T4A SPONSORED PROJECTS

Tracks4Africa is passionate about conservation in Africa as well as equipping travellers that are travelling through Africa for a good cause. Throughout the years we have supported many projects by sponsoring them with GPS maps of Africa. These are a few of the projects we've been involved with:

 

2 Do Africa

The 2 Do Africa team are travelling from the UK to Cape Town, South Africa to raise money for the Izulu Orphan Projects and Alzheimer’s Research UK. They aim to travel through 17 countries in 6 months. 

 

4-Africa

4-Africa is a team of four friends embarking on an overland trip from London to Cape Town in November 2012. Their aim is to assist the A21 Campaign with groundwork research about Human Trafficking in Africa.

They will be meeting with churches, monasteries and help-centres to gather information on the problem of human trafficking as well as building relationships and raising awareness with local people.

 

aCross Africa

The aim of aCross Africa is to create networks between existing relief and agricultural organisations in Africa. The team of four members are driving to the 4 corners of Africa in cooperation with 2 umbrella organisations, Relief.Life and Farming God’s way.

Throughout their trip they will be assisting various afflicted communities as well as help with training of local agricultural mentors. 

 

Adventures4Christ

Dewald Rosema and the team from Adventures4Christ do regular trips into remote areas in Africa to do missionary work. Their biggest struggle is communication of these trips and even more so the directions and routing to places. With the aid of Tracks4Africa maps they were able to route on existing roads and record tracks of non-existing roads which will be incorporated into the T4A map. Once these tracks are incorporated into the map, the team will be able to easily find their way back to the rural places they’ve visited.

 

Advenxure Africa

AdvenXure Africa is an African Adventure Tour Company that specializes in taking the routes less travelled to remote and often hard to reach tourist destinations, while stopping along the way at some of Africa’s most popular tourist destinations. Their trips and activities are well researched and planned, they offer standard tours set out with pre-determined time frames, and also offer specialized custom tours if and when required according to the needs of a particular group. A large part of their tours take place on motorcycles, and they meet up with Safari companies and Larger tour operators to provide transport and accommodation within some of Africa’s most popular National Parks. They show you the Africa that you’ve always dreamed of, untamed, wild and natural.

 

Aussie Overlanders

Kirsty and Gareth, the Aussie Overlanders, are about to embark on an epic expedition across Australia and throughout Africa, bound for Europe. Their intention is to make the impossible, possible and to take life from 'I'm fine thanks' to 'I'm awesome'. They hope to share a mega load of inspiration along the way. The expedition will be one of the first trans-African expeditions to be published in mainstream Australian media live from the road.

 

African Nature Conservancy

The African Nature Conservancy aims to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends and leave a sustainable world for generations to come. They have a staff of more than 550 scientists as well as many partners that help achieve this mission.

Tracks4Africa has assisted the African Nature Conservancy by providing their GIS data and GPS maps for the field workers’ use.

 

Back Road Tours

They explore the back road (off roads) of Southern Africa. They offer services such as, give you advice, do research for you, plan your itinerary/travel plan, and do your bookings at no additional cost.   

 

Be a Blessing

Be a Blessing is an organisation that organises 4x4 off road days for less privileged kids. Their aim is to make a difference in these children’s lives by building trust and relationships between all of the participants, drivers and passengers.

The drivers are all volunteers and they rely on sponsorships to make each event possible. Safety is most important and they make sure that the trails are safe and a lot of fun.

 

Bending the Curve

Bending the Curve is a book about the climate crisis. It is also a guide that was co-authored by 24 expert, that will help you move from deliberation to action.

 

Beyond the bike

Beyond the Bike is an initiative aimed at raising funds for and equipping four charities in Africa. Stuart Block from the Cranleigh School in Surrey cycled a tandem bicycle together with other participants. The journey started in South Africa in July 2011 and they reached London for the Olympic Games in July 2012.

 

Bhubesi Pride

Bhubesi Pride are highly qualified teams of coaching staff that wants to drive through Africa on an annual six-month period, supporting rugby and community development in schools and communities in ten African countries. Their aim is to support NGOs, national rugby unions, government departments, British & International schools and appropriate partner organisations.

 

The Botanical Society - Pretoria

From 8 to 16 October 2010 members from the Pretoria branch of the Botanical Society undertook a trip to the Northern Cape to survey the locality of Mesembryanthemum (meaning "midday flowering") plants. These plants are native to southern Africa. The survey formed part of the Mesemb Mapping Project headed by Priscilla Burgoyne.

37 Localities were sampled in the area of Riemvasmaak next to the Augrabies Falls National Park, the area surrounding Pofadder and the Orange River area before Goodhouse. Gamsberg, for which permission was obtained from the Gamsberg mining authority, was also later added as a special locality.

