First, the attention of Kyiv's public was drawn by billboards depicting three brave young people with the inscription 'Why Africa?'. Then a nice bottle with an invitation note inside was brought to the editorial office. From it we learned that in mid-February, the first stage of the project of an interactive television show about the journey of the 'Equites' team to Africa officially started in Ukraine.
What, in fact, is the essence or, more precisely, the idea of this event? To find out, on February 16, journalists from almost all leading capital mass media were invited to a press conference...
Here we learned that our compatriots are going to plant the yellow-and-blue banner on the peaks of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro, volcanoes Tekeli and Cameroon, over Victoria Falls, in the Kalahari and Sahara deserts, and at the Cape of Good Hope. Eight in total. But the main thing was that we had the opportunity to communicate 'live' with the three guys from the posters, united in the team 'Equites' – Volodymyr Vuksta (Goltis), Oleksandr Komarov, and Kostiantyn Mohylnyk. By the way, 'Equites' in Latin means 'horseman'. The travelers believe that it is a person on a horse (camel) who is a symbol of coexistence with nature without violence against it. Especially if you discard spurs and whip.
The guys' biographies, it must be admitted, are top-notch. Not a single adventurer would envy them. Moreover, each of them speaks several foreign languages, knows martial arts, and is excellently physically prepared, which has been repeatedly confirmed in practice. For example, Goltis ten years ago made a 50-day crossing of the Tibetan Plateau with a limited supply of water and food. The other team members are a match for him. And most importantly, the combined capabilities and skills of each team member significantly exceed the level of ordinary human capabilities. The journalists were not only assured of this but also promised to prove it. Later.
Despite the fact that the team is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and satellite communications, the test for its members is serious: it is planned to cover 70,000 kilometers in 8-12 months through hard-to-reach and dangerous territories, crossing the borders of 37 countries. (By the way, the participants of the crossing have already encountered an interesting problem. The fact is that 37 visas do not 'fit' into a Ukrainian foreign passport.)
The team's equipment includes almost everything, even... the absence of weapons. And this despite the fact that during the journey, the threat will come not only from predatory animals but also from no less predatory people, of whom there are plenty on this continent. According to Oleksandr Komarov, the experience of previous crossings has shown that weapons often play only a negative role in encounters with 'fellow rational beings'. And lions and other 'cats' will be scared away by the same Goltis, who (according to his colleagues) can imitate the cry of either an angry or a mad elephant. True, they did not demonstrate this art to us, citing the delicate membranes of journalists' microphones.
As for the interactive TV show, it is planned not only to shoot documentary films along the entire route but also to occasionally arrange peculiar stops, during which viewers in the studio will be able to communicate with our future heroes live. In addition, once a week they promise to show a portion of Africa's charms on television. And all this can be admired with awe, sitting serenely in a soft armchair, while our guys storm another desert or rock.
The working title of the TV show is 'Ukrainians Who Turned Africa Upside Down' or 'Ascending Africa'. Just don't be scared: there is no talk of any coup. It's just that the organizers of the event (sorry, show) thought that if you turn the image of Africa on the map upside down, you get a mountain with a peak in Cape Town. (By the way, if you turn Ukraine 90 degrees, you also get a funny elevation with a peak in the Lviv area.)
'And for now (I quote the press release – Author) while the team is training before the hike, we will be able to enjoy a rare spectacle for three months – extreme actions of 'Equites' as part of the program 'Ten Steps to Africa': they will breathe under ice, climb a... high-rise building in a car, fly under bridges, and walk on their hands through the air.' Well, how about that? Follow our reports.
'Zagranitsa' No. 8 (61), 2001.