Times of the Islands Winter 2015-16

Crossing Africa:
the journey begins
Visit Turks Kebab restaurant in Provo,
and you’ll likely find owner Zemar Stingl
talking about her son Mario Rigby. Not
only is the 30 year old “Renaissance Man”
her pride and joy, but he is also walking
from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo,
Egypt. One gets the sense that Blue
Hills-born Zemar is sharing the journey
vicariously with her son as he documents
the experience on social media.
Crossing Africa is a once-in-a-lifetime
expedition to trek across the entire
African continent by foot and paddle
boat. It is a rigorous two year journey
that will cover uncharted terrain through twelve countries
in Africa. Every moment will be photographed,
blogged, then made into a documentary. The trek will
showcase the struggles endured in unforgiving environments
such as deserts, jungles, and areas of civil unrest.
Mario promises to share regular updates with readers of
Times of the Islands as the journey progresses.
According to Mario, the purpose of his mission is to
follow the traces of his ancestors in what is a dangerous
and mysterious terrain. It was an African tradition for
boys to spend 3 to 5 years alone in the “bush,” learning
to survive, eventually emerging as men. Mario wants to
share the raw beauty and keep readers/viewers entertained
with the unexpected circumstances that he will
find along the way!
At the same time, he wants to test the boundaries
of human capabilities. He believes that with excellent
planning and day-by-day goal setting, almost anything
is possible. He says, “The only way to truly know who
you are is to challenge yourself and push your body and
mind to breaking points. In such circumstances, your
true character, strength, and weakness will be revealed.
This adventure will allow me to see life as it was meant
to be — free, miraculous, and full of grandeur.”
At press time, Mario plans to have left Toronto on
November 24, 2015 to travel to Africa for several weeks
of training prior to the trek’s official start. He calculates
that the total distance for the crossing is 12,000 km.
His intentions are to travel solo, although he welcomes
anyone who would like to join him for short durations.
He expects to be sleeping/eating at the welcoming
homes of strangers, camping in the wild, and staying
with charitable organizations along the route.
Over the summer, besides working feverishly on
expedition preparations ranging from paperwork to
gear gathering and testing to contacting schools he
plans to visit along the way, Mario, a personal trainer,
also trained his eight clients, six days a week. Just prior
to leaving for Africa, Mario took a training walk from
Toronto to Montreal in 15 days, covering over 550 km
and carrying everything he needed in his pack.
Ask Zemar and she is not surprised at this the latest
of her son’s goals. He is also an accomplished personal
trainer, professional model, talented artist, and skilled
photographer. He is a former semi-pro track and field
athlete who has represented the TCI in competitions.
Mario and his brother Travis were born in Grand
Turk, but lived in Germany as youth. Zemar did move
back to the TCI with the children, but then emigrated to
Canada. She recalls that Mario always believed in himself,
with her encouragement. “I told him to make sure
he experienced amazing adventures while he is still
young, before he settles down. And he certainly took
me up on that advice!” She adds, “He’s been researching
Africa for years. He wants to be the first Caribbean
man to accomplish this heroic feat. I am sure he will
succeed. I plan to meet him in Cairo in 2017!" a
To help Mario reach his funding goal, visit:
https://www.gofundme.com/crossingafrica
To track his progress, visit:
https://mariorigby.wordpress.com
80 www.timespub.tc