|
An African Bike II
| Date: |
04 December 2005 12:00 |
| Producer: |
Seamus Reynolds
|
| Show: | Carte Blanche |
He's no ordinary cyclist... it's no ordinary road. This is the final stretch home... the end of an epic adventure.
Riaan Manser: 'Gee it's my last day! The last day of a mammoth, mammoth journey! It really does leave you at a loss for words.'
37 000 kilometres ... 34 countries. For two years, two months and two weeks, Riaan Manser has been sitting on a bicycle circumnavigating Africa.
Last week, his tired legs could almost feel home.
Riaan: 'Kaapstad 75... Gee, I can smell it, man!'
In September 2003 Riaan left his girlfriend in Cape Town and told her he'd be back in a year.
[Carte Blanche November 2004]
Riaan: 'I'm like everybody who sits in their job every day. who says I don't really like it but I have got to pay the bills. I looked at Africa and I said, 'I am going to go around this on a bicycle'. It was that simple.'
Riaan: 'I've only got 35 495kms to go.'
Riaan: 'You have to be mentally prepared. That is the first thing, even before you step out of your front door and think about doing something like this. You have got to be mentally prepared. You are going nowhere if you complain too much. You are going nowhere if you think there is a chance of you not succeeding.'
No trip through Africa is complete without some time in jail and Riaan's turn came in Equatorial Guinea where he learnt the value of perseverance and a controlled temper.
Riaan: 'I have got a serious attitude problem that needs attention.'
In Liberia Riaan thought his journey - but more importantly, his life - was about to end when he was held hostage by teenage rebels.
Riaan: 'They chased me down, threw me off my bicycle. They were all high on drugs, they had knives, some of them had guns. I really believed I wouldn't wake up the next day.'
His freedom patiently negotiated, Riaan set off round the bulge of Africa. Ahead lay the vast Sahara Desert.
In October 2004 we met Riaan in Cairo, just past the half way mark. He'd notched up 21 000 kilometres and 25 countries.
[Carte Blanche November 2004]
John: 'Was there ever a point on your trip... I mean, it's been more than a year now... that you felt like stopping and turning back?'
Riaan: 'Never. No, not once. That would be giving up, not just on my dream, but I would be giving up on all the people that supported me. So no, not once have I thought about turning back. Never.'
From Cairo it was homeward bound, eight countries and 16 000 kilometers still lay ahead. First obstacle: the Sudanese desert.
Riaan: 'If you are travelling in a very inhospitable terrain and you are getting lost, which I was, in the Sudanese desert because I didn't have GPS, and you see dead camels, you start wondering.'
[Video diary]
Riaan: 'A dead camel, that's not a good thing. I mean that is a bad sign isn't it?
Riaan: 'You get a bit concerned because if anything is going to survive in the desert it's going to be the camel.'
Riaan: 'Woo-hoo!'
In the mountains of Eritrea and Djibouti, Riaan was seduced by the thrill of endless downhill riding.
Riaan: 'There were two groves and I tried to change groves, then I fell so hard.'
[Video diary]
Riaan: 'Just had my big fall. Little bit in shock still. As you can see, it is quite deep... I have to get to a doctor.'
And what were the chances of finding a doctor here in desolate Djibouti?
Riaan: 'A doctor, a Syrian doctor... the only car that came past that day. Ten minutes after I fell, he sewed me up without anaesthetic.'
Riaan: 'That's the finished result as you can see. I will just take some antibiotics and I'll be fine again.'
Riaan: 'But Djibouti was special for me for one thing, and that was the lowest point of Africa.'
Just inland lies Lake Assal, 153 metres below sea level.
Riaan: 'You know, we always want bigger and better. But the lowest point was an awesome place to stand at and just to think physically on the Earth where I was.'
John: 'When you were travelling through Djibouti, did you have Somalia in the back of your mind? I mean, this is a country that effectively does not have a government.'
Riaan: 'Ja, I was nervous. But if you are going to be brave you have to have fear, and people sometimes don't want to have the fear.'
Somalia's capital Mogadishu is considered one of the most dangerous places on earth. Destroyed by conflict in the early '90s, it is now a city run by ruthless and unpredictable warlords.
Riaan: 'I had to decide whether I was going to Mogadishu. I wanted to do it more just for absolutely conquering the continent. It was actually such a tough decision. And then I gave my girlfriend a call and said, 'Look this is what I have decided'. No, she was extremely emotional. And just said to me, 'No, you cannot do this, this is not what we agreed'. And right there and then I decided no.'
Then when he was denied a visa to Somalia, he felt the continuity of his coastal route was in jeopardy.
But if there is one thing about Riaan, he's tenacious.
