Two second years drove 22,000km from London to Cape Town for charity

This summer two second years drove from London to Cape Town in a Land Rover Defender to raise money for brain tumour research.

Oscar Cowling, who studies Economics, and Justin Langen, who studies English and German, both at Durham, decided to take on this mammoth adventure that spanned 22,000km across the globe after Oscar’s dad passed away from a brain tumour.

They’ve raised £15,000 of their £25,000 target.

The pair from Hatfield College met on the first day of uni and have remained friends ever since, despite some hairy moments on their travels.

Their route took them through Slovenia, Egypt, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, culminating at the Southern-most point of South Africa – the Cape of Good Hope.

We spoke to them about getting their hair done in corn rows, nearly being arrested as immigrants and blagging their way into five star hotels.

What made you decide to undertake such a challenging journey?

O: My step dad had done something similar. The three of us were talking about it and meant to do it in 2012 as part of an organised rally, but it was cancelled due to threat of kidnap in Eritrea. After giving him a few beers, we convinced him to let us do it.

J: Raising money for Brain Tumour Research and The Brain Tumour Charity was also a determining factor.

There are pictures of you with a man with a gun in Ethiopia – what was the most terrifying part of the trip?

J: Every time we had to give a man a lift he would pull out his concealed AK. The first man was a wildlife scout who spoke no English but was there so we could walk around in the wild with leopard protection. When a policeman asked for a ride home in Kenya we couldn’t exactly say no either.

O: We were pretty lucky the whole way down. We had some pretty hairy moments, mainly with police, but a smile and some cash usually saw us safe on our way

Did it live up to your expectations?

O: Honestly we didn’t really know what to expect. Our lack of organisation actually made the trip so much more fun. We could be spontaneous and were lucky enough to see some incredible things.

J: Every country in Africa is so different. I think from talking to people who had done it before we thought we would have much more trouble. One thing we did expect was to lose the Dad-bods, which unfortunately never materialised.

What was the highlight?

J: The Mara is an incredible place. We were lucky enough to see some incredible wildlife and managed to charm our way into a free night in a 5 Star lodge free of charge. When the manager is a Durham graduate it makes life a lot easier.

O: Picking one moment is so difficult. We got caught in so many interesting places and scenarios. I guess for me, as sad as it was to end the trip, finishing in Cape Town was a huge thing. Actually achieving our goal after 84 days was an amazing feeling.

How did you prepare for such a dangerous trip?

O: We mainly used people with experience in the area for advice. The British government are very good with their travel advice, and we took pretty much the only safe route down Africa.

J: We thought our idea was so original until we actually decided to do it. A little bit of research showed us just how many people had tackled Africa before us. Luckily everyone was happy to help.

Those cornrows are one hell of a fashion statement – do you think you’ll be bringing that look to Durham any time soon?

O: Honestly they were so painful. I had to sack it off half way through because I was an hour in and had only had one side done. Justin was also stropping saying that he wouldn’t associate himself with me in public anymore. There are, however, rumours of their return at some point in the future.

A lot of people in your blog seem very friendly, would you say that most countries were welcoming?

J: The only people we ever got actual hostility from were police, but that’s mainly because they wanted our money. The odd person tries to invite you to a private party 20 minutes out of town. But as long as you realise that’s probably not a great idea then most people were really friendly and interested in what we were doing.

O: We also cheated a bit and stayed with some Durham friends in Kenya and Tanzania. It was probably much worse for them taking us in with smell and state of us by that point.

Was there any point during the trip where you felt like you might give up?

O: In Kenya we had a 40 tonne lorry go into the back of us. We managed to get some cash off the guy eventually. Only after going to the police and lying about the insurance we forgot to buy, that is.

J: In Zambia we forgot to go through customs so we were technically illegal immigrants. I think it was 2am when the police tried to arrest us at a roadblock. Luckily we managed to weasel our way out of it without even paying a bribe.