ADVENTURER Sean Newall faced wild animals, high temperatures and desert conditions to complete the second leg of his Commonwealth Challenge.

The 30-year-old from Larkhall hit home soil last month after cycling nearly 3000 miles across Africa.

He passed through seven Commonwealth countries, bringing the total he visited to 26.

Sean is hoping to complete four more trips, visiting all 70 Commonwealth nations and territories to celebrate Glasgow 2014 and raise money for charity.

So far he has covered more than 28,500 miles.

In the process he has raised £3500 for children's charity Unicef and the Myocarditis Foundation - a charity which raises money and awareness about the heart condition.

He chose to support the foundation after Lucy Boslem, an eight-year-old family friend, died suddenly from the condition in 2011.

Sean, who works as a Glasgow Life assistant at the Emirates Arena, left Scotland on October 7 to begin his journey - the same time as the Queen's Baton Relay was launched.

Starting in Nairobi, in Kenya, he rode through eight countries, seven of which are part of the Commonwealth, and planned to finish in Johannesburg.

But, for the second time on his travels, Sean was robbed and forced to cut his journey short.

He said: "I was just 30 miles from Pretoria, riding along the road.

"There were loads of people on the side of the road, two people came walking towards me.

"I tried to swerve but one of them grabbed the bike, and the other grabbed me and started going through my stuff.

"Thankfully a police car was coming the other way so all they had time to do was grab my phone.

"At that point I realised I had six hours left to get to Johannesburg and there was no way I would get there before dark."

Despite the two robberies, the first in Morocco on the last miles of the first leg of his challenge, Sean has not been deterred from travelling.

He said: "Even though I have been robbed quite a lot on my trips, and it would seem like it happens quite a lot, I think I am just unlucky that way.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the places and the people were brilliant.

"In Africa you couldn't have met friendlier people, they were just so happy and upbeat -and that makes you upbeat.

"We ask people how are you and we say 'not bad', that's negative, everyone there says 'I'm fine' - everyone there is fine all the time. It makes your day better as well."

Cycling through Africa, Sean faced blistering heat, averaging 40 degrees, and struggled to find enough food to fuel himself.

At one point he was forced to survive five days with only one proper meal, living on biscuits and fizzy drinks because the shops were all empty.

Along the way he cycled past giraffes, antelopes, zebras, ostriches, monkeys, baboons and elephants.

He said: "I did a section in Botswana, where you cross the Zambezi on a ferry, and a guy said, 'are you going to cross this by bike? There's lions, they will kill you and eat you.'

"I was like 'brilliant'. I had 200 miles of just wilderness with one stop in between, so that was probably the scariest bit in Africa.

"You are thinking, 'I know there are lions, but it is the elephants you have got to watch out for'. If they see you, they will charge at you.

"One of the most disappointing things had to be Victoria Falls. Don't go to Victoria Falls during the dry season. "

With two marathon rides still to complete, and 44 nations and territories still to visit, Sean is already planning his next adventure.

He hopes to set off to cover some of the smaller islands and countries in the next few months.

To find out more or donate visit http://thecommonwealthchallenge.com/

matty.sutton@eveningtimes.co.uk