Tracks4Africa sponsored their GPS maps to help determine the exact localities of the species.

 

The Cape Outback 2012

The Cape Outback is an exciting mountain bike stage race which covers 400km from Stilbaai to Stanford. The route covers rugged terrain including protected wilderness areas, mountains and unexplored mountain bike trails.

The mapping and tracking of the Cape Outback route was done in partnership with Tracks4Africa.

 

Cape Town to Dublin by Scooter 2013

The ‘Cape Town to Dublin by Scooter’ expedition will start in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2013. The team will be riding LML scooters through 20 countries, covering almost 35 000km. The aim of the trip is to raise awareness of the great work done by children’s hospitals throughout Africa, the Middle East and Europe. 

 

Cape2Cape

Cape-2-Cape trip will be from North Cape in Norway to Cape Town in South Africa. They will do their adventure in a Land Rover Defender for 7 months; go through 20 countries, on 3 continents.

 

Conservation International 

Conservation International does conservation work all over the world. One of their many projects is conserving wildlife in remote places in Africa. 

 

Cruising to Cape Town

Two 18-year old students embarked on an overland trip from London to Cape Town in November 2012. Their mission is to raise funds for the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation which aims to bring the nation together through sports.

 

Cycle for Change

Sven Fautley, will be cycling from Cape Town to Durban on the 20^th of November 2011, to attend the UN Conference on Climate Change. 

 

Department of Zoology and Entomology - University of Pretoria

The Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria conducted research on the habitat selection of the African savannah elephant. The study took place in various parts of Southern Africa, for which road data was obtained from Tracks4Africa. 

 

Eco-friendly Africa Travel

Eco-friendly Africa Travel embarked on a 6 month journey through South Africa on 1 June 2012. Their mode of transport: two LML/Vespa scooters. Apart from ensuring that their trip was carbon-neutral, they also wanted it to be beneficial to the environment and the communities they visited.

The aim of their trip was to raise money in support of Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA), an NGO that works to realise sustainable development.

 

Eef Lenaerts

They love to see the world, enjoying the fascinating cultures, the breath taking nature and the wonderful animal kingdom. This all sounds wonderful, but their feet remain on the ground. Although they limit themselves to a ‘nomad-life’ in the thoughts of the Western world, they will always remain much richer than most people that they will meet in Africa. Both of them want to contribute something to this world and they'll be helping out as volunteers on projects against famine.

 

Faces North to South

Faces North to South, is a project by photographer Dale Ruebin to capture faces across the European and Africa continents. He will be shooting on instant film, so as to give the subject a photograph of him- or herself. His aim with the project is to show how beautiful and diverse we are. 

 

The Gentlemens Adventure Club

They are 3 Scots that is going to drive 15,000 miles from Edinburgh to Cape Town. They will leave Edinburgh in June 2013 and plan to spend around 3 months on the road. Their aim is to help the communities that they encounter and give back anything they can. They will also be working with Tag Rugby Trust. They also want to help with coaching whilst on route and supply them with kits they obtained through their connections with the Scottish Rugby Union and Durham University.

 

Grant Baker – Billabong Surfer

Grant Baker is a professional surfer, employed by Billabong to travel the world finding and surfing the biggest and best waves he can find. Tracks4Africa is helping him in finding those waves in Africa.

 

The Green Pilgrimage to Durban

The 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) took place in Durban from the 28^th November to the 9^th December 2011.

The aim of the Green Pilgrimage to Durban was to create environmental awareness amongst local people. 17 Cyclists took part in the pilgrimage which began at Beitbridge border post. They cycled for 13 days to Durban, going via, amongst others, Pretoria and Johannesburg. Awareness Road Shows were held at the individual daily stops.

 

Josie Borain in Africa

Josie Borain is considered the first South African Supermodel. She is travelling through Southern Africa to photograph the people and places she sees on her way. Tracks4Africa has sponsored Josie with GPS maps for Africa, to guide her through her trip. 

 

Kapstadt Travel

Kapstadt Travel offers a collection of the most private and most luxurious villa and apartment rentals in Cape Town and South Africa. Their team of travel consultants’ goal is to make your holiday in Cape Town the most memorable ever and uphold their standards and expectations as you are expecting it to be.

 

Langebaan-sunset

Nick and Vicki, from the UK, gave up a lot to do their 4x4 overland trip from Stonehenge, UK to Cape Town, South Africa in a Land Rover 110 Defender, which they want to complete from May 2010 to May 2011. 

 

London2Cape - Shara Dillon

Shara Dillon will be driving in her 4x4 from London to Cape Town, overland through East Africa.  She will be taking on her journey from May to December 2013. If anyone wants to join her, you are more than welcome. 

