There was one specific night they were cautious. This was when sleeping over in St. Lucia, a town famous for the wildlife commonly seen on the streets. The campsite was too expensive and the two decided to sleep on the beach. When they got there they spotted paw prints on the beach. They emerged unscathed from the incident, but more tired than usual.
It took them 12 days, many cans of tuna and baked beans, and over 60 different lifts before two cousins reached their goal of hitchhiking to Mozambique and back.
Jonny Brown (20) from Ridgeworth and his cousin, Caleb Rossouw (21) from George, returned to Cape Town on 29 November after they set off on their trip on 17 November.
The two cousins are both students and are currently on holiday. Brown studies education at the University of Stellenbosch and Rossouw studies engineering at the Nelson Mandela University.
Because they live so far apart, they’re always looking for something exciting to do, Brown says.
This year, they wanted to drive to the south of Mozambique but worked out it would be too expensive. “I phoned him and kinda for a joke said why don’t we hitchhike?”
Rossouw instantly agreed. They would hitchhike along the coast from Cape Town to Ponta do Ouro in the south of Mozambique.
Brown spent a year in the United Kingdom last year and says he hitchhiked a few times before, but beyond that, they didn’t have any experience as hitchhikers.
Rossouw met Brown in Cape Town while his family was there on holiday and the two set off down the coast. They had two nights of set accommodation: at Rossouw’s house in George and at his university residence in Gqeberha. The rest they made up as they went along. They mostly slept at campsites.
Brown says many people were worried about their safety. “We’re not really that small.” Others were very excited for them.
There was one specific night they were cautious. This was when sleeping over in St. Lucia, a town famous for the wildlife commonly seen on the streets. The campsite was too expensive and the two decided to sleep on the beach. When they got there they spotted paw prints on the beach. They emerged unscathed from the incident, but more tired than usual.
Brown says they met many interesting people along the route. More than 60 gave them lifts when they put out their hands. They didn’t pay for these lifts, except for one man who demanded payment. In total, they spent around R130 on transport.
They mostly ate baked beans and tuna and would wash their clothes in the sea. Because of the humidity, the clothes were always still damp when they put them back on. “Oh, we stank,” Brown laughs.
Surprisingly, they often got into cars just to find out the driver was drunk or actively drinking. Once, close to the border, the driver was so drunk that the cousins decided to jump off the back of the bakkie when it slowed down.
Many taxi drivers would stop, thinking they were tourists. When they found out they were local, the taxi drivers would laugh and tell them they were dumb.
Ponta do Ouro itself was wonderful, Brown says. They saved up and spent a lot of time scuba diving and snorkelling.
The two have since told each other they won’t hitchhike ever again.
“But maybe we’ll do a bicycle trip to Malawi.”
