In 1985, Devoy set off on a mammoth journey by bicycle from his native Cork in Ireland to Cape Town in South Africa, making a detour first to travel beyond the Arctic Circle and then through Europe and the Middle East to Egypt. Here he recounts his journey from Cairo to Nairobi.

Once in a while a travel book comes along that pushes at the boundaries of the genre. Quondam: Travels in a Once World does exactly that, asking us to re-imagine the relevance and potential of travel--in this case, an epic, true-grit expedition by bike through the heart of Africa without the umbilical cord of technology, when being on your own meant exactly that.

A superb observer and story-teller, John Devoy recounts his adventure in an imaginative and captivating style that has won the admiration of Dervla Murphy and Ted Simon, two writers who have left their own indelible marks on the literature of travel.