305
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
As in every Southern African country you hitchhike with you thumb and not by waving you hand up and down as in many other parts of [[Africa]].
Another useful thing to know is that in South Africa there is a special sign language used by hitchhikers in South Africa to communicate '''what kind of hitchhiker''' they are to drivers. For example in many areas it's common to see people stand with cash in one hand while thumbing with the other hand to indicate that they wouldn't mind paying for the ride. Hitchhiking with your indexfinger instead of your thumb signalizes that you're going long distance along the main road. Hitchhiker [[Theo]] found the index finger-technique to be especially useful when hitchhiking out of major cities. Another thing is that if people know you're from abroad (normally referred to as Overseas) they'll generally feel more comfortable with picking you up.
Provided that you intend to hitchhike in the western sense of hitchhiking (i.e. for free) the most useful word you'll need for hitchhiking is '''Mahala''' which is a South African slang word meaning roughly free of charge. Possible ways to use the word include: I'm mahalaing or I'm a mahala. You could also ask people 'is it mahala'?.
