The footsteps of Kazimierz Nowak

In the years 1931-1936 a Polish explorer Kazimierz Nowak traveled all Africa using only the strength of his muscles as the first person in the world. His achievement unfortunately has never gained the appreciation it deserves. A groups of enthusiasts inspired by the character decided to plan a relay travel in the years 2009-2011 to as precisely as possible replicate his route. The goal is not only to visit the same places and take the same roads, but also to use the same means of traveling the original traveler used, such as feet, bicycle, horseback, boat and camel. In this way the community project called “Nowak’s Africa” was created.  A part of the relay expedition I am taking on leads through Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and ends in the middle of Zambia.

At every leg of your journey we are searching for traces of Kazimierz Nowak and at some important locations we place commemorative plates designating the route. The plates are written in local languages, English and Polish. This is the way to designate the individual fragments making up a total of 40,000 km route leading from Tripoli in Libya to Cape of Good Hope at the very southern tip of the continent and back north to Algiers in Algeria.

This is a bike adventure I had lived through and shared with Joanna Kardasińska and Światek Rojewski. The approximately 2,000 km on bike and boat we made in 7 weeks in harsh conditions was a beautiful and full of experiences adventure. We set off as nearly strangers and upon completeing the project we returned as genuine friends.

The travel stories about our trip, namely “Congo Safiri” are available in "Africa" section on my website www.QuestForMore.com. A less subjective accounts with plenty more stories from the other stages of the journey can be found at the official website of the project www.AfrykaNowaka.pl

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