Newport adventurer Chaz Powell to return to Africa for 1,120km trek along the Gambia River

It's a brave return to Africa for Chaz, who is originally from Newport. He had tried to become the first person to walk the entire length of the Zambezi River, but threats of kidnap and even murder meant he had to cut it short.

Last year he returned and finished the hike, travelling from the Zambezi's source with a 3,000km hike to the Indian Ocean. It took 137 days.

Next month he will return to Africa to travel along the Gambia River, a 1,120km journey through Senegal and across Gambia to Banjul along the country's west coast. It will take about two months to complete.

He'll have to face a number of natural challenges along the way, including high temperatures and threats from wild animals.

"I wanted to test myself on another wild journey," he said. "The river itself interests me, as does the wildlife, the culture, the old explorers and the history of the area. I also want to get involved in wildlife projects along the way."

Chaz got the inspiration for another trek during his walk along the Zambia.

"I learned that I wanted to keep doing these walks," he said. "I can probably never stop doing them."

Chaz said that although Africa is a popular tourist destination and a lot about the wildlife is well-documented, there is a lot about Africa that people don’t know and remains unearthed.

"A major part of my expedition will be to experience the African people and provide an insight to Africa that will be completely different and new to what anyone has seen before," he said.

As part of the expedition, Chaz is also teaming up with African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to help raise awareness around Africa’s wildlife and wildlands.

As one of the oldest and largest conservation organizations focused solely on the continent of Africa, AWF is the primary advocate for the protection of African wildlife and wildlands.

Throughout his expedition, Chaz will be visiting AWF bases and providing his observations of Africa’s wildlife, wild lands and people to the charity.

"I am particularly passionate about wildlife conservation and in particular raising awareness surrounding the illegal wildlife trade," Chaz said.

"This is a very current issue that has been well documented over recent years. At the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London back in October, it was highlighted that more has to be done to eradicate the problem due to the negative impact on Africa’s economies and development."

Chaz has also teamed up with Water-to-Go, a company that has developed a portable water filtration system that cleans non-salt water so that it is safe to drink.

He will be able to use his flask from any fresh water stream, or from the Gambia river itself, so that he can avoid using any single use plastics on the trip.