Graduates Walk 70km in Birkenstocks After Land Rover Sinks in Botswana, metro.co.uk reports

Two British university graduates stranded themselves in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana after their 1994 Land Rover Defender sank completely into the ground, forcing them to hike 70km through the African bush wearing Birkenstocks, metro.co.uk reported. Todd Benney, 24, and Henry Harrison, 23, embarked on a planned three-month journey across eight African countries in September 2025 before mechanical failure left them without transport in a remote region. Todd is from Newbury and studied sports management at the University of Bath, while Henry is from Jersey and studied engineering at the same university. They originally decided to drive across Africa following a drunken idea that materialised, starting their route by driving through South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe before arriving in Botswana.

Vehicle Submersion in the Salt Pans

The journey began to unravel six weeks into the trip when the vehicle’s engine started to struggle and made large inroads into the road before driving off a bank while crossing the salt flats at 15km across the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. The car sank 35km into the flats after driving 35km into the middle of nowhere, leaving no visible tire tracks. Todd Benney described the sudden sinking of the vehicle: You could hear the car going, going, going, then gone. It was completely submerged into the ground. They did not think they were going to get the car out as it seemed impossible. The vehicle remained trapped in the salt for four days before recovery efforts succeeded.

What3words Coordinates Help Emergency Services Locate Travelers

They decided to head back, walking around for hours thinking they were going to have to sleep on the salt pans, before Henry remembered he had put the car’s location into what3words, allowing the app to provide exact coordinates that emergency services later used.

Survival Conditions and Police Warnings

The two travelers faced extreme heat with limited water supplies during their 14-hour trek across two days, having no shade while they ran out of water from their filled 20-litre bottle. After another lengthy walk, they found a guard station and were escorted to a local police station and a hospital to be checked over.

Resumption of the Trans-African Expedition

They ultimately sold the vehicle in Tanzania at the end of the trip to someone else traveling, who drove it to South Africa and sold it to someone else, leaving Todd wanting to track it down for their next trip.