ADVENTURER Declan McEvoy is back on home ground for Christmas after completing the gruelling sixth stage of his round-the-world motorcycle odyssey.
In September, the Quin native set out from Lusaka in Zambia, with the aim of travelling along the West of the African continent, all the way to Dakar in Senegal.
Last month, he reached Banjul in Gambia, after a marathon motorcycle trek. Throughout the epic African journey of more than 10,000km, Declan had been keeping friends, family and followers updated on WhatsApp.
“Reaching Banjul could only be described as a surreal experience and if I’m to be honest I felt somewhat emotional on my arrival,” he said.
“There had been times throughout this trip that I wondered if I’m ever going to make my planned destination, but for some reason it seems I just did. It takes more than determination and stubbornness, the latter apparently of which I have in abundance, to make such a journey through Africa as there are so many external factors to contend with that are simply beyond your control.
“I often thought if I just crossed perhaps three countries in three months then I’d have to put up with visas, borders, bribery and import permits just once a month. But somehow I managed to cross 14 countries in just 10 weeks covering a distance of more than 12,000km.”
Declan, who recently guested on the hugely popular podcast ‘Adventure Rider Radio’ with Jim Martin, has already broken a number of world records on his six-stage global odyssey. These include a new Guinness World Record for riding the entire length of the frozen Lake Baikal on his motorbike. He admitted that travelling through Africa had been fraught with difficulties.
“This journey has been by far my most challenging, even more challenging than Siberia and Far Eastern Russia,” he said.
“It seemed like every day brought with it new challenges to deal with. It pushed me physically and mentally to where I think I could begin see my own personal limits. Africa has it all, the crazy bureaucracy of visas and border crossings and I even realised my own worst nightmare of getting trapped in no man’s land with no way forward nor any way back.
“Then of course there’s the constant corruption to contend with, the real and very genuine concerns for your own personal safety, not to even mention the seriousness of the incident which took place in Nigeria.”
That involved being pulled over by men armed with AK47s and having his passport taken, before being forced to pay to have the documents returned.
As well as the bureaucracy, Declan had to contend with driving conditions that tested his bike to the limits
. “There are the many very arduous road conditions, deeply rutted and with fooding, mud, sand and potholes big enough to swallow a small child and if not riding under the unrelenting heat of the African sun then it was under its heavy tropical downpours,” he said.
“There were technical issues too to contend with and many navigational challenges on route, the language barrier and indeed the sheer solitude that a solo traveller can face. This can sometimes be a little unnerving. Yet, in the end, I guess it all adds to your resilience, it makes you mentally tougher and in turn it boosts confidence in your ability to handle future challenges.
“I genuinely thank God that I wasn’t injured or even killed in such manic city traffic or otherwise came to any harm. I survived quite a few near misses but regrettably I witnessed first hand a number of people whose fate was not so fortunate as mine. I often wonder how it was possible to undertake such a journey and to emerge at the other end totally unscathed? For sure, someone is looking out for me.”
Among those literally looking out for Declan was SMA missionary priest, Fr Paddy Barry, based in Zambia.
“It saddens me to leave behind so many new friends,” Declan admitted. “I’m thinking particularly of the likes of Fr Paddy in Lusaka, the man who got me up and running, the wonderful Jorge Almeida of Amigos da Picada in Angola, Didier my super hero with a cape from Kinshasa Riders, Eli and Fêmi whom I shared some great days whilst waiting for visas in Benin, Chloe Aya, my beacon of light in Cote d’Ivoire, the crazy Ben Smith, the man in the town of Man whom I was reunited with after a year and of course Marcelo Leite from Brazil who partnered with me for nearly three weeks in some of the more difficult countries and not to even mention those crazy Lithuanians who’s company I so enjoyed in Senegal.”
Declan’s drive for adventure was sparked by the untimely passing of a dear colleague. He decided that, if he didn’t know how much time he had left, he would spend it following his passion. As with all of his journeys, Declan believes the real achievement is in conquering one’s mental limitations.
“Never be afraid to dream,” he said. “All big realities stem from small dreams. Push your boundaries out little by little. We are all capable of so much more than we ever give ourselves credit for. Remember the paranoia monkey? He doesn’t want you to go beyond your front door.”