After an extraordinary three-year journey from France to South Africa, e-biker Yves de Preux – known on YouTube as Kino Yves – has reached Cape Town, marking the end of a chapter in a whirlwind adventure.
Yves is no stranger to exploration. At 26, he toured the world before spending seven years working at sea. By the age of 35, de Preux decided to leave his job and resume his travels, writing a book about his journey and starting a YouTube channel to document the adventures to come.
In 2022, he set off on his most ambitious challenge yet – travelling from Europe to Africa on an electric recumbent trike (e-trike).
Set on sharing his adventure with the world, de Preux documented his travels through 16 countries – from France to South Africa – on his YouTube channel, which has amassed over 280 000 subscribers.
His route took him from Reims, France, through the Balkans and into Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and finally, South Africa, Getaway Magazine reported.
From cycling through lion territory to navigating war-torn regions, Yves’ three-year journey has entailed a number of hair-raising moments.
One particularly tense encounter occurred while he was travelling from Gweta to Maun in Botswana, where he had a run-in with some elephants.
‘After a very quiet morning, I started seeing a lot of elephants drinking water close to the road. After successfully passing the first one, I tried to pass a second, but things went completely wrong – the elephant tried to charge me,’ said Yves.
‘The angry pachyderm didn’t want to let me through. Luckily, a police car arrived soon after and helped me pass safely.’
After more than 19 000km on the road, de Preux has finally reached his goal destination in Cape Town.
‘I can’t believe what I did, it’s unreal! I managed to cross Africa on my electric tricycle. I rode all the way from France to Cape Town. It’s pure happiness,’ he shared on social media.
But this isn’t the end of the road for Yves. He plans to continue his journey by travelling back to France via West Africa – though first, he’s taking a well-earned six-month break in South Africa.
Yves’ epic e-trike journey follows hot on the heels of Ugandan-born trail runner and running coach Deo Kato, who became the first person to run from Cape Town to London – completing almost 300 marathon distances (12 119km) along the way.
On a mission to challenge the racial slur, ‘go back to where you cam from’, Kato started his journey from Cape Town’s Long March to Freedom monument in July 2023 and found his way to the heart of the United Kingdom in December 2024, ultimately retracing the history of early human migration.
The 518-day trek saw Kato crossing 21 countries within the two continents as he navigated war-inflicted regions, heartfelt moments, and challenges of all sorts, as well as an arrest in South Sudan, according to The Guardian.
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Picture: Kino Yves / Youtube
