Udo Ebaide Joy, a Nigerian motorbiker took on the mantle of solo riding from Mumbasa, Kenya to Lagos Nigeria. After 118 days, Ebaide finally arrived at her destination, Lagos Nigeria.
Why? In a conversation she had with BBC Africa she said her riding journey was inspired by her will to live her life to the fullest, and for her it’s travelling and riding her motorbike.
Ebaide travelled through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Cameroon and then Nigeria. She describes the eery feeling she got travelling alone in the forest “I was so scared,” but remembers the joyous moments of travelling through those countries.
When she arrived in Lagos, to her surprise she was welcomed with a warm crowd singing and dancing.
In a post via Instagram, she said completing the cross-border solo ride challenge has positively changed her mindset.
“To every biker who waited to welcome and ride with me to the venue, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Achieving this has caused a big shift in my mind. Suddenly, I have a myriad of things I want to do and I’m so sure will work, because I have achieved something I once thought was too hard to dare.
I want to PLAN, START and EXECUTE new things.
There is a part of my brain that believes anything I try will succeed, because I have the tenacity and resilience to see it through.
I am NOT the same person.
I have changed in the most positive ways.
I feel so privileged to have achieved this.
I can’t wait for many more exciting challenges I’ll go headlong into.
There has never been a better time to feel this alive!
It feels good to be here.“
Udo Ebaide Joy who began her trip on March 8 will begin another solo trip in August from Nigeria to Morocco. The motorbiker made the trip on a two-wheeler she named “Rory”.