 

The Longer Road, Bike Tar and Gravel Adventures in Southern Africa – by Greg Beadle

In the book, The Longer Road, Bike Tar and Gravel Adventures in Southern Africa, published by Map Studio, Greg Beadle explores 8-10 day bike trips in Southern Africa. He covers everything from routes covered, activities and attractions as well as gear, proposed bikes etc. Tracks4Africa GPS maps were used as a navigational tool on his trip. 

 

Max Adventure

On 28^th October 2010, the Max Adventure team of Mac Mackenney, Chris Rawlings & Steve Mackenney arrived in Cape Town after traveling by road from London to Cape Town in a record time of 11 days, 14 hours and 11 minutes. On their expedition, the team covered 10,000 miles through 20 countries.

Their African leg of the expedition started in Suakin, Sudan, after crossing the Red Sea by ferry from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. From Sudan they traveled through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and, finally, South Africa.

Thanks to Tracks4Africa, the teams’ entire route through Africa was guided with pinpoint accuracy.

 

Medecins Sans Frontieres and Gondar Ethiopian Eye Sight (GEES)

GEES is a small charity focusing on eye services in Northern Ethiopia. Their aim is to improve eye care for rural Ethiopia and provide places for students from other parts of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. The Charity was founded in 2003 by Dr Sandy Holt-Wilson who had worked for 5 months in Gondar.

 

Mini in Motion – Put Foot Rally 2013

The Mini in Motion team will be partaking in the 2013 Put Foot Rally, crossing 8000km through Southern Africa in 18 days in a vintage Mini. The mission of the Put Foot Rally is to distribute school shoes to children in Africa.  

 

The Montebello PROD Programme

The Montebello Design Centre’s PROD PROGRAMME was recently funded by Conservation International to do a 6 month training project in the Kgalagadi district of Botswana. The aim of the project was to establish clusters of crafters that were trained in business skills and product development in order to eventually ensure that the crafters can independently sustain themselves. Tracks4Africa sponsored them with GPS maps for the area. 

 

More Back Road 4x4 Trips

In the Map Studio book, More Back Road 4x4 Trips, Mariëlle Renssen and two travel companions explore 4x4 routes in Southern-Central Mozambique, West-central Lesotho and the greater South Africa. Her focus is especially on the travellers experience throughout the trip, what they loved, what to avoid, etc. This is the sequel to their first book, Our Top 4x4 Trips.

Tracks4Africa sponsored the team with GPS and paper maps for the relevant countries to assist with the GPS points and routes in the book.  

 

Moto Girl Trip

Catherine Vrábelová will be travelling solo for more than 70 000km by bike around the world. She will pass through 39 countries on her trip. Tracks4Africa has sponsored her with GPS maps for her Africa leg of the trip. 

 

The Mountain Club of South Africa search and rescue (South Cape)

The Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) search and rescue comprises of 6 permanent teams in various parts on South Africa. They are run on a volunteer basis and mainly conduct rescue operations in non-urban environments (typically remote, wilderness and or mountainous areas). 

 

The Nature Conservancy’s Africa Program

The Nature Conservancy works with local communities to conserve important places in Africa and help with community development. Tracks4Africa has made their mapping data available to this program to support the teams in the field.

 

Off Road Rescue Unit

The Off-Road Rescue Unit is a highly-trained crew of unpaid volunteer 4x4 owners, who are members of recognised four wheel drive clubs in Southern Africa. They work closely with emergency-, disaster management, police, air force, etc. 

 

PROD Programme - Felix Holm

The PROD Programme is an outreach project, whose aim is to promote Craft and Design in Africa. The programme assists Crafters and Craft Project with developing existing and new products, and product ranges.

 

Rhino Awareness Expedition

Klaus Schrumpf and Pamela Bell started their travels in Dec 1993 to raise awareness of Rhino killing throughout the world. They visit schools and through slide presentations make kids aware of “Killing of the Rhino in Africa”. 

 

Riding the Edge

On the 1st of November 2011, Shayne Robinson will take his bicycle and cycling from Johannesburg around the borders and coastlines of South Africa, taking on 7000 kilometres.

 

SA Adventure

SA Adventure specialises in 4x4 Off-Road Training, Guided Self Drive 4x4 and 4x2 Tours throughout Southern Africa. Their instructors are highly qualified & credentialed instructors and have many years’ experience in driving 4x4 vehicles, both recreationally & commercially in challenging situations and remote areas.

 

Save the Rhino Trust

Save the Rhino Trust is an organisation in Kunene, Namibia that is currently assisting the Ministry with a regional rhino-based tourism plan. They have found that rhino mostly avoid tracks that are travelled often. As part of their project they will be chatting to local lodge owners to hear how frequently tracks are travelled. Tracks4Africa is assisting in this project by supplying the team with GPS maps for Namibia.

