Thirty-six amazing photos from Mario Rigby, the Queen West-er who walked 12,000 kilometres across Africa

The Proclaimers have nothing on Mario Rigby. Sure, they say they’d walk 500 miles (and even 500 more), but Rigby, a Queen West-er and former fitness trainer who recently returned from a two-and-a-half-year trek up the eastern side of Africa—from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt—travelled a whopping 12,000 kilometers (almost 7,500 miles) entirely on foot.

Rigby started training slowly. First, he walked from his home near Queen and Ossington to the Eaton Centre, then up to Bloor Street. Once that five-kilometre trip felt easy, he kept increasing the distance, walking from Toronto to Hamilton and, eventually, from Toronto to Montreal.

He opted to walk his way through Africa because there is evidence that the eastern part of the continent was home to the earliest migration routes, and he wanted to follow them. Once he got going, Rigby walked about 30 kilometres a day. “If I really needed to push it, I could make it about 50,” he says—that is, if it wasn’t one of the days that blisters, dog bites, cramps or malaria didn’t slow him down.

Rigby missed the “buzzing restaurant life and diversity of food” in Toronto while away. But now that he’s back, he says he misses rolex—not the watches, but a street food with fried eggs stuffed in a crepe-like roll, and he hopes someone in Toronto will bring the dish here.

Rigby’s next journey will also include African destinations. The trip will focus on renewable energy and sustainable transport—he intends to travel using only electric and solar vehicles—and is set to take him from Norway to Morocco to South Africa and back to Morocco. Before he takes off again, we asked Rigby to share some pictures from his journey through Africa.

South Africa

Cape Point in South Africa—at the extreme southwestern tip of the continent—was Rigby’s official staring point:

Rigby in Cape Point, getting used to the fact that the wildlife is a little wilder than the occasional crafty raccoon or squirrel:

The first of many pairs of insoles Rigby wore out:

With a view of the Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa, the world’s highest commercial bungee jump site:

The tiny inflatable vessel that Rigby used to carry his gear over the waterlogged portions of his trip:

A map of Rigby’s revised route:

A donkey and a puss in Amapondo Port St Johns. All they’re missing is an ogre named Shrek:

More than a year after his trek began, Rigby was still in South Africa, at Leopard’s Rock:

Getting up close and personal with some rhinos (probably not recommended for the average tourist):

And a zebra, for good measure:

Next time someone thinks they’re clever for MacGyver-ing an apple into a pipe, show them this picture. It’s a cow horn:

Mozambique

Once in Mozambique, Rigby visited a town called Ponta do Ouro:

North Americans may forget there’s an ocean to snorkel or scuba in Mozambique:

Malawi

After 5 months in Mozambique, Rigby moved on to Malawi, where he did more snorkelling:

Here’s Malawi’s 3,002-metre Mount Mulanje, which Rigby climbed:

There were roadblocks, like a nearly sunk kayak in Lake Malawi. Here’s the kayak in question, with curious locals, many of whom had never seen a black person speak English:

Rigby says this picture of him and some children in Malawi is one of his favourites of the whole trip:

Tanzania

Rigby was welcomed to Tanzania by more kids:

It’s not quite hot dog legs, but here’s Rigby’s beach picture from Zanzibar:

Here he is in Dodoma, Tanzania, his halfway point:

Kenya

After two months in Tanzania, Rigby landed in Kenya:

Here he is with the Turkana people near Turkana Lake in Kenya:

Ethiopia

Rigby stayed in the homes of the Hamer Tribe once in Ethiopia:

He also dove into some tibs:

More baboons, this time in Ethiopia:

Plus, 17th-century castles:

Sudan

Rigby made it to Sudan about a year and a half into the journey:

These are taamia, an Egyptian falafel made with split fava beans:

The Temple of Amun dates back to the 13th century BC:

And these Sudanese pyramids in Meroë predate the Egyptian ones:

Egypt

Two years in, Rigby arrived in Egypt:

Here’s a pretty majestic sand dune:

Construction on the Luxor temple began in 1100 BC. It looks a little different than the place it inspired in Las Vegas:

Another shot from the Luxor:

And here’s the money shot—a shirtless Rigby posing in Cairo with the pyramids in the background:

Uganda

A detour to Uganda led Rigby to a school for displaced youth, where he gave the students a memorable talk: