Winter 2017 was a particularly dry year creating incredible tracking conditions. Participants tracked rhino and buffalo. The lion tracking was amazing and on two separate occasions we found the pride after hours of being on their trail.
We slept out one night to the sound of five different species of owl calling all around us and a leopard calling in a nearby dry riverbed. At three in the morning a rhino walked close to the campfire where participants kept watch. We woke and followed the rhinos trail in the morning light for a few hours and eventually found him grazing in a clearing.
We also tracked a female leopard who had cubs but were unable to find her densite.
Each night we told stories around the fire and each morning we were up well before dawn to be out in the bushveld listening for the sounds of any animals. The retreat was a phenomenal immersion into nature that also included deep conversations and powerful insights into a more natural way of living. The highlight of the trip came when we found a pride of lions on foot and were able to watch them roar from nearby cover.
The process of tracking is about reading the signs and attuning the attention. It is a process of discovery and in this way its it a powerful metaphorical space the teaches you the process of finding what you looking for.
