Local is Lekker

Hermanus couple walks ‘The Walk’

Hedda Mittner

Quaint 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.

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.

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