A crowd cheered Kunle Adeyanju as he turned off his motorbike engine after completing a tiring 41-day trip. The 44-year-old left London on April 19 and arrived in Nigeria's commercial center Lagos on Sunday after travelling more than 8, 000 miles across 13 countries. He started the impressive journey to raise funds for Rotary International to deal with polio(小儿麻痹症)in his native Nigeria.
Accompanied by a dozen bikers for the last stretch of the journey from the Republic of Benin,
Adeyanju was welcomed by supporters in Ikeja, in central Lagos. Adeyanju, called "Lion Heart" by fans, won popularity among the public by posting daily pictures with comments about his journey on social media. At every stop along the way, he was greeted by enthusiastic supporters.
He did face some challenges, like the one in Mali where one of his wheels broke. "I was standing in the middle of the night, alone in a bush, not knowing what to do, without speaking the language," he said, explaining he had to walk to the nearest village. "Fortunately, the locals helped me." Not all of the challenges he faced were solved smoothly." Mauritania, a country in northwest Africa, was" 'terrible'," he said, after he got robbed of hundreds of euros. "The worst experience, "he added.
The former Shell employee self-funded his trip with $ 20, 400 in savings, hoping to raise up to $ 48 million for Rotary International. "I have been suffering from a lack of sleep lately because I slept only three to four hours per night. But I feel proud because I finished this challenge, " Adeyanju said just after he arrived, wiping the sweat off his face. Adeyanju added that he is now planning to have a possible cycling trip to Ghana or a bike ride to Israel to help raise more funds. And he has another dream:to climb Mount Qomolangma.
