See Tim's interview with Central News here
Veteran traveller Mike Howitt has completed his 8,000-mile odyssey to the southern tip of Africa.
The 80-year-old arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, at about 2pm on Saturday after a 22-hour bus journey from Namibia.
To celebrate the end of his fundraising journey for LOROS, Mike was due to feature in a photoshoot on top of Table Mountain today.
Speaking yesterday, Mike said he was catching up on sleep rather than celebrating, but was pleased to have achieved his goal.
"This has been on my mind for 12 months and when you're going for an objective, you visualise its achievement," he said.
"I've done what I set out to do. I feel like 'the journey is done, what's next?'."
Mike, of Evington, Leicester, set off on the solo trek in September, in memory of wife, Diana, who was at LOROS before she died in March 2011.
He was so impressed with the support she received that he wanted to raise at least £5,000 for it.
Since he left Leicester, he has hitched through Europe into Turkey, then Cyprus, Israel and Jordan before crossing into Egypt.
"I've met many wonderful people and had many life-enriching experiences," he said.
"When I got into Africa I decided to use buses as they're very cheap, and people who give you a lift expect payment anyway."
Mike said he had suffered a few ailments along the way, including an abscess on his foot.
He said: "In the past few days my big toes began to swell, so like a fast bowler in cricket, I cut the toes out of my shoes."
During his journey, Mike was given a lift by a man in Bulgaria who only knew three words of English. Two of them were "Winston" and "Churchill".
He visited a quarry near Aswan, Egypt, where the stones for the temples of the Pharaohs were cut.
"I'd planned to make it to Cape Town by Christmas and stay with friends, but because I've managed to get very cheap bus transport in Africa, I completed the route quicker than I'd anticipated," he said.
Mike is a member of Trinity Life Church, in Leicester, which has links with a church in the slums of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
He called in there last month.
"It was wonderful to be mobbed by children in Nairobi where our congregation paid for a well to be sunk to serve the church," he said.
"It was like being Prince Charles or the Pope.
"To see the conditions they lived in was also a salutary experience. The church also supplies a neighbouring township with water."
LOROS Fundraiser Nancy Taylor said: "We are delighted that Mike has completed his journey. It is an amazing story and we are very grateful.
"We cannot wait for Mike to return to tell us all the tales from his extraordinary adventure."
