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Boyd Varty — The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life (#571)

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“If it had been a horror movie, people in the audience would’ve started saying, ‘Don’t go near the shadowy place!’ And of course, as I walked past the shadowy place, I actually sat down just on the edge of those shadows. And my perception was that the water was too shallow for crocodiles. But, of course, the crocodile was in the hole. And the first thing that you notice when a crocodile grabs you is just the ferocity and the pressure of the bite.” — Boyd Varty

Boyd Varty ( @boydvarty ) is the author of two books, The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life and his memoir, Cathedral of the Wild . He has been featured in The New York Times , on NBC, and in other media and has taught his philosophy of “tracking your life” to individuals and companies around the world.

Boyd is a wildlife and literacy activist who has spent the last ten years refining the art of using wilderness as a place for deep introspection and personal transformation. He grew up in South Africa on Londolozi Game Reserve , a former hunting ground that was transformed into a nature preserve by Boyd’s father and uncle—both visionaries of the restoration movement. Under his family’s stewardship, the Reserve became renowned not only as a sanctuary for animals but as a place where once-ravaged land was able to flourish again and where the human spirit could be restored. When Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment, he went to Londolozi to recover.

Boyd has a degree in psychology from the University of South Africa. He is a TED speaker and the host of the Track Your Life podcast .

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Podcast Addict , Pocket Casts , Stitcher , Castbox , Google Podcasts , Amazon Music ,  or on your favorite podcast platform. You can also watch the interview on YouTube .

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The transcript of this episode  can be found here . Transcripts of all episodes  can be found here .

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SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to  hear an episode  about wolf restoration efforts?  Listen to my conversation with Turner Endangered Species Fund Executive Director  Mike Phillips , in which we discuss the pros and cons of predator reintroduction, radioactive wolves, the extinction crisis, what conservationists most often get wrong, and much more .

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• Connect with Boyd Varty :

