Boyd Varty

Boyd Varty is a wilife and literary activist, as well as a tracker, life coach, storyteller, and the author of Cathedral of the Wild and The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life. He earned a psychology degree from the University of South Africa and is a certified Master Life Coach, as well as a TED speaker. His speech on Nelson Mandela reached more than 1.7 million views.

Born and raised at Londolozi Game Reserve in the South African wilderness, in a family of conservationists, Boyd had an unusual upbringing. He lived in a place where man and nature strive for balance, where perils and wonders exist side-by-side.

Founded more than 90 years ago as a hunting ground, Londolozi was transformed into a nature reserve in 1973 by Boyd’s father and uncle, both visionaries of the restoration movement. Not only is the place a sanctuary for the animals, it is now a place where ravaged land can flourish and the human spirit can grow. It is a place that has grown legends like Nelson Mandela, who sought solace in Londolozi following 27 years of imprisonment.

Since childhood, Boyd has shared his home with lions, leopards, snakes, and elephants. He grew up speaking the local language and learning how humans and nature can naturally and beautifully coexist. He has spent the majority of his life in apprenticeship to the wisdom of nature and though he has survived a harrowing black mamba encounter, a debilitating bout with malaria, and a vicious crocodile attack, his biggest challenge has been overcoming a personal crisis of finding purpose.

As a university student, Boyd studied psychology and ecology, supplementing his education by learning martial arts in Thailand, hiking through the jungles of the Amazon, and apprenticing with a renowned tracker from the Shangaan tribe, ultimately deepening his relationship and knowledge of the natural world.

Like a tracker, he continues to follow unconventional paths. He has worked intensively over the past seven years in ceremonial spaces as an apprentice to a Peruvian shaman, while generating his own system of coaching called “Track Your Life,” which draws lessons from the ancient form of tracking to motivate individuals to uncover their purpose and building more meaningful lives.

Boyd has spent the last ten years refining the art of using the wilderness – and the tracking mindset – to create deep introspection and personal transformation in others. At the core of his work, Boyd is driven toward healing, wildness, and wholeness. He coaches individuals in both South Africa and the U.S. where he connects people to nature and to their own internal tracking system. His philosophy and story has been featured in The New York Times, NBC, and more.