Episode 129: Steph Devery

A 2.5yr Solo Journey from Sweden to Capetown

I had the absolute pleasure to interview Steph Devery and feature her incredible journey for an episode of the podcast Wow. What a trip. Where do I even start?

Steph had dreamed of this trip years ago, sold all her stuff in Australia, worked 18 months as a paramedic in London during the pandemic, and then in June 2021, packed up her touring bike, loaded up her panniers and set off from Gibralter. No set plans, no set timelines. Just all the possibilities and a rough idea of making her way to Africa! She mentions in the interview of being filled up with pride on that first day, but also not even sure if she’d like cycling at all.

Since leaving on that day she has experienced quite a lot, making her way through Europe and then unfortunately sustaining a serious knee injury (torn ACL and MCL) which required surgery and rehab. But instead of putting this trip to a close, she remained focus and did everything possible to get back to her journey on the road.

She befriended a stray puppy in Montenegro – looked after her and called her Monte – and then put her in a basket on her handlebars and rode together for another 1300kms before giving her to a new family when in Greece.

From there she made her way through the Middle East, and became the first solo Australian woman to cycle though Saudi Arabia. Crossing over into Sudan she experienced temps of 50C in the desert, and an immense amount of kindness from the local Sudanese people. She states they were the most hospitable of the trip. Unfortunately she was in Khartoum when civil war broke out and after sheltering with a family for 10 days, she was able to make it out on a french military evacuation – first to Djibouti, then to France. But without her touring bike and the majority of her possessions.

I asked Steph if she thought of putting the trip to an end there – but she said it never was an option. This journey was more than that war torn Sudanese experience. She did everything to gather possessions and a new bike and two months later left from Zanzibar for 7 months pedalling through Africa. We spent quite a lot of time talking about this section of her trip. The whole experience very immersive and transformative. From organic encounters with wildlife, to amazing wild camps to watching life go by while sat on a plastic chair at a roadside food vendor, this section of her trip lived up to all expectations.

She eventually made it to the most South-western tip of Africa – the Cape of Good Hope – a journey of 2yrs 7 months and 21,500kms pedalled. I could tell talking to her that this trip is not over and there is certainly more out there which Steph wants to explore on her bike.