Holiday Destinations

Charity motorcycle adventures in Africa

Charity motorcycle adventures in Africa
Spencer Conway on the beaten track in Africa with his trusty Yamaha XT 660 Z Tenere
Spencer Conway on the beaten track in Africa with his trusty Yamaha XT 660 Z Tenere
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'Spencer Conway, motorcycle adventurer and Africa circumnavigator
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'Spencer Conway, motorcycle adventurer and Africa circumnavigator
Spencer's motorcycle needs regular repairs
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Spencer's motorcycle needs regular repairs
Spencer Conway on the beaten track in Africa with his trusty Yamaha XT 660 Z Tenere
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Spencer Conway on the beaten track in Africa with his trusty Yamaha XT 660 Z Tenere
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There's no doubt in our mind that Spencer Conway's solo circumnavigation of Africa by motorbike will offer more than enough dramatic material for a Hollywood film, if not at least a television reprise of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's Long Way Down. At time of writing, Spencer has been on the road for 135 days, 1 hour, 58 minutes and counting since leaving Biddenden, Kent on November 1st 2009. His route will take him clockwise around the outer countries of Africa and will cover 60,000km in total. The project, sponsored by Swaziland-born Richard E. Grant aims to raise UK£28,000 (US$42,000) for charity organization Save the Children. So far he has traveled across 28 countries, through 30 borders, biked 27,000km and raised UK£18,000.

Some of Spencer's more hair-raising experiences involve having his bike smashed by a gang in Egypt; being shot off his bike by armed bandits in Kenya; being stopped by Ethiopian police for driving over a used condom; crossing four deserts alone; surviving a violent sandstorm in the Sahara and a flash flood in Namibia; being robbed of his credit cards and cash in Nairobi; injuring his legs and ribs falling off his bike three times; being bitten by a spider trapped in his sleeping bag; and finally, as if all that wasn't exciting enough, crashing his Yamaha XT 660 Z Tenere into a wayward goat at over 100km per hour in Mozambique, which proved extremely messy...

Some of the more enjoyable experiences have been camping with Nomads in the Libyan desert, camping out under the stars in a myriad of amazing locations - once near to the spectacular Meroe pyramids of Sudan and on another occasion in the shadow of the awe inspiring Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He has also met many colorful characters on his journey including a Canadian circumnavigating Africa by foot and donkey, a one legged biker, and a one legged boat owner in Aswan, Egypt.

Spencer is yet to traverse the less roadworthy tracks of West Africa, and is heading towards the more daunting territories of Angola, DRC and Nigeria. Given that he is traveling solo and unsupported with no GPS this next stage of his journey should present much suspense for his waiting family and supporters back home. Having to negotiate little used tracks and dangerous areas on the next stage of the 'journey', he is also filming with his HD movie camera in an endeavor to chronicle as much as possible.

To support Spencer Conway or read more about his adventures visit Africa-Bike-Adventure.com

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