google or the Lonely Planet.’  Patrick Cruywagen, Land Rover Monthly UK

‘Life has lots of simple pleasures — the warm sun on your back or a cool sea breeze in your hair – or the fact that there are still larger-than-life characters around such as Kingsley Holgate.  To call him an explorer or humanitarian doesn’t do true justice to the man.  Kingsley is an absolute force of nature; he brings exuberance, energy, enthusiasm and undiluted vivacity to everything he does.

This new book is a collection of his expeditions and adventures that are unique to Africa. You will not find such wonderful tales of, and insights into, this magical land anywhere else.  You will be transported to a fireside under the megawatt stars of an African night with a maestro storyteller entrancing you with words so vivid that they are forever etched on your brain.  The extraordinary characters, the gripping anecdotes, the edge-of-seat adventures and the superb humanitarian work each expedition brings is a magnificent testimony to a richly-lived life, where being bored is an alien and unforgivable concept.’  Graham Spence, co-author of the best-seller The Elephant Whisperer

-end