Former Lowvelder’s dino quest reaches Discovery Channel

WHITE RIVER – Two cousins, Luke Macdonald and Jordan Deall, decided to leave behind their normal way of life and pursue their childhood dream of hitchhiking through Africa.

Through their documentary, they want people to experience the beauty of the continent and its people. Part of them never wants to grow up. They recently travelled across 10 African countries and covered more than 10 000 kilometres in 110 days in search of the world’s largest dinosaur in the Congo.

Together they created a documentary, Hitched, which is being aired on Discovery Channel. This 10-part series follows Macdonald and Deall’s incredible journey. Deall is a former pupil of Hoërskool Rob Ferreira and Penryn. As kids, they were fascinated by a documentary featuring the legendary Mokele-mbembe.

In Congo river basin folklore, Mokele-mbembe is a water-dwelling entity, sometimes described as a living creature, often as a spirit. “There is lots of talk, but not much evidence of this entity,” said Deall. Strong and independent, he jokingly depicts himself as a bit of a survivalist and is always up for the adventurous things in life.

He is the “explorer” of the crew, intent on pushing the limits. Macdonald is the people’s person. With a love of Africa and different cultures that is tangible, this Durbanite is the type of person who conquers everything with a laugh. Joining the crew was Don Orr, with nothing but a DSLR camera. It was his first time leaving the country.

Starting in Durban, they walked and hitched rides in trucks, cars and buses, and caught lifts on trains, motorcycles, bicycles and boats, traversing Botswana and Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania, before finally reaching the Democratic Republic of Congo to search for the mythical creature.

“Our eyes have been opened to so many new things. The further we went from home, the more distant we felt from everything it consists of. We realised that everyday deadlines and materialism all seem so meaningless. The trip gave us a chance to change, to discover and learn. There is just so much that is unimaginable and beyond us,” said Deall.

“People like to think that everything worth discovering in the world has already been discovered, and we seem to pride ourselves in ‘knowing everything’. That’s why the idea of Mokele-mbembe has always been so exciting for us – it’s something that’s so foreign to our world and represents the idea that there are still places worth exploring and things worth discovering,” he added.

“The journey allowed us the opportunity to learn so much about the diverse cultures, it brought us close to so many interesting people and really exposed us to the general beauty of simplistic African travel. It was freeing, not being a slave of time,” Macdonald concluded. Make sure to watch Hitched on channel 121, Discovery Africa on Tuesdays at 20:00.

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