An African circumnavigation – now why didn’t I think of that! All-encircling best wishes in this ambitious and unusual journey.
Michael Palin
ENCIRCLE AFRICA

Encircle Africa
start & end Tangier, Morocco
September 2011 – October 2012
In completing the first solo and unassisted circum-navigation of Africa by public transport Ian was mistaken for an undercover UN official during Liberia’s presidential election, dashed through Ghana in under 31 hours, crossed the Niger Delta, and was refused entry into DRC. He was forced to fly from Nairobi to Addis Ababa; and in the aftermath of the US ambassador’s murder in Libya, from Cairo to Tripoli. In between, he was teargassed with students in Khartoum.
Featured in Alastair Humphrey’s Grand Adventures, you can discover more about the journey from the blog archive, by clicking the links below, or by reading Encircle Africa: Around Africa by Public Transport, out now in paperback, with ebook Kindle and iBook editions. You can begin reading here.


Sticking to Africa’s coast wasn’t always as easy as the idea suggested. Here’s just one example, with Ian working out a route around Eritrea.
A crazy trip
Alastair Humphreys