On Wednesday, 18 September 2024, Cannons Creek Independent Primary School had the absolute privilege of having the acclaimed adventurer and author, Riaan Manser, visit. Manser’s children’s book ‘My First African Adventure’ was voted the overall winner of the SA Book Awards 2023 – an honour not often bestowed upon children’s literature. He spoke to the Grade 3-6 pupils about his many incredible adventures and feats of endurance. He shared interesting and funny stories about how he cycled around the perimeter of Africa. Some standout stories were the kudu trampling his tent in Namibia, a snake curling up underneath him in the Congo, encounters with crocodiles in Benin, and facing off against hyenas in Ethiopia. He encouraged pupils to dream big, and to ignore commenters who thought it would be impossible.
He answered a ton of fascinating questions from the children, and then kindly signed copies of his books ‘My First Wild Island Adventure‘ and ‘My First African Adventure‘ for the pupils and staff afterwards. Manser has just returned from Greenland and Iceland, and is off to Hawaii in October. He has been to 110 countries in the world and shared with pupils that while he had many exciting and/or memorable moments on his trips, sometimes there were parts that were not so enjoyable, like sharks bumping his boat in Madagascar, or locals attempting to tackle him off his bicycle in Liberia.