Website | Twitter | Instagram

• The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life by Boyd Varty | Amazon
• Cathedral of the Wild: An African Journey Home by Boyd Varty | Amazon
• Track Your Life with Boyd Varty | Apple Podcasts
• Boyd Varty: What I Learned from Nelson Mandela | TED Talk
• Londolozi Game Reserve
• Tracker Academy
• The Gift by Hafiz, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky | Amazon
• How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan | Amazon
• Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello | Amazon
• A History of Apartheid in South Africa | South African History Online
• Kruger National Park | SAN Parks
• Jet, Turboprop, and Piston Models | Cessna Aircraft
• Marabou Stork | Siyabona Africa
• Pulp Fiction | Prime Video
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | Prime Video
• A Brief History of the Shangaan People | Londolozi Blog
• The Original Leopard Trackers | Londolozi Blog
• The Original Mother Leopard: End of a Lineage? | Londolozi Blog
• Londolozi’s Staff Take a Walk on The Wild Side | Londolozi Blog
• Why are Impala so Successful? | Londolozi Blog
• The Tree of Life | Londolozi Blog
• Popular Quotations without Citations to Prove Dr. Jung Uttered Them | Carl Jung Depth Psychology
• What Makes Crocodiles Such Stealthy Hunters? | Londolozi Blog
• I Am, Because of You: Ubuntu | Londolozi Blog
• 40 Days 40 Nights | Boyd Varty
• Meet the Greater Honeyguide, the Bird That Understands Humans | Audubon
• Guided to Honey | Londolozi Blog
• On Bees | Londolozi Blog
• A Day in the Life of an African Worker Bee | Londolozi Blog
• Ebola Fears Hurting African Tourism | Telegraph
• Podcast: What Being Stung by a Swarm of Bees Taught Me About Humanity | Boyd Varty
• Independence Day | Prime Video
• Londolozi’s Lions: Current Status | Londolozi Blog
• Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez | Amazon
• Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez | Amazon
• What Is Meant by Native Americans and Some Wolf Biologists Referring to a ‘Conversation of Death’ between Wolves and Wild Prey Animals? | Quora
• Watch a Coyote and Badger Hunt Their Prey Together | Smithsonian
• The Kalahari | Londolozi Blog
• Mopani Region | South Africa
• The Shark Magnetic Sense | Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
• Speak the Gospel | Christianity Today
• Internal Family Systems Therapy, Second Edition by Richard C. Schwartz and Martha Sweezy | Amazon
• The Work of Byron Katie
• Healing Benefits of Sweat Lodge Ceremonies | Learn Religions
• Fiery-Necked Nightjar: “Good Lord, Deliver Us!” | Lower Breede River Conservancy Trust
• Raging Fire, Contained. | Londolozi Blog
• Runaway Wild Bushfire at Londolozi | YouTube
• Education vs. Extinction | Mission: Wolf
• Dogs: A Short History from Wolf to Woof by Angus Phillips and Evan Ratliff | Amazon
• Setting the scene. [05:44]
• How the Londolozi Game Reserve came to be, and what happened during Boyd’s childhood that instilled him with a “get on with it” attitude. [08:02]
• Why did Boyd’s father and uncle insist on keeping the property that would become the Londolozi Game Reserve when, at the time, it was considered useless, overgrazed wasteland? [10:18]
• Boyd shares what it was like growing up as a regular passenger/survivor of The White Knuckle Charter Company. [12:25]
• How a man named Ken Tinley and the native Shangaan trackers helped a trio of teenagers transform their expanse of scrub-encroached land into a thriving safari business. [21:03]
• On the ancient lineage of the Shangaan trackers, and how the local wildlife came to trust the human caretakers of Londolozi. [27:05]
• Renias Mhlongo is supreme among world-class trackers — and sometimes the importance of the work outweighs the will of his clients. [32:21]
• Which animals are hardest to track at Londolozi — even if you happen to be Richard Siwela? [37:53]
• Because nature can be unpredictable, how do people protect themselves in Londolozi? [41:03]
• “I don’t know where we’re going, but I know exactly how to get there.” —Renias Mhlongo [42:56]
• How the tracking process has changed for Boyd over the years — from confident child to young adult traumatized by a home invasion and crocodile attack to competent grown-up thanks to people like Dr. Martha Beck and Solly Mhlongo. [45:00]
• What is Ubuntu? [1:02:50]
• Boyd talks about that time he lived 40 days and 40 nights up a tree — the questions he was trying to answer for himself by doing so, the primal fear he experienced while waiting out a storm, the pros and cons of extreme solitude, and if he’d do it again. [1:05:15]
• Stories about bees, the birds who help humans rob them, and the power of the hive algorithm. [1:17:45]
• The dos and don’ts of interacting with lions in the wild. [1:29:42]
• On the eerie conversation of death, modern confirmation of ancient myths, and the inexplicable movements of beasts and men. [1:34:16]
• How did Boyd’s own path toward healing after trauma differ from the way his mother and sister recovered from a trauma they experienced? [1:39:57]
• What is ceremony work, and how can it help someone deal with trauma? [1:43:32]
• What Boyd means when he says “an authentic life infused with meaning is a kind of activism.” [1:46:40]
• How Boyd and I have both been affected by the Work of Byron Katie. [1:52:03]
• Boyd’s first medicine encounter in an Arizona sweat lodge, and what he took away from the experience. [1:56:31]
• Feelings. Nothing more than feelings. [2:02:49]
• Kudus and nightjars and leopards in the fire (oh, my)! What a close encounter with a beautiful predator taught Boyd about Ubuntu. [2:04:14]
• Examining the therapeutic value of spending time with animals. [2:13:05]
• Laurens van der Post poetically described the sound of a lion’s roar. And, in a packed presentation hall at a major Silicon Valley company, Boyd did not. [2:17:57]
• An invitation to visit Londolozi and other parting thoughts. [2:22:10]

MORE GUEST QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Biologists feel the more time you spend in nature, the more you’ll realize how little we know. There is subtlety and nuance and there are things happening out there that go way beyond our understanding.” — Boyd Varty

“In these times, an authentic life infused with meaning is a kind of activism.” — Boyd Varty

“You can’t half-roar at a group of executives. You’ve either got to not do it or go all in.” — Boyd Varty

“It was a little Cessna that had a quirk. And let me tell you, when it comes to aviation, you don’t want planes with quirks.” — Boyd Varty

“If it had been a horror movie, people in the audience would’ve started saying, ‘Don’t go near the shadowy place!’ And of course, as I walked past the shadowy place, I actually sat down just on the edge of those shadows. And my perception was that the water was too shallow for crocodiles. But of course the crocodile was in the hole, and the first thing that you notice when a crocodile grabs you is just the ferocity and the pressure of the bite.” — Boyd Varty

“If you spend time in nature in the same spot, over a period of time, it starts to become incredibly personal. So it’s not just a bird or that antelope, it’s that bird that roosts in that bush and flies down the river bed in the morning and back up the southern bank. And then it feeds for grubs in this tree. And as you start to become more personally attuned to each animal, you start to see that there’s a pattern to their movement. And in fact, then you start to find yourself orientated inside of a series of interlocking intelligences—that is really what the natural world is.” — Boyd Varty

