Four months after leaving London on a world record attempt to become the youngest pair to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle (riding pillion), Lavinya Scholl and Oliver Gamblin, known as “Lavi & Ollie” on social media have made it to their first major checkpoint of the journey: Dakar, Senegal.
The 50,000km two year journey, starting and finishing in the UK and verified by Guinness World Records as a new world record attempt will take the couple through 35 countries on 5 continents.
After riding 11,000km through Europe and North Africa, crossing the entirety of the Sahara Desert, their motorcycle, a Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT named “Bumblebee” is now crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a container bound for Rio de Janiero, Brazil where the next leg will begin.
From there they will cross the mountains, jungles and deserts of South, Central and North America to Vancouver, Canada where another ocean crossing will take them to the East Asian coast and the final leg through Central Asia back to Europe where it all began.
“After facing the many challenges of months on the road, remote border crossings and the relentless heat of the North African summer, as well as the logistical challenge of organising the container shipping from Senegal to Brazil, we are very happy to be at this stage of journey and can’t wait for the South American leg of our adventure to begin!”
With 40,000km still to go, the couple still have a long road ahead. But it won’t be the first time they have taken on an adventure challenge.
Meeting on a cherry farm whilst travelling in Tasmania five years ago, Lavi and Ollie quickly discovered their love for long distance adventure and have since driven 2500km across Indonesia by scooter, walked 3000km across New Zealand and cycled 2000km across Britain, all whilst sharing their experiences through their YouTube channel.
They are now documenting and sharing every day’s ride of their journey with the help of a three GoPro camera “Motorcycle Studio” setup.
“We wanted to be able to share this trip of a lifetime with the world, the ups and downs, the beauty and the struggle, taking our viewers with us every step of the way”
Alongside this, the couple will also be raising money for international animal welfare charity Born Free.
Head to www.youtube.com/laviandollie or @lavi.and.ollie on Instagram to follow their journey.
