DEKAT DIGITAL 2019 - 2020

In his popular novel, The Pilgrimage, Paulo Coelho wrote, “When you travel, you experience, in a very
practical way, the act of rebirth. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on
most journeys you don’t even understand the language the people speak.”
Philosophers, naturalists and writers have focused on the importance of connecting with nature for centuries.
Author Kenneth Grahame wrote that to walk is “to set the mind jogging”, and Rebecca Solnit observed that
walking is a state in which the mind, the body and the world align. Walking is often seen as an opportunity
for contemplation, and there is an ongoing relationship between the act of walking and thinking. While a
daily wander allows us the opportunity to ‘clear the head’, hiking towards a spiritual destination nudges us
more towards self-reflection.
Walking the Way of St James, the Camino de Santiago, which concludes at Santiago de Compostela in Spain’s far
northwest, allowed me rare contemplative insight into myself: my psyche, my personality, my physical weaknesses and
strengths. Not only did I traverse the special landscapes of Spain and Portugal and focus on the outer detail, it also
became a journey through the inner landscape of the soul. Here in South Africa, hiking or walking to some of our rock
art destinations and other sacred sites provides sustenance for the soul too.
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