Several years ago adventure motorcyclist Spencer Conway embarked on an epic journey in a quest to become the first motorcyclist to circumnavigate Africa in its entirety.
He passed through 34 countries, covered a staggering 34,000 miles and spent 283 days on the road and now his story is to be told in the African Motorcycle Diaries, a six-part television series on the Travel Channel starting this November.
Conway’s journey started in the UK as he headed south on his Yamaha XT660 Tenere to Africa. From here he travelled along the East Coast through its deserts, jungles and savannahs to Cape Town, South Africa.
Travelling on a limited budget and completely unsupported, Conway slept rough in his tent or sought refuge in cockroach infested accommodation and negotiated border crossings and local bureaucracy alone.
His return leg saw him ride north along the West Coast and through some of the most notoriously unstable and challenging countries in the world.
Of course, the journey was never going to be trouble-free and it proved to be so as he battled virtually impassable mud roads in Congo, faced blinding sand storms in the deserts of Mauritania and navigated huge potholes in Guinea.
With low points including numerous crashes, having all of his possessions stolen in Angola and being involved in a near-fatal shooting in Kenya this television series looks sure to offer a gritty, raw and real glimpse into the world of adventure motorcycling in Africa.
Having said that, he also experienced the majestic beauty, diverse cultures and the welcoming people of this vast continent on a truly epic journey.
African Motorcycle Diaries premiers on the Travel Channel in the UK on 8 November at 7pm. It can be found on the following platforms: Freeview 42, Freesat 150, Sky 249 and Virgin 292.