PEOPLE MENTIONED

• Nelson Mandela
• Daniel Ladinsky
• Michael Pollan
• Anthony de Mello
• Noah Feldman
• Elmon Mhlongo
• Renias Mhlongo
• Mother Leopard
• Josh Waitzkin
• Richard Siwela
• Alex Van Den Heever
• Martha Beck
• Solly Mhlongo
• Molly Ferriss
• Simon Sambo
• Barry Lopez
• Francis of Assisi
• Richard Schwartz
• Byron Katie
• Koelle Simpson
• Laurens van der Post
• Francis Ford Coppola

The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page .

Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name , as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)

I love this stuff – keep em coming Peter Drake Hexham

Like the work of Byron Katie, this was way too much woo woo. Hard to take seriously.

The Killer Bee’s Story, had me in stitches. A fantastic podcast, Brought me back to earth with two feet

Favorite line (so far) Boyd’s definition of Mastery

This has been my favorite episode of your interviews by far. Love Boyd’s storytelling and am off to get his books right now!

Even though I say I don’t listen to all of your podcasts, they tend to be too long for me at times. The ones that I gravitate to just give me life. Listening to a man’s healing, felt healing to me. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but this felt like one of the best interviews that I have heard on your show. And you’ve had a lot.

Boyd’s bee story was fantastic! Best quote was Boyd’s impression of his guide: “Oh don’t worry!” Loved it!

Great podcast. Both of you guys a very genuine and entertaining. I spent 2 years in Botswana as a Peace Corp volunteer. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories.

Love this podcast. Going to buy the books now for myself and my 15 year old son. Can’t wait to visit Londolozi!

This is really a thank you. I haven’t even listened to the podcast yet! As a Rhodesian, an osteopath and a counsellor – Boyd’s podcast The Second Language – which I instinctively went to, knowing nothing, touched a very deep part of my soul. My African soul, my human soul, and that difficult conversation between boundaries and connection. I sat down at my computer this morning to write a story specifically about this, and first I was given a window back into myself. Tears of relief and memory and gratitude for this being, gently rolled. You never get boring, Tim! Your skills and tenderness – finding the people, talking to the people, bringing the people – are a gift. Thank you.

This was great – if you want more in a similar vein, you should talk to Allan Savory – he’s controversial in his views on ecology, and was a legendary anti-terrorist tracker in the Zimbabwean bush war (despite not supporting the Rhodesian government’s politics). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Savory

The interview with Boyd Varty was one of the best that I have heard. Dude is an amazing storyteller. The one about the bees had me laughing out loud.

Been enjoying Tim’s podcasts for years. Have a nice collection of quotes and the like. This one changed me…in all the right ways. Thank you.

One of your best. Thank you. We would like to do an African safari and of course I looked at Londolosi. I’m sure it is an amazing experience but the lowest price at $1,295 per person per night is out of our price range. Might you be able to suggest something else that is a lower price point?

Live like a Tracker

Lion Tracker, Storyteller, Life Guide

• $ 0.00 0 items

Wilderness Week

Connection | Immersion | Adventure | Fun

Londolozi Wilderness Week

The invitation.

We believe that the frequency of the new consciousness is lightheartedness. This week is a chance to be with a like-minded group of people who all are interested in inner transformation, imagination and using nature as a place to awaken.

Hosted by my sister and I at our home Londolozi we have created this week to simply connect you with all our favorite ways to immerse in nature and engage the profound healing spirit of the Londolozi land to enter into a new vision for our lives and the world.

• Expect to learn
• Expect to have profound encounters with nature.
• Expect to have fun (we all about the play on this retreat)
• And expect to share in what it means to be in community.

We hope you will join us,

– Bron and Boyd

ABOUT LONDOLOZI GAME RESERVE

Situated within six million hectares of pristine wilderness, Londolozi has been owned and run by my family for more than 90 years. The word Londolozi comes from the Zulu language and means “ protector of all living things ”. Endorsed by Nelson Mandela, who described it as “ a dream I cherish for a model of nature preservation in our country ”, it is one of the best places in the world to see leopards in the wild.  Some of Londolozi’s most popular features are its state-of-the-art photographic studio, where it offers professional-grade gear rentals, photo editing tuition and the facility to print your own safari moments on canvas and it’s first-of-its-kind safari Healing House — a place where wellness has been returned to wilderness.

