Teen pilot touches down in Nairobi on solo flight

STORY: Mack Rutherford, who has British and Belgian nationality, started his journey near the Bulgarian capital Sofia in March and is looking to clinch a Guinness World record currently held by compatriot Travis Ludlow, who was 18 when he completed a circumnavigation last year.

"I'm hoping, with this journey, to inspire young people to follow their dreams," Rutherford said after clambering out of his two-seater single prop ultralight aircraft, at Wilson Airport.

Rutherford's journey will see him visit four more African and Indian Ocean countries, before heading to the Middle East, Asia and North America and finally returning to Europe.

Coming from a family of pilots, Rutherford first took the controls of an aircraft at the age of seven, sitting alongside his father.

At 15 he became the youngest pilot in the world and is now following in the footsteps of his older sister Zara, the youngest woman to fly around the world at age 19.

Visibility was a challenge while flying across the Sahara desert, he said, but the scenery more than made up for it.

"It hasn't let me down, I've absolutely loved the views both around the Sahara desert and in Kenya," he said.