By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
IT WAS no easy feat for Moroccan Driss Kadiri to disembark his flight from Cuba at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, and make steady, uneven strokes atop his bicycle in the direction of a guest house on Montego Bay's 'Hip-Strip'.
But it felt like a homecoming for this physically challenged man, who has been cycling around the world for the last 10 years.
This extraordinary globetrotter has defied his handicap and fulfilled a long-held dream to visit the homeland of the legendary Bob Marley.
"Bob Marley has been such an inspiration to me and so many other handicapped persons," 47-year-old Kadiri said. This lover of reggae music belted out the first few lines of Exodus as he related how he has played several of Marley's songs while he served as a disc jockey in Morocco.
LONGED TO VISIT
"I have loved his songs, played his songs and have for decades longed to visit the island where Bob Marley grew up and got his inspiration."
Kadiri is long on inspiration, although he is short on physical prowess. He suffers from chronic hereditary polyneuropathy, a nervous system condition that causes pain and weakness, and this condition has left him unable to walk properly. "I was born disabled and although I underwent seven surgeries to try to correct the problem, I was never able to overcome the disability," he told The Gleaner in an interview.
Jamaica is the only country in the English-speaking Caribbean that Kadiri will visit in his goal to visit 97 countries around the world. And he has no intention of leaving the island without visiting the famous Bob Marley Museum. Yesterday, he met with State Minister for Social Security Floyd Morris, who is visually impaired.
The Moroccan, who began his tour of the globe in 1994, is almost close to the end of his journey with Canada and Panama left to be explored before he returns to his homeland in September this year. He rides from 70 to 120 kilometres per day, depending on the terrain, and has so far traversed tracks, mountains and valleys on his bicycle as he crossed Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
