🎧 Follow the show here— it really helps Adventure Diaries reach more listeners. Thank you.

Daniel Eggington is an adventurer from the Black Country in the UK who has spent the last decade pushing himself deeper and deeper into the world's most demanding jungles. At 17, he booked a £500 flight to Sumatra with no plan, no preparation, and no clue — and ended up tracking a wild Sumatran tiger in the rainforest just before his 18th birthday. That trip set the trend for everything that followed.

Since then, Daniel has paddled 300km down Guyana's Essequibo River in a handmade dugout canoe with indigenous Wapichan guides, encountered shapeshifters and Kanaima folklore deep in the rainforest, and — on his third attempt — crossed the Darien Gap on foot from Colombia to Panama. That four-year project involved meeting cartel commanders, hiding for ten days in a safehouse, paying the Gulf Clan $1,500 for safe passage, being abandoned by his guide on day two, and walking out alone through some of the most hostile terrain on earth.

This episode covers the full story — Sumatra, the Essequibo, the Darien Gap, the hostage training that prepared him for it, and his next ambition: walking the entire length of the Congo River from Zambia to the Atlantic.

Chapters:
00:00 Colombian military, the Darien border, and armed traffickers
00:39 Daniel Eggington, jungle expedition adventurer
03:34 Growing up in Birmingham — the seeds of adventure
06:11 First overseas trip — Sumatra at 17 with no plan
08:35 Encountering a wild Sumatran tiger
12:42 Why Guyana? The Essequibo River expedition begins
16:10 Buying a dugout canoe and 12 days down the Essequibo
24:55 The Kanaima — shapeshifters and indigenous belief systems
30:03 Why the Darien Gap? Four years of planning
34:12 Getting cartel permission — and an airstrike kills the contact
37:33 Meeting the Gulf Clan fixer and entering the jungle
41:24 Abandoned by the guide — alone in the Darien
44:41 Hostile environment and kidnap training
47:22 Finding a skeleton and a Venezuelan ID in the jungle
48:51 Crossing into Panama — stripped, interrogated, and finally safe
56:59 Decompression and the lasting effects of the Darien
58:44 Next up — walking the entire Congo River
1:03:19 Pay it forward — sponsoring Victoria, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion
1:04:57 Call to adventure and where to find Daniel

Daniel Eggington — expedition adventurer, jungle traveler

Website: danieleggington.com
Instagram: @Daniel Eggington

Pay it forward: Sponsor Victoria, an 18-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete ranked #1 in her weight class in Brazil, training her way out of one of Rio's high-risk favelas — details available via Daniel's website.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Thanks For Listening.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.

Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world

The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering

Head Over to AdventureDiaries.com/Offer

For over 50 years, Cicerone has been publishing guidebooks that get people outdoors — from weekend walks on the UK's Southwest Coast Path to multi-week treks on the Tour du Mont Blanc and Camino de Santiago.

What Cicerone Offers:

• Over 400 titles covering walking, cycling, climbing, and trekking across the UK and beyond
• Every guide written by an expert author who knows the area inside out
• Detailed route descriptions, maps, and practical advice to explore with confidence

Limited-Time Sale (May 8–24):

• 20% off all printed guides and eBooks

How to Get the Deal:
Head to adventurediaries.com/offer to access the Cicerone sale page and get stocked up and adventure-ready for the summer.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 – Introduction to Cicerone
• 0:23 – Guidebook range and expert authors
• 0:51 – Sale details
• 1:10 – How to redeem the offer

Head Over to AdventureDiaries.com/Offer

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Thanks For Listening.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.

Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world

The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering

🎧 Follow the show here— it really helps Adventure Diaries reach more listeners. Thank you.

Oscar Scafidi has spent two decades living and working across 36 countries in Africa — writing travel guides for Bradt, teaching African history, and launching himself down some of the continent's most remote rivers. In 2022, he and a teammate attempted the first descent of Madagascar's Mangoky River: 750km, 28 days, and a 200km portage across a waterless mountain range that nearly broke the expedition before it began.

The Mangoky has no agreed source — no GPS coordinates, no signpost. Getting to the start meant heading towards a mountain and asking locals which way the water flowed. Getting to the finish meant nine days on foot through terrain with no water and no settlements, carrying a 40kg Klepper folding kayak in pieces, before finally reaching the river proper.

This episode covers the full story — the five years of planning, the crocodiles, the schistosomiasis, the team dynamics, and the entirely unplanned French feast that closed it all out.

Chapters:
00:00 Cold open — Crocodile Canyon and why hippos are the real danger
01:28 Guest intro — Oscar Scafidi, expedition kayaker and Africa travel writer
03:45 From Italy to Sudan — how an accidental teaching job started everything
07:35 Why Africa? The British Airways flight that set Oscar up for the continent
09:45 Travel writing and Bradt guides — how an accidental career took off
13:25 The Angola Kwanza River expedition — how Oscar became an expedition kayaker
18:10 Why Madagascar? Five years of planning a first descent
20:55 Finding the source of the Mangoky — a river with no agreed starting point
23:35 The 200km portage — when the worst-case scenario gets worse
27:05 The Klepper kayak — a century-old design built for expeditions
31:00 Crocodiles, pirogues, and 50km days on the main Mangoky
47:25 Schistosomiasis, team dynamics, and 28 days of isolation
49:00 Finishing on the Mozambique Channel — a surprise ending and a French feast
55:00 Pay it forward — Our Kids Are Future Madagascar

Oscar Scafidi — travel writer, history teacher, expedition kayaker

Website / expedition: kayakthemangoky.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ScafidiTravels

Documentary: https://youtu.be/KlVlWQcZlA8

Book: Kayak the Mangoky

Charity: Our Kids Are Future Madagascar — educational charity supported by 25% of book profits

For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/podcast

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Thanks For Listening.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a comment and subscribe for more exciting content.

Please visit AdventureDiaries.com/GO For more authentic stories of Adventure Exploration and the natural world

The Adventure Diaries Podcast also covers a broad spectrum OF topics withIN the fields of Adventure, Exploration, Micro-adventure, Survival, Mental Resilience, Conservation, Scotland, Hiking, Solo Travel, Cycling, Nature, Storytelling, Mountaineering