Here, you rediscover what it means to be human, attuned to the natural world.

Londolozi’s powerful combination of geography and wildlife creates the famous atmosphere that returning guests call the “Londolozi feeling”. Wild animals move freely, offering spectacular game viewing and a true wilderness experience. Breeding herds of elephant and buffalo roam throughout Londolozi, while white rhino and lion concentrations are among the highest recorded on the African continent. Over the course of more than four decades, a unique relationship has developed between their rangers and trackers and generations of wild leopards. Guests agree intimate leopard sightings are a pinnacle life experience. My family and I believe in safari as a journey that immerses the senses and awakens the spirit. To encounter wild animals in the bush is to discover an essential truth about ourselves and our world.

• Luxurious accommodations at Londolozi’s Tree Camp for 5 days/4 nights
• World-class cuisine (Light, fresh food program) plus beverages
• 2 game drives per day with a guide and animal tracker
• Daily teaching sessions with Boyd Varty and Bronwyn Varty-Laburn
• Wildlife tracking
• Wilderness sound bathing
• Healing House Treatments
• Morning meditation and Qi-Gong
• Access to cardio gym, daily yoga class and breath work
• Domestic return flights from Johannesburg or Cape Town airport Londolozi via Skukuza airport.

FOLLOW THE CALL

This retreat is simply one of my favorite retreats. During this week we combine profound encounters with nature, with lectures, spiritual practice and a deep feeling of community. We are so excited to host you in our home and share with you our deep understanding of how to work with the wilderness and the magic of Africa to transform your life and become a servant of the global awakening.

Live like a Tracker

Lion Tracker, Storyteller, Life Guide

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Exploring The Sacred

The Discovery of Amplified Energy

Sacred Sites

The term sacred means “to be connected with or close to god.”, i like the sound of that..

I am going in search of the Sacred.  Since coming down out the tree after 40 days and 40 nights , so much of what I learnt during my time there has been integrating and becoming the foundation for what my future work will be.

5 Expedition to 5 Sacred Sites.

Expedition: ‘A journey undertaken with a particular purpose, especially that of exploration.’

I will walk, sleep out, track and explore. I will go alone, with friends and from time to time I will take Willfred – a 1940’s Willies Jeep.

4-0 is back

Sacred in the Wild

When I was in my twenties I wrote a book called Cathedral of the Wild .  The title was an attempt to capture the often unseen presence of the sacred in wild places.  Sometimes walking through a wild place I would find myself stepping across an invisible threshold into the feeling one might encounter in one of the ancient churches of Europe. A stillness that felt alive, as if the air was infused with holiness.  I was suffering with severe depression at the time I wrote the book… yet in nature close to towering trees and in empty wild places I felt connected to an almost innate reverence.  In those places, briefly the depression would lift and all anxiety would fall away.

I started to believe that the mental turmoil I felt was an undiagnosed homesickness for the land and what it held.

It seemed to me that in the wilderness there were particular places where the feeling of being close to God was dramatically amplified. Forests and gorges were places where in the face of ancient forces we glimpsed ourselves in a scale of time beyond comprehension. Where cut stone and ancient waters made us face eternity.  Later I learned that all the churches of Europe were build on Pagan sites of worship… sites that those early nature worshippers had know had some kind of amplified energy. The holiness was there before the monument to it.

What does that mean? Amplified energy?……. I don’t know. But I have felt it.

All I know is at that time I had became hungry for the sacred as medicine for how grey and dull my life had become. It was like if I could find something sacred I could find a reason for being.

What Makes the Sacred?

I’m still hungry to understand, more so than ever … what makes the sacred? But now my quest is not to stave of depression but rather to deepen life.  I’m fascinated by how something in us seems innately capable of recognising the sacred. Even now in a world that would ‘tinderfy’ love and commodify art.  It is somehow present at the moment a child is born or there as we sit at the bedside as a loved one passes.

I will load up an old Willies Jeep that me and some buddies bought off a guy one night while we were drinking and go in search of the sacred, exploring Londolozi’s sacred sites on an individual expeditions to understand the nature of the sacred.

South Africa remains in lockdown. The land is quiet and wild and I am longing to be back under the stars.

Join Me for Season 2 – In Search of the Sacred

S201-intention, s202 – preparation, s203 – expedition delayed, s204 – expedition 1, s205 – expedition 2, s206 – expedition 3, s207 – expedition 4, s208 – expedition 5, s209 – expedition 6.