In search of adventure

FULL-TIME adventurer and dreamer by day and photographer by night, Daniel Snyders is always on the look-out for something different, so he decided to walk more than 2 000km to find it.

I met up with Daniel in Mtunzini, well past the halfway mark of his walk along the coast from Cape Town to Mozambique and naturally had a few questions.

Johannesburg-born, Daniel fell in love with nature at an early age and travelling was a surefire way to get the opportunity to spend time surfing, walking and climbing.

While travelling the world during his gap year after finishing high school in KZN, he decided to study film.

‘That’s when I moved to Cape Town and fell in love with the place. I always return there after my sojourns overseas and around SA. Right now, I am living out of my backpack on the east coast.’

Daniel says the idea to walk the coast was planted many years ago by one of his parents’ friends.

‘We were sitting around a lunch table in a garden in Cape Town when they said, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to walk the coast line of South Africa?’

The idea stuck with him ever since, until one day the call of adventure could no longer be ignored.

‘I began at Cape Point early this year, walking a maximum of 15km a day. Struggling under the weight of my pack I was soon wondering what I had got myself into.

Moments of doubt
‘I remember on day two after getting stuck in a reserve for the night and sleeping on the edge of a cliff, I looked back at the small distance I’d covered and thought about the rest of the coastline beyond, believing there was no way I would be able to do it.’

But the allure of long, hidden stretches of coast you never see from any road was stronger than the fear of the unknown.

‘Now I’m here in Zululand on the doorstep of Mozambique, realising the impossible is just a frame of mind. It’s not by any means the longest walk, but the lesson remains.’

From the worst moment (realising that iCloud does not store backups and losing hundreds of photos and videos) to the best moment (swimming across the Knysna Heads with friend Stefni and meeting his family on the other side), two special things stand out for Daniel.

‘This journey has restored my faith in humanity through the kindness I’ve been shown.

‘Also that anything is possible if you apply your mind and are prepared to put in the effort. Fortune also favours the brave I learned.’

Daniel spent a week with the De Clerq family in Mtunzini before setting off on his final stretch.

‘I’ve set the destination as the Mozambique border, but after that a new chapter begins.

‘I’m not entirely sure how it will roll out but I want to build a boat and sail, which is something I’ve always wanted to do.

‘Adventure is out there, and it’s calling me.’

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