Cycling his way to Freedom - Yassin Ghallam 'Everest' at Cango Wildlife Ranch

Posted on Thu July 5, 2018.

We often meet great people, but yesterday we had the privilege of meeting a real-life adventurer, with a flair for nothing else but freedom.

Yassine Ghallam (34) made his way to Cango Wildlife Ranch from Prince Albert, after spending the night on the snowy Swartberg Mountain. After excitedly telling staff about his journey we just had to know more and met up with him after he spent some time with Raven, our ambassador adult cheetah.

He tells of walking from Morocco to Senegal and then riding his bike for over 23 500km to Mzansi.

From Senegal he decided to continue his journey on a $100 bike, 'because walking will take too long'.

With his bike he travelled from Senegal through Cameroon, through Gabon and the dangerous rebel territories of the Congo. He passed Angola, and after being asked for a Visa at Namibia's border he turned to Zambia instead. He made his way through Mozambique and Swaziland after which he made his way into South Africa. 

Ghallam is writing a book about African culture, food, lifestyle and languages.

“My dream is to see the whole world,” he said.

Yassine travels without money and relies on the giving nature of our African culture. 

Further Reading

A New Campus And It Is Only The Beginning Thu August 27, 2026

Oudtshoorn is about to gain a new kind of neighbour: a working campus, built on sustainability principles, aimed squarely at the town's future workforce. On 1 September, Cango Wildlife will officially open its new Africa Skills Cango Academy site to an invite-only audience of civic and business leaders. Four days later, on 5 September, the doors open to the public for a community open day at 291 Adderley Street. Locals will be...

Read This Article
Making Waves Beyond Cango Thu August 27, 2026

At Cango Wildlife, learning is not something that ends with a qualification. It continues every day through the animals in our care, the people we work alongside and the knowledge shared across the wider wildlife community. For Pippa, one of our dedicated Animal Caregivers, that passion for continued learning is now taking her beyond Cango Wildlife as she begins making her mark within the broader animal-care community. Recently, Pippa was invited to...

Read This Article
Two Peas In A Pod Thu August 27, 2026

How patience, trust and training created a special bond between Animal Caregiver Pippa and Patricia, our Cape Porcupine When Patricia arrived at Cango Wildlife as a tiny baby, few could have predicted the relationship that would develop between this little bundle of quills and Animal Caregiver Pippa. For Pippa, however, the connection began with something very simple: time. Bottle feeds, playtime, cleaning and every spare opportunity to be around Patricia became the...

Read This Article