A Kenyan-born United Kingdom (UK) resident has concluded an impressive feat by driving from Europe to Africa in a period of seven months.
Malkit Rooprai, a data migration consultant, was born in Thika in 1960 before his family moved to the UK in 1978. On October 6th 2022 he left his home in West London in his Toyota Landcruiser on a mission to create awareness about the African continent, to encourage his countrymen to visit.
“It has been a wonderful experience travelling across Africa by myself. I have been on the road for about seven months and in that time, I have explored many countries and raised awareness of the beauty and potential of this amazing continent. Africa has so much to offer in terms of business and tourist destinations and I intended to let people know that as I documented my experiences in pictures and videos online,” said Rooprai.
The journey that started in Britain saw him drive through France and Spain where he took a ferry through the Mediterranean Sea into Morocco. He then drove across Algeria, Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe into East Africa through Tanzania, Uganda and finally completing his journey in Kenya.
He says his most memorable moments on the journey were the drives in the Sahara Desert and the tracking of mountain gorillas in Western Uganda
He desired to go to Egypt but the recent conflict in Sudan did not allow him to as the route was through the conflict-ridden country. Had he managed, he would have added Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt to his impressive list.
The motive of the gruelling journey was to experience Africa by road, a feat many have not attempted. He travelled slowly sightseeing places he had heard about or seen in books and he would take breaks stopping in villages and towns to share meals with locals before resuming his journey, spending four to six days in each of the countries he visited.
He manoeuvred his way around countries using iOverlander, a mobile app that enabled him to find information about places, hotels, fuelling stations or mechanics.
Rooprai is now spending time in Kenya where he spent the first 17 years of his life before moving to the UK.
“I have decided to interact and spend time with my former schoolmates and neighbours whom I haven’t seen for a long time in Thika where I grew up. I have also spent time visiting temples in various areas in the country like Kitale, Kisumu, Eldoret and Kericho,” he said.
The trip cost him a total of about $40,000 pounds, equivalent to Shs. 6.8 million, with fuel taking the largest portion. He drove 350km daily, which ultimately became 70,000Km after the journey was completed.
The journey was long and sometimes he would encounter harsh conditions like bad weather and fair-weather roads but what kept him going was the longing to accomplish the expedition that he had planned for the last three and a half years.
Preparation for the journey involved making sure his Landcruiser was ready for travel, budgeting on travel expenses, and getting clearance documents required for travelling i.e., visas, vaccination certificates, car passports and an insurance cover.
Psychological preparation was also necessary as he was about to spend months alone on the road, although he maintained constant communication with his family while travelling.
“I travelled alone because I did not want to put any of my family members at risk. I also wanted to do this on my own because if I had travelled in the company of anyone else, I would have had to keep seeking their opinions on the trip, something I wasn’t willing to do,” he said.
Rooprai, who shipped his car back to the UK and will travel back home in early July. He said he was happy to be in Kenya at the moment and was delighted to rekindle childhood memories he had with his Kenyan-based friends and family.
He noted that his Kenyan roots are from his great grandfather who settled next to the Del Monte farms. He urged fellow travel explorers to contemplate the impossible and achieve it stating that Africa had greatly developed and was rich in resources and beautiful scenery, with people that were friendly and extremely welcoming, stating that it was an experience one would never forget.
By Hellen Lunalo
