From Kenya to South Africa in 2 Tuk Tuks. Four Friends on a 6,000 Kms Journey

A road trip is not only fun and adventurous but also one of the most rewarding and empowering activities a person can embark on. It’s full of the unexpected, and let’s you stay connected with the land and the people that live wherever you go and you collect so many memories along the way.

Four men, Ivo Horsey, his brother Jasper Horsey, and their friends Robbie Thouless and Josh Porter, who go by the name Tuk South, recently embarked on an adventorous mission, in form a road trip, from Kenya to South Africa, a distance that would normally take on average 4,857 Kms, but with their mode of transport (2 tuk tuks), they are likely to cover about 6000Km. Quite an unbelievable task right? Well, all for a worthy cause.

Having spent time making videos in some of Kenya’s incredible wild spaces, the four friends realised the people protecting these spaces, The Rangers, were struggling. These are the protected area managers whose prime responsibility is ensuring the territorial and biological integrity of the protected area under his/her management. This is quite a tough job, which consists of routine day patrols, night patrols, spending night after night in ambushes which are extremely dangerous. These heroes help maintain the balance between communities and wildlife but as the tourism industry has taken a hit due to the pandemic, so has their funding.

So, the four friends, going by the name Tuk South, armed with only filming equipment and a microphone, wanted to do something helpful. They spent the last of their savings on two tuk-tuks for $10,000 USD in Nairobi and renovated them – at least aesthetically and covered them in sponsorship stickers and made a documentary driving from Kenya to Cape Town in these machines.

Departing from Nanyuki, Kenya they say their mission aims to span Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa; the ultimate goal, the Cape of Good Hope. Along the way they plan on visiting as many conservancies, parks and reserves as possible, collecting stories and footage as they go. Its been 5 months so far of trucking along hoping to reach the southernmost tip of Africa by September.

If you want to follow the stories and chaos, they are consistently posting videos on their TikTok and YouTube channels. 

You can also contribute to the For Rangers charity through the link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tukoffsouth-for-rangers

( Pictures courtesy of the brilliant James Lewin, a rapidly emerging Fine Art Wildlife Photographer who specialises in photographing iconic African Wildlife)

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