A Spanish woman who rode her Ducati Scrambler 15,000km through Africa has been honoured with the Spanish Geographical Society’s Journey of the Year 2018 award.
Alicia Sornosa set off on her bike down the backbone of East Africa to raise money for Amigos de Silva.
The Spanish non-government organisation provides humanitarian aid projects such as water supply and health care, initially in the Afar region of Ethiopia, but later extended to other African countries.
Alicia’s ride started in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and crossed Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho before finally arriving in Cape Town, South Africa.
She raised almost $A8000 for Amigos de Silva and the only hiccup along the way for the Ducati ambassador was two punctures.
Round the world
It’s not Alicia’s first big adventure.
In 2011, she set off on her BMW F 650 GS on what would become a round-the-world ride that included Australia in 2012.
She rode from Spain to Asia, then Australia, North America down through South America and back to Europe in 2014.
Alicia became the first Spanish woman to circumnavigate the world on a BMW.
She has continued her travels through the Americas and Asia.
Other awards she has won include:
- Illustrious Visitor of the City of Tarija, Bolivia;
- The 2016 Penguin Honorific Award for “The Legend Continues”; and
- In 2017, she took third prize at the I Madrid Motorbike Film Festival for “Adventure in India and Nepal” (below)
Epic adventures
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