Tourist riding bike from London to Lagos narrates near-death experience in Mauritania

Kunle Adeyanju, the Nigerian tourist riding a bike from London to Lagos, over the weekend, narrated his near-death experience after running out of water while travelling through a hilly part of Mauritania.

The adventurer spoke at a briefing in Ghana where he reflected on his journey and the challenges that came his way.

Adeyanju said he became unsettled after he ran out of water and could not think straight.

The biker also said he started hallucinating while his vision became blurred before help eventually came his way.

“I have a bag which contains my water ration… it’s three litres. Ordinarily, when you’re on this kind of trip, you don’t drink when you’re thirsty, you drink before you’re thirsty. So, when I started the ride, I was drinking whenever I’m thirsty,” he said.

“By the time I felt my water ration, I was with less than one litre left. Then I remembered I was doing it wrong when I  started taking water. Funny enough, I ran out of water. Then I decided to manage and continue with the journey.

“At some point, whenever I look ahead of me, it would seem that I saw someone coming towards me, but when I get there, I won’t see anyone. Then, it occurred to me that I have started hallucinating so I drastically brought my speed down.

“My reflexes were also down, I was not thinking straight as I used to and my judgement was becoming poor. But I kept going and kept seeing things that do not exist.

“After a while, I saw some guys with their vehicle parked and explained my problem to them, then they gave me water. If I haven’t seen them, I don’t know what would have happened to me. I was genuinely happy because I knew I was losing it.”

He also spoke about his experience in the Sahara Desert, adding that the region’s hostile environment could lead to death.

“Another high moment for me was during my time in the Sahara desert. The Sahara doesn’t cooperate with you, it’s there to kill you. It doesn’t support life. It’s a faster killer than riding on a mountain. It’s hot, windy and dry. So what happens is that the heat blows off the water from your body so you become dehydrated,” he added.

“When that happens, you start hallucinating, your reflexes become slurred and you can’t think properly as you should. If you put all these together, it’s a recipe for an accident.”