Udoh Ebaide Joy becomes first documented black African woman to ride a motorcycle from East to West Africa

Nigerian musician Udoh Ebaide Joy has successfully ridden a motorcycle from the Kenyan city of Mombasa to Lagos, Nigeria, making her the first documented black African woman to ride from the East to West coast of the African continent.  

Related: Merseyside bikers complete 14,700 mile ride through West Africa raising money for children’s charity

Over three months, Joy, aged 32, covered 5600 miles on a 250cc motorcycle, passing through nine countries in order to complete the challenge.  

Joy’s inspiration for the undertaking came about almost a decade ago, when she suffered spinal cord damage from a car crash, leaving her bound to a wheelchair for months.  

“I want to live life to the fullest,” Joy told MCN. “I want to pursue my vision, which is to become the first African woman to ride in all African countries.”  

“It was so scary because I was alone most of the time, there were so many challenges. There was nobody to look out for me, nobody to plan.  

“It was exciting, but the kind of excitement that comes out of fear and not knowing what will happen.”  

Despite her mammoth achievement, Joy had barely even ridden and bike before setting off and had to undertake a one-week training course in Nairobi before departing.  

Related: How to ride a motorcycle: a beginner’s guide

“I still can’t ride a bicycle even now, and before I left, I had only done 1900km on a motorcycle,” said Joy.  

Starting in Kenya, she rode into Uganda, followed by Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Congo, Cameroon and finally Nigeria. She opted to avoid the DRC due to costs, taking a boat from Soyo to the Angolan enclave of Cabinda.  

Along the way she experienced varied landscapes and overcame numerous obstacles, including an up-close encounter with a black mamba snake in Tanzania. She also faced inclement weather and poor roads at times – and even no roads in some cases.  

Negotiating tricky diplomatic situations was the greatest challenge Joy faced, however.   

“My number one challenge was getting visas. I had to get individual approval for every country,” the Afrobeats star said.  

“To get the Angolan visa for example, I had to contact a commissioner because they would not give it to me at first, even when I went to the embassy. He then contacted the ambassador for Nigeria. They couldn’t help, so the bikers in Zambia contacted the bikers in Angola who spoke immigration for me.”  

Some countries proved to offer world beating riding, including Rwanda and Congo, where Joy described the roads as “a dream to ride.”  

Above all else, it was the people encountered along the way which proved to be the most memorable aspect of her adventure.  

“In Angola especially, the bikers were lovely. They made me feel like a queen. I became friends with everyone.  

“I’m travelling with a Nigerian passport on a Kenyan bike, and although I had no Carnet De Passage, I never had any bad experiences at borders. It was never a problem, people just wanted to talk to me.”  

Joy nonetheless faced a few hiccups along the way, the worst among which was a crash in Cameroon.   

“It was my first crash and I still remember the smell of the floor. Then after the crash, I was stopped in a layby and a truck came along, overtaking a truck, which was overtaking another truck. I had to jump in the bush and he must have missed me by an inch.  

“It was bad, but it was the only bad experience I can point to in three and a half months on the road.”  

Joy is no stranger to overlanding on the continent, previously travelling in a converted camper van before making the switch to two wheels.  

Soon, she will set off for the second leg of her adventure, which will take her through West Africa, then up into the Saharan countries to the north, before finishing in Morocco.  

You can follow her travels via Instagram here.