Cycle of Life Expedition

In April 2008 seven members of the Cycle of Life team embarked on an epic 5,000 mile journey across Africa. Travelling under their own steam, the team of cyclists pedalled an average of 60 miles a day for four months through seven countries from Namibia to Kenya, finally arriving at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in early August.

Launched by the charity’s Royal Patron, Prince William, last March the aim of the expedition was to raise funds and awareness for Tusk projects across the continent where community participation in natural resource management is both reaping financial reward for the people, and providing a secure environment for the wildlife they live alongside. The expedition which was generously supported by Artemis Fund Managers, elephant.co, Kenya Airways and DHL among others, raised a remarkable £165,000 for the Tusk funded projects they visited on their way.

It was always going to be a significant challenge for all of the cyclists, but for two members in particular the event was a chance of a lifetime. Xavier Bernal and Damian Janson both young people supported by Centrepoint joined the expedition in Namibia Botswana. Centrepoint, the UK’s leading charity for homeless, is supported as well by Prince William. This expedition was a unique way to link two of the Prince’s chosen charities.

An account of the journey is given here by Barty Pleydell Bouverie the expedition leader.

The Journey
'I can hardly remember how this all began… The Cycle of Life journey has been so long that the actual miles covered in Africa seem shorter by comparison. And yet, the hard-won miles leading to the finish line at Lewa had fulfilled our every hope and expectation; shown us naked Africa’s breathtaking splendour and humbling depth of humanity; and ultimately given us the chance to give back more than £165,000.

The Cycle of Life carved a unique cross-section through the projects supported by Tusk, giving us a chance to paint an honest and balanced picture of the issues of land use and conservation in rural Africa. African communities typically come into contention with the goals of local conservationists. The problem is that the land and wildlife are often the only marketable resources available to the population; but their exploitation spells disaster for conservation. The community perspective is driven by economics – and the popular view is that cultivation and grazing, however depletive, can secure greater value from the land than wildlife protection.

Understanding that the alleviation of poverty and encouragement of economic development is essential to the future of wildlife in Africa and many of Tusk’s projects are looking for a symbiosis that benefits both conservation and the local community simultaneously. Just outside Francistown in Botswana, for example, we were impressed by the Tachila Nature Reserve – where wildlife reintroduction will drive tourism, in turn funding local employment, education and environmental commerce.

Arriving at such projects dirty and thirsty was important. We were travelling on bicycles alongside everyone else - it’s just that they were carrying a family of five or a (live) pig wrapped in palm leaves! By joining the bicycle-drawn ranks, we aligned ourselves with Africans rather than tourists or expats. The children on the edges of Kasanka in Zambia, caught by surprise as we rolled through their village, simply couldn’t stare as they would were we packed into a Land Cruiser. Bicycles allowed us access – the chance to travel through Africa with prejudice and preconception cleared away ahead of us. At Malewa and again at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, crowds of conservation employees showed their support by siding with us for a day’s cycling.

The presence of Xavier and Damian on the expedition, two young guys whose troubled lives have been changed by Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, also lent us fresh perspective. Only they could really appreciate the value of the Bana Ba Letsatsi orphanage in Maun, where over half the girls have been sexually abused by their own relatives – an horrific side-effect of street drug abuse. As importantly, these two guys took the opportunity to test themselves as part of something life changing. Damian said: “I can guarantee that we will have changed our perspective on life and our drive through life. After all, all we’ve had to do whilst cycling is think about what we want to do with our lives, how to help people other than ourselves, and how to achieve these missions.”

The Bana Ba Letsatsi orphanage is a startling and immensely impressive project not previously known to Tusk. Our immersion in Africa enabled us to recommend others to Tusk’s Trustees, including a permaculture scheme in Malawi in which children’s interest in nature drives the transformation of schoolyards from dust-bowls to veritable kitchen gardens; a community-managed conservation project in Xai Xai, Botswana, that ensures the local people see the value of the hunting and tourism on their land; and Neema Crafts, a remarkable attempt to reverse abject poverty in rural Tanzania’s disabled community. Neema epitomises the breadth of perspective that the Cycle of Life sought, and it is fitting that, through Prince William’s Prince’s Forum, of which Tusk and Centrepoint are members, we are trying to establish a future collaborative relationship between them and Help for Heroes – the charity caring for British soldiers wounded in active service.

People always ask what my favourite ‘bit’ was. While this remains unanswerable, I do know which of Tusk’s projects struck me the most. The Painted Dog Conservation Project in Zimbabwe came to be the benchmark by which we judged everyone, and with the help of the Martin Wills Fund, we are delighted to have been able to secure this project a £30,000 donation. To think that when Artemis Fund Managers gave us the funds to get the expedition off the ground, one of their concerns was that we would raise something similar for distribution to Africa. Neither in their highest expectations, nor our wildest dreams, did anyone think we’d be able to give even more than that to a single project.'

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