In essence, all of what you are about to see and read was about the fulfilment of a childhood dream, started by a simple conversation on a balcony. As chance had it Luke and Jordan were reminiscing about the first time they heard of Mokele-mbembe when they were 6 and 7 years old and discussing how they could possibly go look for it when all of a sudden their parent’s new tenant appeared from downstairs.

David had landed up there through a series of interesting, and somewhat unfortunate, events. He was involved in film, running a startup from his bedroom, and asked if they wanted to make a documentary?

This is that documentary.

This is the story of two ill-equipped and under-financed cousins, who set out to realise their lifelong dream of finding the legendary water-dwelling creature of the Congo River basin, Mokele-Mbembe.

They had no money, just stoke. David had a bit of money and was up for the gamble. There was little chance they’d come back with much, but none the less they charged forward committing to anything and everything nonetheless. In fact, much of the success of ‘coming back with something’ was down to the addition of Don. Once they had decided they were going the biggest struggle was to convince a cameraman to join. Until Don.

So Luke, Jordan and Don were off with absolutely no clue of what they were doing. The two cousins had hitchhiked before but really didn’t have a clue what was in store for them. It was an adventure beyond comprehension. They would travel 10 000 kilometres, cross 10 countries in over 100 days.

“We hope that when you watch it you feel our enjoyment and love for Africa and her beautiful people. Whilst Africa is our home, the countries differ vastly, and so as we experienced many new cultures, customs, and ways of life, we trust you have a glimpse of that too“

The Crew:

Jordan –  a gung-ho man’s man. Strong and independent, he jokingly depicts himself as a bit of a survivalist, however, you quickly learn that he is actually just a laid back dude, quick to laugh at himself and always up for the fun things in life. He is the ‘explorer’ of the crew, intent on pushing the limits. But if there’s one place that can take you there quickly it’s the DRC. Jordan is tested to the max when he falls ill with an extreme case of malaria, one that would make Kingsley Holgate shiver. His physical and mental strength would be challenged far beyond anything he was prepared for.

Luke – Luke is the ‘peoples person’ of the trip. With a love for Africa and different cultures that is tangible, he’s the type of person who conquers everything with a laugh. But how will he fare when things get truly difficult and far out of his comfort zone. A man with a strong belief, that Africa is not the ‘deep dark place’ it’s made out to be. 

Don – Joining the trip with nothing but faith that the two cousins can live up to what they claim, Don is the man behind the lens with only one question on his mind, are they the real deal and do they actually have what it takes to live up to everything they’ve said?

Sounds like one helluva interesting story, right? Hell yeah it does. If you sitting there thinking ‘nah dude’ we suggest you check yourself into the nearest casualty or go play with poisonous reptiles to get a grip on reality again. Being from Durban and with Luke’s ballie being part of the original Zag editorial crew from its inception, we had to get in touch with two intrepid adventurers and fire off a couple questions their way. 

(ZAG) First off, epic show so far, you guys glad to be back home?

Luke: Shot bru, appreciate you ous watching! A bit of a yah-no situation I suppose hey, when you on the road you miss home, and after a week of being home, you can’t wait to cruise again!

– What was it like getting back in the water? 

Luke: Ah so good, it’s always about a month in and the surfing dreams really start kicking in – that’s when you know you have to go look for a wave along the way. Or at least a little shorey. Somewhere. Anywhere Then when you do surf properly again you’ve lost your ocean legs and you feel like a bit of a kook  for a couple weeks until you’re back in the rhythm of things. 

– Have you ever done any African surf missions before? If so where, and did you score?

Jordan: We’ve seen more good waves than we’ve surfed sadly (laughs). One of the curses of hitchhiking is not having a board on you all the time. Congo actually has some amazing waves, even though it looks like an absolute mud bath.

Luke: We’ve surfed quite a few waves along the Mozam coast, there are waves for days that side. We found a couple in Kenya, and some tiny rubbish in Zanzibar that ous swear is pretty fun in a storm (laughs)!

– As surfers, do you think it put you at a better standing to tackle the road ahead? 

Jordan: Surf culture definitely attracts more ‘mellow’ guys than normal sorta mainstream culture. So I guess that’s a really good departure point. Patience is your number one friend in Africa. I think there’s also a stoke for nature and adventure that draws people to surfing and that definitely ties in with travelling. It also ads a whole nother level to travel, with that extra bit of gold getting waves, like when we’ve travelled Mexico or Indo. You meet people travelling there and they’re not surfers and it makes you want to cry cause they have no idea what they missing!

– Did you come across any body of water whilst on the trip that you thought, ‘ shit I wonder if I could ride that’, or maybe you heard stories of some?

Luke: Yah, funnily enough twice on lakes in a storm. I was actually in Malawi once and we were all body surfing Lake Malawi, in this howling wind and rain it was insane. You definitely could have caught that wave if you had a board.

Jordan: Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania, we nearly lost a boat to a shorey there – that was hectic. Then there’s cataracts/rapids on the Congo River, but those are like 6 ft savage waves – I think it’ll be a one and done surf that, certain death.

–  You guys are cousins, there must have been some testing moments. You guys ever fancy tearing each other’s arms off? 

Luke: Nah, we have travel rules once an ou makes a call you can’t hold it against him. All’s well that ends well, and if it doesn’t you won’t have time to reminisce about it anyhow.

– What’s next for you guys?

Luke: We’re hopefully lining up the Amazon. If not that, then West Africa. That’ll definitely include surfing. 

Jordan: Yeah, otherwise it’s back to Porto Escondido, Mexico for me, and I know Luke’s keen to hit Sri Lanka.

Interested in joing the three on their journey? Of course, you are. The show airs every Tuesday on Discovery Channel (DStv 121) at 8 pm. And if that doesn’t fit your packed schedule, no worries you can time in on the reruns every Saturday at 6 pm and Sun at 8 pm.

“Otherwise oues can just follow social media vibes @hitched.series” – Luke Macdonald

EP: 1 The team is off with their first steps into a foreign country, Botswana. Lifts are not as easy to find as they thought, and before they know it they’re left ‘trekking’ through the arid terrain. That, however, is not going to stop them having a good time.

The team is faced with a crossroads; to enter in the South of DRC and push on further North and enter through another neighbouring country. Which will they choose?

Having pushed on into Tanzania the team are faced with trying to cross the world’s longest and second largest lake, Lake Tanganyika. But is it even possible?