Hitch hiking

This post is about our main way of transport, and part of the philosophy of this trip as well: that continuously amazing but almost always wonderful tool to discovering the salt of the earth of a country: hitch hiking.

As a way to pass time, Thomas and I recently calculated that in this last month, we hitched 22 rides so far, vaguely estimating on the map, covering about 2.000km in total, 1.200km in South Africa and Swaziland, and currently a little under 8ookm in Mozambique. Of these 22 rides, about 6 invited us to stay at their place or arranged some form of accommodation for the three of us.

Though it hasn’t always been that easy to get rides, I think we usually waited maximum half an hour before somebody took pity on us, though on the South African highway N2, I must admit we gave up twice after over an hour’s wait. Contrary to what many people might think, you often get rides quicker on local, provincial roads, then on busy highways, where everybody thinks somebody else will take you. It also definitely helps to have a girl with you, that much is sure, maybe less for the aspect that they want to hit on her, but rather that you look less threatening then two boys by themselves.

One of the things that strikes me though, and that I sort of regret, is that almost everybody who took us so far has been white. This is not because black people wouldn’t take whites, but simply because there are a lot less blacks that have cars, and if they do have them, they are usually already very full with the children, cousins, furniture of chickens. Whites tended to have bigger cars, often pick-ups or bakkies as they are called here, and travel with one or two people. They also often expressed their surprise at seeing white people hitch hike in this day and age…

There is something very zen about hitch hiking, of following where the wind blows or what the person recommends to you. You depend on the kindness of strangers, and it is often better not to plan ahead but just go with the flow in order to have the best experiences....

It is also this letting it all depend to chance, that makes you meet contrasts : sometimes you wind up cramped in the back holding a dead goat on your lap to be picked up straight away in a BMW by one of the Princes of the royal family of Swaziland!