Limassol boxing instructor Polis Potamitis is planning a solo trek across Africa on a motorbike
POLIS Potamitis looks just like any other Cypriot but behind his unremarkable exterior is a true adventurer; Cyprus’ own Phileas Fogg.
He is about to ride across the unforgiving continent of Africa on a motorbike. But that is not all, it is the second time he is doing so although this time the actual route is a little more arduous. According to Potamitis’ father, it is his grandfather that sewed the seed of itchy feet. “In 1916 my grandfather left Cyprus by boat and went to the USA where he worked in various places. He would later travel to other places and my father tells me that I take after him,” Polis said.
The former frogman and boxer now turned qualified boxing instructor has formerly ventured through some of the wildest places on the planet, ranging from the Amazonian jungle to deepest Africa. This year’s trip (he leaves next month)is a remarkable motorbike trek starting from Limassol and ending in Cape Town, South Africa via the south west of the African continent. It will include an escapade across the torridly cruel, magical plain of the Sahara.
“I do it for satisfaction and to see and experience things that you can only see and experience in Africa. Apart from that, it’s the feeling of pushing yourself to your limits in a challenge that is both extremely difficult and extremely dangerous,” he said.
It may not come as any surprise then that Potamitis, whose dream is to travel to each continent, relishes dangerous sports, with sky diving his favourite.
Last year Polis took his bike from the Cape to Cairo, “which is known as the toughest of all trips in Africa. As for the trip I am doing now, I designed the route myself with no help and I believe it is harder because there is a huge trek across the Sahara desert and an extra 15,000 km compared to the previous one.
“The last trip was such an experience, which is why it prompted me to do it again”. Although he went on the first trip last year, preparations for it began in 1998, when Polis bought his bike.
“I don’t just pick up and go without planning it properly. There are things that I had to know, like the culture and mentality of the different people that I was going to meet on my journeys.
“Somebody, for example, might be terrified when they see somebody who might be on the road starving, which is why you need to have the right train of thought and psychology to deal with every situation. You need to be constantly aware of the different types of people that you will come across. You need to know whether they want to help you, if they are just curious to see you or if they wish to do you any harm.”
Extreme activities are not without their fair share of risks and Potamitis’ trip was not without tales to make your hair stand on end. “During my Africa trip last year, I was travelling through Ethiopia during the heavy rains, which pelted the country for six weeks and it was the first time in my life that I had seen such huge rivers over the roads as a result of flooding. I remember riding for eight hours with another 200 kilometres left to reach one of my destinations when I came across a huge river over a road, which I had to cross. I waited for a couple of hours and then witnessed a trailer-truck attempting to cross the river and being tipped over by the velocity of the water.
“Everything that I had was on that motorbike so if it was to have been tipped over as well in that river that would have been the end of me, not just for my things and my bike but also for my life. I continued to wait until the river calmed down a little and then I did a sign of the cross and prayed to Holy Mary that she would see me safely across the river. I rode very carefully across with the water covering me up to my waist and made it across.
“I was absolutely petrified because the force of the water was so powerful and I couldn’t see anything in front of me. One of the thoughts going through my head was who was going to find me if the river had taken me. After getting across, I had to cross another two rivers and they were also times were I feared for my life.”
Despite all the obstacles through fierce storms and rocky terrain, Potamitis said that his hardest moment came on the last day.
“The worst time on my travels was the final day of the Cape to Cairo tour when with just under 200 kilometres left to reach my final destination, I ran into rain storms amid hurricane force winds. I remember making a note in my diary that I felt that I wasn’t going to make it. The winds had reached 115 kph and I remember the rainfall was so powerful it was like somebody spraying a powerful hose into your face.”
Potamitis, who has collected some 9,000 photographs from his journeys, says that his next trip will be even harder and even more trying than any other time before.
“This trip coming up will be harder for a few reasons. Firstly, the situation is a little more dangerous because of fanatical Islamic extremists in some countries, secondly, the fact the roads will be a lot harsher this time around and thirdly I will be riding through the Sahara desert.”
