For Marcelo Gervasio Silva, the quest to see the world on his skateboard is a labour of love.
And, 10 000km later, having braved soaring temperatures, armed mobs and fatigue, the intrepid Brazilian explorer has not only seen most of Africa, but has also, he said, honoured his father’s memory.
Speaking to the Daily News with the help of his friend and interpreter, Werner Lilleike, and in Johannesburg awaiting his flight home, Silva, 52, said his father had died in 2004.
He said his father had been a well-known film-maker in Brazil and had always been interested in telling stories.
The trip was his way of keeping this legacy alive.
Silva began designing and building skateboards in 2005 and continued into 2008.
“The sport is very popular in Brazil. It’s huge,” he said through Lilleike.
His aim was to create a board that was durable and could withstand the long distances he intended travelling.
The board is equipped with a storage compartment and mini solar panels he uses to charge his camera batteries. It also holds his tent.
“I’ve always enjoyed travelling and I’ve been skateboarding since I was a kid,” he said when asked to explain his choice of transportation.
Silva has also skateboarded from the tip of South America all the way to the north, covering a distance of 30 000km.
He began his journey in 2009, but came to South Africa a year ago.
Since then he’s travelled the length of Madagascar and from Johannesburg to Cape Town along the N1 highway, one of the country’s busiest roads.
“It was perilous. I crossed the Karoo in December, in summer,” he said.
He has been to Mozambique and has visited Swaziland and Lesotho via the Sani Pass.
He has been using Johannesburg as his central point of travel and in February embarked on his most challenging trip yet: from Johannesburg to Cairo through Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Before he reached the last two intended countries – Sudan and Egypt – he was forced to abort the trip.
“These countries were very volatile and I knew that if I went in, I would not have come out alive. My life was threatened more than once,” he said.
This was not the only time Silva faced imminent danger.
In Malawi he was mistaken for a South African because he had been wearing the colours of the Brazilian flag – green and yellow – which are similar to the colours donned by South African sports teams.
“A group of 100 people surrounded me. They had pangas and they kept shouting: ‘Revenge! Revenge!’
“They wanted to pay me back for the xenophobia.”
He said a policeman had rescued him.
Silva, who received financial assistance from his community in Brazil in the form of $400 (roughly R5 000) a month, had also been robbed “many times”.
Despite this, after a year’s break, he intends to skateboard through Asia, Europe and Australia. “I don’t want any big sponsors because this is not about money. It’s about love.”
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