'Tourism has been painted white on the continent'

A couple hope their five-month journey through 12 countries will inspire other black Africans to follow in their footsteps

- Caroline Kimeu

When Maureen Agena and Edward Echwalu arrived at the Lesotho border during their fivemonth road trip across east and southern Africa, the immigration officer did a double-take. "I've been at this post for eight years and no Ugandan has ever crossed through," the official told the pair, as she checked whether travellers from the east African country were allowed entry visa-free.

"For most of the places that we have been to, that has been the comment," the couple tweeted, as they chronicled their trip on social media.

High costs and visa restrictions have historically made it harder for Africans to travel the continent, compared with Europeans or North Americans. Leisure and safari tourism in Africa is still largely dominated by western travellers.

Agena and Echwalu are among the limited but growing number of Africans embarking on longer-term leisure travel within the continent.

It took the couple, who describe themselves as lower-middle class, several years to save the $25,000 to fund their 22,000km journey through Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola.