Taking the road less travelled to Mecca

A CHATSWORTH man is preparing to visit Islam’s holiest city, but the trip to Mecca will be different from those usually undertaken by other pilgrims. Instead of tackling the mandatory pilgrimage by boarding several planes, Yaseen Adam will drive through seven African countries before boarding a ferry for the final 15-hour stretch of his journey to Saudi Arabia.

If all goes according to plan, the 30-year-old self-employed Adam expects the trip in his Toyota Crew Cab to last about 20 days, rather than the usual two or three days which local pilgrims to Mecca typically spend on the journey.

“It’s the adventure of a lifetime. But there is a lot of co-ordination that is needed and sometimes I wonder if I can do this, but the rest of the team and my wife give me courage,” he said.

Adam said the names of the travel party still had to be finalised but his father and his best friends, some of them from his school days, were very excited about their adventure.

The difficult part was to ensure that everyone received their visas on time to make the trip and that they received all the vaccinations they needed for travelling through the various countries, he said

This year the annual Hajj – which every devout Muslim has to take at least once in their lifetime – starts on August 9 and ends on August 14. For Adam it is not just about embarking on the adventure of a lifetime but also spreading the message that Islam was a religion of peace.

He said his dream was that during their road trip from Durban to the Port of Sudan, an estimated 10 500km, he and his friends would be able to spend about two days in each country they passed through and interact with the locals.

Adam said they planned to research what goods were in scarce supply in those countries and take some of these with them to hand to locals.

“I would also like to meet officials in those countries to show them peace via Islam,” he said.

His wife Nasreen would not be joining him on the adventure but said he had her full backing.

“Why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary,” she said.

Adam, who previously worked at a television company, said he would be recording the trip to make a documentary. He was also in talks with various companies in a bid to get them to come on board and film the adventure.

However, in the midst of all his travel plans he is also gearing for the national elections in May. He currently serves as the IFP’S chairperson in ward 71, which includes the Durban suburbs of Overport, Musgrave and Sherwood.

Adam has invited anyone interested in making a documentary out of this trip or sponsoring goods to hand out along the way to contact him at 082 298 9070.