Riaan: 'Somalia is a huge country. I had to get my way somewhere into the country... just get into it.'
Taking a chance, Riaan flew into Hergiesa, further south, without his bicycle. From there he rented a bike and backtracked so he could cover a significant section of Somalia.
Riaan: 'I'm about to leave now. I think it is going to be a very tough period and 50kms... I'm a bit nervous.'
The roads soon became impassable. Riaan was reluctantly forced to complete the journey on foot.
[Somalia, April 2005]
Riaan: 'Scary. The guy said that nobody moves along here. Barren desert no water. I am disappointed. I feel as if I am falling because I am not going to Mogadishu. But by doing this stretch now it is really going to be hardcore. I am very sad.'
Riaan: I think I had a tough time in Somalia. I was feeling a bit down, a bit homesick. If there was one tough, tough thing that I had to go through and learn it's that being away from home you don't have that comfort of people being around you.'
But the lows of Somalia were quickly forgotten when Riaan arrived in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa in May.
Riaan: 'My girlfriend was waiting for me. It was absolutely awesome. I mean a long journey away from the people you care about so much is tough on you. And that was more than any energy drink or energy bar can ever do for you...'
A dinner date with the hyena men of Haraar was the only time Riaan switched his video camera on while Vasti was there, revealing his more romantic side...
Even more determined to get home now, Riaan breezed through the rest of Ethiopia... before straddling the Equator in Kenya. The last time he'd done so was in Gabon, 18 months before.
John: 'Riaan, you must have been looking forward to Tanzania because it held one of your biggest challenges?'
Riaan: 'Ja, getting to the top of Africa. I had nearly circumnavigated the continent. I had been to the lowest point and had been speaking so much about getting to the top, Kilimanjaro. One thing also about my journey that Kilimanjaro brought out for me is that you don't want to experience things like that alone. You want somebody with you to say 'Wow! Look at that glacier', you want to say to somebody, 'Look at that mountain; look at the sun coming up over it'.'
Mozambique may have been Riaan's penultimate country, but it was by far the longest - 3 000 kilometres.
[Mozambique, September 2005]
Riaan: 'The road is extremely bumpy and corrugated...'
So close to the end of his journey, and having carried him over 35 000 kilometres, Riaan's bicycle was threatening surrender.
Riaan: 'My bicycle is broken again. These are gone.'
Riaan: 'Mozambique was just long and the roads were tough. My bicycle was really taking strain.'
[Video diary]
Riaan: 'That is a bummer - I don't like this. Not depressing, just flipping frustrating. Just some things like this, especially when you want to get going, just buggers me around...'
Riaan: '... getting home.'
But with the South African border beckoning, thick sandy roads threw one more frustration in Riaan's face...
[Video diary, Mozambique, November 2005]
Riaan: 'My luck I didn't get through the border last night. I missed the cut off time. You can see South Africa behind me 100 metres away. Wow I am going home now.'
Thursday 3 November Riaan is finally back on home soil.
[South Africa, November 2005]
Riaan: 'Hey, listen, it's great to be home because everything is familiar to me where everything before was unfamiliar.'
Hugging the coastline south on the N2, Riaan enters the former Transkei...
John: 'You still had a lot of cycling to do to get to Cape Town. Did you spend that time reflecting on your journey?'
Riaan: 'Ja, a bit emotional. I was thinking about each country I had gone through and the people I had met along the way and just thinking about the people who had been so kind to me. They had been so kind to a guy like me and said like I am their son, you know, and took me in so, so warmly.'
Friday 25 November, Riaan Manser's 37 000 kilometres of blood, sweat and tears is nearly over.
With 50 kilometres to go Riaan kicks up a few gears as passing motorists begin to celebrate with him. On De Waal Drive, Riaan pauses to marvel at the coastline that took him up into Africa 888 days before. At the V&A Waterfront, an enthusiastic crowd has gathered at the exact spot Riaan's epic adventure began over two years ago...
Riaan: 'There is nothing like going home. You can live anywhere you want, but if you are not at home you will never ever have that feeling of acceptance and belonging. I know I left with the right attitude and my attitude stayed the same. I had difficult times, but you know, I know I woke up each morning thinking, 'Hey, you've got something to do, so just get on with it'. I never doubted in myself and never ever thought of coming home except on a bicycle.'
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:While every attempt has been made to ensure this transcript or summary is accurate, Carte Blanche or its agents cannot be held liable for any claims arising out of inaccuracies caused by human error or electronic fault. This transcript was typed from a transcription recording unit and not from an original script, so due to the possibility of mishearing and the difficulty, in some cases, of identifying individual speakers, errors cannot be ruled out.
|