This Is South Africa: Jacques Crafford’s Award-Winning Adventure

I'm standing on top of a mountain, towering peaks ahead. Golden light hitting my face. It's the most vivid dream I've ever had. It feels so real. What does it mean? I'm not adventurous. I don't hike. I don't travel. That's for people in magazines, on Instagram. Not me. Okay, time to wake up now. Back to the grind. Shooting on weekends. Editing into the night. Stuck between four walls. This is no way to live. Yet in the back of my mind, this dream is on repeat. My heart yearning to feel the way I felt in that moment. The city life is getting to me. I can't breathe. I need to get out. I pack my bags and against all advice, I relocate to the coast. Jay Bay. What a dream. No traffic. World-class surfing. A slower life. What more could I want? A weekend hike in Tsitsikame. That's where it started. How is it possible that I've neglected the natural world for so long? I'm not adventurous. Yet the next hike can't come soon enough. My desire to be outside becomes everything. With all my heart, I want to explore as much of South Africa as possible. Next up, M'Khubasklua. Four mates. My camera. A passion project. Someone sees my video and three weeks later, I'm off to Iceland. A snowball quickly turns into an avalanche. New Zealand. Patagonia. Indonesia. Italy. Nepal. And suddenly, the world is my playground. I am consumed with traveling abroad. But I never imagined that my biggest adventures are waiting for me back home. Drakensberg. Just one hike up the amphitheater and it hits me. We truly live in the most beautiful country. Where else could you scale sheer cliffs and camp right next to the second highest waterfall in the world? Snow in winter. Walking above the clouds in summer. There is no end to the majesty and the mystery of the place where dragons sleep. My own country is my playground. We spend all this time dreaming about going overseas. When all this magic is on our doorstep. I'm not adventurous. Sounds like the ramblings of someone who hasn't seen yet. In the heart of every being lies a deep yearning for this connection with nature. And it only comes alive when you immerse yourself in it. Get up and get out. You don't know what you're missing. Adventure is our calling. Our heritage. This is South Africa. I'm standing on top of a mountain. Towering peaks ahead. Golden light hitting my face. This is so much like my dream. A dream that became a reality in my own country.