Over one five-month stretch in 2016, Ismail Benlamlih endured more than his fair share of challenges in order to score the best wave of his life. But finding a good wave wasn’t really the point of his whole journey. Through hospital stays for malaria and Hep-A, Benlamlih’s mission to bring water filters to people in West Africa nearly cost him his life.
“I was blown away by how strong spirited Africans are through wars, epidemics, famine, and drought,” he said about the trip. “But in spite of all this, they’re still smiling, dancing, sharing and partying.” And maybe it that was the perspective that gave him the resolve of not wanting “to die next to the best wave in the world without surfing it.”
So Ismail eventually made it out of a hospital bed in Namibia and went on to wait another 70 days for a good swell to come his way. When it did, he was gifted with riding the best waves of his life.
This film is Ismail’s incredible story on what was one incredible trip. “I have no regrets from it all, though,” he says. “It’s all a part of my learning curve.”
