4
15 August 2018
Hermanus couple walks ‘The Walk’ Hedda Mittner
Q
uaint sayings such as ‘follow your heart’ or ‘sometimes later becomes never’ acquire new meaning when you meet Erlo and Lauren Brown, the intrepid walkers who are well on their way to realising their dream of walking the west coast of South Africa and Namibia, from Cape Agulhas to the border of Angola – a journey of more than 3 000 km. The young couple, who has been living in Hermanus since 2013, left in November last year and proceeded up the coast with nothing more than the bare essentials in their backpacks, covering distances of between 20 and 30 km per day and sleeping in a small tent at night. By April they had reached more than 300 km into Namibia when a series of setbacks forced them to take a break.
Erlo and Lauren Brown on their epic coastal walk from Agulhas to Angola. The photo above was taken on the West Coast just north of Lamberts Bay and on the right they are walking through the Cape Point National Park. On the photo below the couple is walking through the Namibian desert to Lüderitz in a sandstorm
Unable to obtain the necessary permits from the Namibian Department of Environmental Affairs to proceed along the coast from Lüderitz to Walvis Bay, they had to return to Aus and take an inland detour on a gravel road of 650 km. Within a few days, however, an injury to Lauren’s foot became so painful that she could not walk any further and with Namibia’s infamous winter winds approaching, they decided to return to Hermanus to allow Lauren’s foot to rest and heal completely. “I have spent this time working on my film while Lauren is working on her book,” says Erlo. A few weeks ago he received the exciting news that his short documentary of their trip so far, entitled ‘The Walk’ has made it into the top ten finalists of the Jozi Film Festival’s ‘Don’t Stop Wondering’ Award, in partnership with Discovery Networks. The film was also aired on the Discovery channel on 2 August. And only a few days later came the great news that the short film has been accepted by the International Festival of Outdoor Films. Once they have completed the walk, Erlo says he’ll have enough footage for a feature documentary or a series, while Lauren will write a book based on the journals she is keeping of the walk. “We still have more than 1 000 km to walk, so this adventure is far from over. We hope to set out again in September. We trust that this time-out has given us renewed strength to finish the walk strong.” And Erlo knows what he is talking about; he has, incredibly, done this before. In fact, both Erlo and Lauren, although still in their twenties, have already taken on more challenging adventures than most people experience in a lifetime. They met as students in Pretoria almost a decade ago, when Erlo was studying visual communication and Lauren animal science. Erlo says he had always enjoyed being in nature and at the time he was feeling claus-
trophobic and unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. “I told Lauren that I wanted to just take a backpack and walk along the coast.” To his surprise, Lauren encouraged him to do just that and soon he set off on his first walk – an epic journey from Kosi Bay on the Mozambique border to Alexander Bay on the Namibian border. Erlo walked about 3 400 km in 299 days, accompanied by his border collie, Zeta. “I was young, inexperienced and very naïve,” he grins. “But anyone who is not naïve would never do something like that!” Only a few days into the walk, he’d encountered estuaries and rivers that he had to cross, while the strong wind and soft sand made the going difficult and very, very slow. “I realised at some point that after one hour I had only progressed one kilometre. I’d had enough and wanted to give up already! I called Lauren and told her I’m coming home, but she told me that I had to finish what I started. I don’t think I would have carried on without her support and encouragement.” In the end Erlo completed the walk, wearing out eight pairs of shoes in the process. When he developed tendonitis while walking on the soft sand between Elands Bay and Lam-
berts Bay on the West Coast, he realised that he needed to take a break and returned to Pretoria for a month. By this time Lauren had graduated and she accompanied Erlo on the last 500 km of his walk from Lamberts Bay to Alexander Bay. “Lauren showed amazing mental strength on that walk,” says Erlo. “She has the ability to live in the moment without always thinking about where we are going and how far it still is.” With his mission accomplished, the couple got married and Erlo started working as a professional photographer while Lauren went into teaching. “But we always knew we wanted to live near the sea," says Erlo. They visited several coastal towns and when they arrived in Hermanus they knew this was it. “We just loved it,” says Lauren. They settled in Vermont in May 2013 and Lauren started teaching at Camphill School while Erlo continued with his photographic career. They were already thinking of their next walk, but were unable to finance it themselves. “We didn’t really want to approach anyone for sponsorship because we wanted to do it on our own terms,” says Erlo. In the end they saved up for the walk themselves by teaching English in
South Korea for two and a half years. “We were living and working together 24/7 and learnt a lot about ourselves during that time,” says Lauren. They also planned their trip, contacting the authorities in Namibia to obtain the necessary permits, while cycling and walking a minimum of 10 km per day to build up their strength and fitness. “We also bought equipment in South Korea, including a new tent, and tried everything out.” They returned to Hermanus in August last year and by November they were back on the road – or, in this case, the beach. “We planned carefully and were much better prepared this time,” says Lauren. “We walked with backpacks all the way up to Port Nolloth, and from there we loaded everything onto a custom-made trolley. This was necessary because in Namibia we would not encounter any people in the desert for days on end and needed to carry more provisions, including food and water supplies.” Because water is needed for cooking and they can’t afford to waste any, the couple lives on dry food such as biltong, nuts, dried fruit and highly nutritious ‘granny shakes’ and nut butters. A beach umbrella is attached to the trolley so that Elro can be shaded from the blistering Namibian sun while pulling it. Amazingly, he says it’s easier to be dragging the trolley than walking with a heavy backpack. “We have even managed to do 39 km in a day this way,” he says. Another invaluable item is a fold-up solar panel to charge their phones, cameras and laptops.
Along the way the couple says they have met with untold kindnesses and generosity from the people they encountered on their walk. What has upset them the most, is the amount of plastic litter and debris they have found on the beaches, including plastic straws, lollipop sticks, bottle caps, chips packets, fishing line, crates and ghost nets. “We thought it was only bad along built-up areas such as False Bay, but even the most desolate beaches are awash with litter. Some of the worst affected beaches on the West Coast were within proclaimed Nature Reserves. The currents sweep the plastic along and dump it where it returns to shore. So, even if there are no people in the vicinity it does not mean that there is no pollution,” says Erlo. “In the eight years since I did the previous walk it has gotten so much worse and there are no pristine beaches left at any point along our coastline.” Apart from gathering information on plastic pollution the Browns also used their trip to collect data as citizen scientists on the population growth and distribution of the Black Oystercatcher. The good news is that this bird has gone from endangered a few years ago to a healthy and thriving species. You can vote for Erlo’s short film ‘The Walk’ at www.discoveryafrica.com. Click on the 2018 Top 10 Vote Now button and follow the instructions. Once you cast your vote a confirmation e-mail will be sent to you. Ensure that you click on the link in the email to validate your vote. Even if you have already voted, it will only count if you validate the vote.
