Three adventure-crazed South Africans celebrated a remarkable achievement in Camden, London earlier this month: completion of the first ever trans-continental surf trip along the African coastline.

With surfboards in tow, UCT graduates Tim Harris, Michael Sternberg and John Fleming set off from Cape Town on the 27 March 2007 in a 1981 Toyota Landcruiser for the official African Surfer Expedition. (Their somewhat aged vehicle was later to be named Mzee Kobe which means old tortoise in Swahili.)

The trio travelled through 15 African countries along the continent's west coast including Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Morocco.

From Rabat, they crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Spain and then drove through Portugal and France before finally reaching London, exactly 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks and 3 days after their journey began.

African Surfer's mission was to investigate the surf potential of the west coast of Africa while exposing the tourism and adventure potential of the continent. The team also hoped that their journey would challenge negative perceptions that keep people from travelling to and investing in Africa.

One of the reasons we undertook the trip was because of our frustration at the way South Africans tend to fly to Europe and the Far East for their holidays and travel experiences without realising that our continent is an incredible destination for adventure and cultural experience.

We realised just how beautiful the continent is from the dense jungles of Gabon to the Sahara desert and everything in between - Africa has it all.

The spirit of Africa
The most memorable aspect of the trip was the generosity of the people we met. From the moment our suspension broke in southern Angola and a local took us into his home and got it fixed for us, to the time a stranger bailed me out of a police holding cell after a visa infraction trying to leave Morocco for Spain, our trip was full of generous people who fed us, went surfing with us, gave us shelter and assistance.

I'll never forget…
…the time when we travelled with [iconic South African explorer] Kingsley Holgate and his team for a few days in Benin. Kingsley is the real deal - the man loves Africa and its people.

Challenging negative perceptions
We travelled in Africa for over a year and crossed over 20 borders and we never paid a bribe - people need to know that this is possible. Just because you're in Africa you don't need to be handing out wads of money at every stop. Corruption is driven as much by travellers' perceptions that it is a 'requirement in Africa', as it is by low civil servant pay and greed, and the only way for us to stamp it out is to break down this perception.

Africa: land of opportunity
The potential for South African companies in Africa is huge. There are only a handful we saw operating in Africa; Vodacom, MTN, SAB. Almost all the rest of the foreign investment appears to come from the old colonial powers - mainly France. We couldn't help but think if transport and communication links were improved, South African companies would have a very clear advantage over Europe.

Final thoughts…
Personally I feel a sense of accomplishment that we managed to get ourselves all the way across the continent, especially since we did it with very little money, not much planning and a very old car. It was also the first surf trip to traverse the whole African continent - possibly the last great unexplored coastline for surfing.

Overall I am now more proud than ever to be a South African and an African. It is clear that Africa is the future and South Africa is the country best positioned to lead the continent in realising its potential.

By Tim Harris

Read more about the African Surfer Expedition www.africansurfer.com/

First published 23 June 2008 Courtesy: SA The Good News www.sagoodnews.co.za