- A video of adventurer Meryem Belkihel being chased by a man in rural Kenya went viral, with viewers claiming the man carried a machete
- Belkihel, who spent three years cycling across 33 African countries from Morocco to Ethiopia, said the clip was taken out of context
- The cyclist told CNN the incident sparked negative comments about Kenya that misrepresented her entire three-year journey across the continent
A French-Algerian cyclist has spoken out after a short clip from her three-year African biking adventure went viral for all the wrong reasons, igniting a wave of negative commentary about Kenya that she says bears no resemblance to her actual experience.
Source: Youtube
Meryem Belkihel, who documents her travels under the name Meghy Lost, completed a solo cycling journey spanning 33 countries across Africa, riding from Morocco all the way to Ethiopia before finishing in November 2025.
Was the Samburu man carrying a machete?
The chase incident that has since dominated headlines took place near the Kenya-Ethiopia border in August 2025, towards the tail end of her trip.
In an interview with CNN, Belkihel clarified that the man chasing her was not armed with a machete, as many online viewers had assumed.
"It was a wood stick, a big wood stick," she said, adding that the area was known to be difficult to travel through and sat within territory inhabited by the Samburu tribe. Locals had warned her against passing through that route, but she pressed on regardless.
How long did the Samburu man pursue Belkihel for?
The man pursued her for roughly 20 seconds. "He ran fast and even with the bike [it was] challenging to just cycle as fast as I can," she recalled.
Belkihel noted that throughout her journey she had often been approached by people, particularly children in rural settings, asking for water or food.
This encounter, however, felt different. "This guy, he was very aggressive, you know, because he was running, so it was quite not like a nice way to ask for something," she said.
Do people like drama?
Belkihel had originally included the footage in a much longer YouTube video posted roughly a year ago, deliberately keeping it off her social media platforms because she feared it would be misread without the surrounding context. That concern proved well-founded.
Within a week of the clip circulating independently, it had attracted what she described as negative commentary targeting Kenya as a whole, while others questioned her decision to travel alone.
"People, they like drama, they like problems, they like to see bad things," she said during the CNN interview.
How long has Belkihel been travelling?
She was particularly troubled that a fleeting moment had come to overshadow three years of overwhelmingly positive encounters across the continent.
"I have been traveling for three years, three years of people helping me. So white people, they don't see that," she said.
Belkihel is currently backpacking through East Africa and is planning her next major expedition: a cycling route from Morocco to the North Cape, the northernmost point of Europe.
Kenyan man shares how he escaped Russia war
In another story, TUKO also highlighted facts about former Kenyan Air Force pilot Stanley Mungai’s account of accepting a job in Russia that he says led to deployment in a war zone.
His passport was reportedly confiscated, and he says he endured missile attacks, broken ribs and 53 days without a bath before escaping and returning to Kenya.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
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