Tuk South: 4 friends take Kenyan tuk-tuks to conquer rugged terrains of South America
From Kenya to the wilds of South America, four friends under the moniker ‘Tuk South’ set out on an epic adventure, using Tuk-Tuks to explore the continent’s toughest terrains.
Most sane overlanders approach the brutal, unpredictable landscapes of South America in heavily modified, four-wheel-drive diesel beasts.
But sanity has never been the driving force behind Tuk South – the viral, purpose-led video production and adventure travel team that is currently on a mind-boggling new expedition to conquer the rugged terrains of South America using nothing but fragile, 8-horsepower Kenyan tuk-tuks.
The brave multinational crew, comprising British filmmakers Ivo Horsey and Jasper Horsey, alongside Kenyan-born adventurers Robbie Thouless and Josh Porter, rejected comfort in the name of global conservation.
After buying a fresh pair of the iconic, doorless city three-wheelers right out of Kenya, the four friends have shipped their unlikely steeds across the ocean to face the ultimate transcontinental test.
From Nanyuki to Cape Town
To understand the sheer audacity of their current South American exploit, one has to look back to where this ridiculous saga began.
Founded in the safari hub of Nanyuki during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the four friends watched in horror as local wildlife conservancies and anti-poaching units faced catastrophic funding collapses due to the sudden evaporation of global tourism.
Determined to help, they emptied their personal savings into two tiny, doorless three-wheelers, tuk-tuks – affectionately named “Princess Buttercup” and “Wesley” and set off in December 2021.
The logic? Driving an 8-horsepower tuk-tuk through the rugged, off-road African wilderness was so patently absurd that it would act as the ultimate conversation starter, forcing the world to pay attention to the plight of frontline rangers.
What followed was a legendary 23,000-kilometre odyssey across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Navigating through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia, the crew endured relentless mechanical breakdowns, terrifying wildlife encounters, and agonising battles with malaria.
Against all structural and medical odds, they successfully reached the southern tip of the continent at Cape Agulhas, South Africa, on February 19, 2023 – capturing millions of views on YouTube and TikTok and raising vital funds for the For Rangers charity.
The new frontier: South America
Never content with a quiet life, the Anglo-Kenyan quartet has officially upscaled their mission.
Recognising that corporate and public apathy toward environmental conservation is a global issue, they have chosen to take their signature Kenyan three-wheelers into the heart of South America.
The Tuk South crew officially kicked off their South American expedition (Stage 2) in May 2025.
The current expedition presents an entirely new, terrifying set of variables for the 8-horsepower engines.
The crew is currently pushing their vehicles far past their intended engineering limits, tackling everything from the suffocating humidity of dense Amazonian rainforest tracks to the treacherous, thin-air switchbacks of the Andes mountains.
While critics might dismiss the journey as an extreme holiday, the Tuk South team remains fiercely purpose-led.
By using their top-tier video production skills to document the grueling reality of traveling via tuk-tuk, they are successfully keeping the spotlight on underfunded grassroots wildlife operations.
As they rattle through South American towns, instantly drawing bewildered stares from locals who have never seen a commercial Kenyan three-wheeler, the four friends continue to prove that sometimes, you have to do something entirely ridiculous to make the world stop and listen.
