September 2024 News, Stories, and Events from Original Wisdom
What it means to be a Specialist Tracker for CyberTracker…
In the CyberTracker system for evaluating trackers, Specialist is the highest level that you can earn. Not many people pursue it, because the standard is so rigorous. It’s rigorous enough to be called the “Gold Standard” for international wildlife tracking certifications. Part of the rigor comes from the fact that evaluators never know what the questions are going to be, before they walk out in the morning of a certification and encounter whatever tracks, signs, and trails that mother nature has provided. And every darn day is different.
August 2024 News, Stories, and Events from Original Wisdom
We just submitted the draft of our new book on the art and science of: Tracking Animals – a Guide to Trailing Wildlife, for editing to our publisher at Jacana Media. We are hoping that it will be out by the December holiday season!
In it, you’ll find instructions on what to do, what not to do, and teaching stories. These stories aren’t just from the authors, Lee and Kersey, but also from many of the high level trackers and evaluators in the CyberTracker Tracker Certification system.
June 2024 News, Stories, and Events from Original Wisdom
On the 25th of May, in the Thornybush Game Reserve of South Africa, five Master Trackers and five Senior Trackers, from Africa and North America, met after some days spent tracking together, and evenings spent discussing protocol around the campfire. During an unexpected and highly emotional ceremony, two of those Senior Trackers were awarded Master Tracker status for their decades of service to trackers and tracking.
We congratulate the world’s newest Master Trackers on the Gold-Standard CyberTracker Tracker Certification System, Ekson Ndlovu and Lee Gutteridge.
Read on to find out more about this huge honor…
May 2024 News, Stories, and Events from Original Wisdom
This month’s leading photo features Virginia Opossum tracks (Didelphis virginiana). The lower track with the large thumb sticking out towards the right is the left hind track, while the one above it is the left front track. The tracks were made in the fine substrate under the Mt. Vernon, Ohio bridge along the Kokosing River. This bridge was one of our stopping points for the CyberTracker Ohio Specialist Identification Certification that Original Wisdom hosted in April. Photo credit: Sandy Reed.
April 2024 News, Stories, and Events from Original Wisdom
Giza Mrembo, Swahili for “Beautiful Darkness,” stepped into the red spotlight of the other vehicle. We saw her as a moving shadow in the night, hunting. The melanistic (black) leopardess, softly but confidently padded through the dry acacia scrubland of Laikipia Wilderness in Kenya. Without the spotlight, even in partial moonlight, she stood out, unable to hide herself against the golden soils in the open landscape.
March 2024 News, Stories, and Events from Original Wisdom
A relaxed female leopard lounges on the top of a large termite mound. She was in the process of dispersing from her mom (gaining her independence) in a private reserve of South Africa.
This photo was taken by by Dylan Bernstein, our Yogi Guide in February’s Ashtanga Yoga, Tracking and Nature Guiding Program. Read more about this program in our Events in Africa section.
Daily Routines in Tracking – The Importance of Repetition
I’m not trying to sell you our course, but to let you know that the processes we follow are really helpful (many of them, I’m revealing for free here in this Newsletter). That’s what we aim to be… helpful. We want more people to become trackers (and naturalists, guides, teachers, and scientists) because we believe […]
Tracker Tuesdays #13, OriginalWisdom.com “News for Trackers”
October Answers to our #WeeklyTrackingChallenge Interested in online and correspondence tracking courses? Visit us at TrackerMentoring.com! Answer list: An African wildcat track from South Africa, Crested francolin feathers from South Africa, and Mud-dauber wasp sign collecting mud in Connecticut in the USA. (Sorry for the delay on these answers for October while I was defending […]
Tracker Tuesdays #11
Whoops, we slipped a bit! This newsletter covers questions posed in both July and Aug, 2020. We’ve moved to a monthly newsletter format for #TrackerTuesdays, so a new question SHOULD be posed every Tuesday, and answers SHOULD be published on the first Tuesday of every month. We apologize for the delay in publishing this one, […]
Ghosts in the darkness
I awoke the other night in the wee hours before dawn. It was extremely bright due to our moon waxing towards full. My bare feet padded silently to the window on the cool cement floor. I looked out upon a large grey body. I had to soften my vision to see her clearly, so closely […]
Eastern rock elephant shrews in the sunset
One of my favorite moments this winter here in South Africa was with a group of trackers from White Pine Programs from Maine in the USA. We did a sunset “sit spot” one evening in the Waterberg Mountains. Sit spots are just a time where you sit by yourself, in silence, and push your awareness […]
New Hampshire goes to Africa!
In the summer of 2015, students from Hopkinton and Bow High Schools (NH), went to South Africa to study the ecology and culture. We spent 21 days out on safaris, walks, on trips to the local villages and two days at one local high school – where we […]
Trailing, and an encounter with an elephant
Trailing, and an encounter with an elephant – UCONN Aug 2015 group We walked out of camp and into the South African sunrise. I stepped over the tracks of three big dugga boys (Cape buffalo bulls) who had recently headed in the direction that Lee had taken with the other students, and silently said a […]
Community service on Mandela Day! Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #13
Community service on Mandela Day! Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #13 Michelle Neal July 18th, 2015 Day 17 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program at Djuma Game […]
Cheetah madness! Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #12
Cheetah madness! Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #12 Zach Drotos Blog 12 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program at Djuma Game reserve in the Sabi Sands region […]
Camera Trapping – our research in Africa! Hopkinton/Bow (NH) Student Blog #11
Camera Trapping – our research in Africa! Hopkinton/Bow (NH) Student Blog #11 Michelle Neal July 19th, 2015 Day 18 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program […]
Teaching Spatial Thinking at Acorns to Oaks – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #10
Teaching Spatial Thinking at Acorns to Oaks – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #10 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program at Djuma Game reserve in the Sabi […]
Staying Alive in the African Bush – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #9
Staying Alive in the African Bush – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #9 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program at Djuma Game reserve in the Sabi Sands […]
Learning to sit in nature – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #8
Learning to sit in nature – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog #8 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program at Djuma Game reserve in the Sabi Sands region […]
Opposing viewpoints (male vs female) on meeting Nat Geo’s Wild Earth crew – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog – Special Feature
Opposing viewpoints (male vs female) on meeting Nat Geo’s Wild Earth crew – Hopkinton/Bow Student Blog – Special Feature A female perspective, by Michelle Neal Out on game drive one evening, to the glorious surprise of us all, our guides took an unexpected turn toward a flickering campfire glowing in an open area among the […]
A Day with Africa’s Gentle Giants – Hopkinton/Bow, N.H., Student Blog #7
A Day with Africa’s Gentle Giants – Hopkinton/Bow, N.H., Student Blog #7 The following blog post is created by a Hopkinton/Bow High School student from New Hampshire, who is on program with Original Wisdom, partnering with Nature Guide Training, on a 3-week South African Ecology & Culture program at Djuma Game reserve in the Sabi […]