 

Smart in Africa

Smart in Africa is an initiative by filmmaker, Brett Wild, and writer and photographer, Anton Crone. Their mission: “To encourage people to change the things they don’t like through the small things they do.”

They drove a Smart car through Africa to document the stories of people who do incredibly smart things with very little.

 

Sole Sistas - Put Foot Rally

Sole Sistas, a team of 4 ladies, will undertake a rally of 8 000 kilometres across Southern Africa, through 5 countries, in 18 days. They start on the 18^th of June 2013 and finish on the 5^th of July 2013. Their aim is to promote kidness, goodwill, cultural awareness, and giving back to future generations. The rally consists of 58 individual teams.

 

Take on Africa

Helen Lloyd is an engineer from England. She has always had a passion for travelling, sports and adventure. After an injury, she decided to cycle from England to Cape Town on her bike, photographing her experience. 

 

Team SKA Africa – Put Foot Rally 2013

The Put Foot rally takes place annually and is a non-racing social rally through the southern part of Africa. Team SKA Africa will be taking part in the 2013 Put Foot Rally. Their aim is to expand their outreach program and put more emphasis on education. The team will be driving an 80’s van in the ‘vintage’ category.  

 

The Real Way Down

The Real Way Down is visiting ‘22 charities in 22 countries in 22 weeks’. Their aim is to support each of their partner charities through the production of promotional videos, as well as trying to help access financial support (short-term and long-term support). The team will be leaving for their journey on the 25^th of March 2011.

 

The Throwing Shakas

The Throwing Shaka's are one of the teams that will participate in the Put Foot Rally of 2013. They will be taking off in June 2013 for 3weeks, doing their journey in five southern African countries.

They will be starting in Cape Town andd going through Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. They will cover these countries in 18 days. A team of 30 crews will travel in a clockwise direction and make their way to a checkpoint in each of the countries over the 18 days. The goal of The Put Foot Rally is to raise funds for a minimum of 600 pairs of shoes and give a brand new pair of school shoes to a underprivileged child. 

 

Thumbs Up Foundation

In October 2012, 3 members of the Thumbs Up Foundation in the Netherlands embarked on a trip from the Netherlands to Cape Town, S.A. The catch is that they do not have any transport, but will be hitchhiking all the way.

Through their journey, they aim to raise awareness for the necessity of sustainable development, especially amongst the youth. They will also be doing hands-on voluntary work in development and humanitarian aid projects.

 

Tip to Toe

On the 12th of April 2013 four friends are setting off on their adventure.  They will start at Africa’s most northerly point, down to the southernmost point. Their aim is to visit a number of different charity projects, specifically focusing on people struggling to feed themselves and the future of African agriculture.

 

The University of Stirling research project - The distribution and conservation of cave-dwelling bats in southern and central Africa

Rachael Cooper-Bohannon, a PhD research student at the University of Stirling conducted research on the distribution and conservation of cave-dwelling bats in southern and central Africa. Tracks4Africa has sponsored Ms. Cooper-Bohannon with GPS maps for Africa to aid her with the fieldwork research to be done. 

 

Umenzi Projects

Umenzi Adventures’ aim is to become the team to spend valuable time in the wilderness with you. They offer to go special trips with you, do training with you and to suit the occupants and its vehicles in a safe and friendly manner. They are passionate about the outdoors and are experienced off roaders. They’ve been active in this field for many years.

 

Venter Tours

Venter Tours is a travel agency who specialises in Eastern & Southern tours in Africa. They offer a variety of tours in Africa, like self-drive or guided tours. 

 

Vertical life

One of Vertical Life’s primary focuses is on the provision of clean, safe drinking water in Africa. In 2010 Vertical Life embarked on their first leg of the Africa project, visiting 6 countries. Their aim with these projects is to share first-hand the problems and solutions pertaining to water and sanitation as well as assisting existing projects and NGO’s. 

 

Wachizungu - Put Foot Rally

Wachizungu is one of the participating crews in the Put Foot Rally 2013 and the crews will depart from Cape Town on 18^th of June 2013 and finish on the 5^th of July 2013.

The word "wachizungu" has a particular historical meaning in Africa, dating back to the 18th century. It literally means "things of the aimless wanderers." It is derived from the word "mzungu" which is the southern, central and eastern African term for a person of foreign descent. Literally translated it means "someone who roams around aimlessly" or "aimless wanderer”. As white Africans, we considered this name perfect for our Crew! 

 

Walking 4 Water

Walking 4 Water is a project through which 3 team members will walk over 7000 miles from Cape Town to Cairo within 2 years to raise funds and awareness for clean water projects. The funds will go to charity:water, a charity that has raised over $17,000,000 to provide clean, safe drinking water for everyone on the planet.