Hitch Hiking

Salajwe village rests 60K from the nearest tarred road deep in the Kalahari desert bush. From the end of the tarred road there is only one small village and several cattle posts on the gravel road before we get to Salajwe. This unique geographical location demands a hitch hiking adventure both to and from our house each time. And yes, every tine is a new adventure.

A little background on the ropes of ‘Hiking’ in Botswana and most of Africa. First off, there is no thumb in the air, what is done is an out stretched arm palm down with a limp wrist that flaps like you’re petting an invisible dog on the head. If you’re going far, you flap, the swing the hand up next to your head while bending at the elbow like you’re showing off the back of your hand. If the driver waves his hand in front of his face like he’s brushing the tip of his nose back and forth, that means no room, he doesn’t want, or he’s not going where you’re going. They flash their lights to show this too.

When it comes to who gets the ride when a vehicle stops is no holds bar some times. Anything goes, the more aggressive and faster the better. We’ve been pushed, elbowed or jostled each time. It matters little who got there first or waited the longest or even if you were the one who flagged down the ride. However, I have been invited to ride in side when I was wearing a tie and the passenger road in the back. It all depends on the situation.

Katie and I have a system. Most often Katie does the flagging because she’s beautiful, aggressive and just plane better at it. She’ll lay in the road if she had to. So, The flagger, Katie, gets a vehicle to stop and as she’s asking if the driver is going where we’re going I grabs the bags and throws them in, while Katie covers two good sitting spots (against the cab of the truck). This works great.

When we fist starting ’hiking’, we waited, let those who were there first get the ride, gave up good spits and were generally polite. By doing this we misses good rides, got stepped on and sat in the most uncomfortable spots. NO one else in this country shared that level of politeness when hiking, so it went to the wayside except for special circumstances. Now we run our two person attack and we almost always do the flagging and get the best spots.

Before this revelation, I had sat in grease, water and road grime, road 2 hours in the fetal position, held a perpetual dip with my arms to keep my butt from cracking against the truck bed rim. Now I bring a piece of foam to sit on to save my back a little. I’ve held babies, lost my hat and spanked a cow as we drove through the heard slowly honking. There are many more. Katie went 60K with a teachers foot pressed right against her crotch in the back of a crowded pick up. We’ve been rained on, head vehicle breakdowns and flat tires, Katie road with a butchered cow once, mine have always been alive :).

One funny thing I’ve noticed is that the white people rarely stop. Most are heading into or out of the CKGR (Central Kalahari Game Reserve) pulling trailers and driving spacious Land Cruisers. They just fly on by, I only get upset when where the only ones waiting and they have plenty of room. Who knows, would I do the same on my vacation? Who know.

Now that you know the tips and tricks, you can travel anywhere in Africa with just some politeness and a little cash in hand.