• Tracker Mentoring

    From novice to expert, in the city or in the wild

“Tracking isn’t particularly hard, it just takes time and practice. A mentor helps to speed up the process by giving you a solid foundation, and redirection when you need it. Let us help you to break it down, and build you up.” – Kersey Lawrence and Lee Gutteridge, CyberTracker Senior Trackers and Evaluators.

We practice teaching and learning in the CyberTracker style.

CyberTracker Tracker Certification is the international “Gold Standard” for certifying the skill level of trackers.

Why “Cyber”Tracker? The original concept was software that allowed non-literate San trackers to collect data, in-the-field. This allowed them to use their expertise in employed opportunities for wildlife and land management. The Tracker Certification System followed, as a means to verify the skill level of trackers.

Online Tracking Courses

When you think of your TRACKING SKILLS, do you ever say, "I don't know where to begin?"

  • Do you want to learn about the animals that are living in your garden but you rarely see?
  • Would you like to learn what animals are busy doing when you aren’t watching them?
  • Do you want to build your confidence in, and knowledge of, the natural world?
  • Would you like to learn a process to teach yourself how to track?
  • If you are already a tracker, would you like to improve your knowledge and skills?
  • Would you like to become a part of an international community of trackers?
  • Are you planning a visit Southern Africa and want to study before you get here?
  • Do you want to prepare for a CyberTracker evaluation?

Let us help you, one track at a time!

Course 1, available now!

Introduction to Tracking in Southern Africa is designed to give you a process for learning that will maximize your “dirt time” wherever you are, whether you live in the city with an occasional holiday into wilder places, or you live a fully immersed life in the bush. Even at times when you can’t get outside, you can progress in your learning through books, journaling, and using our online resources.

It’s a “how-to” course to teach you how to develop the skills involved in seeing the world through the eyes of a tracker. The course includes a digital download of The Tracker Mentoring Manual – Introduction to Tracking in Southern Africa. There are details revealed about tracks and signs, trailing, behaviours, etc., on almost every page, but this course isn’t about the specifics, it’s about the process. So, while the examples given are from Southern Africa, you can complete the course from anywhere in the world, because it’s about the process of developing the good habits of a successful tracker. You can spend a few weeks reading and doing some of the assignments, or you can spend a lifetime doing the daily routines, and become better and better, over time. How you use it is up to you.

In addition to the stories and instruction, there are 10 Daily Routines and 30 Assignments to guide you in “thinking like a tracker.” You will need access to the internet, and a Facebook account to participate in the course.

The course is mentored online and through social media by Lee Gutteridge and Kersey Lawrence, who are both Senior Trackers and Evaluators of trackers with CyberTracker Conservation, the international “Gold Standard” for wildlife tracker training and certification.

Extra benefits of enrolling in the course include lifetime membership in the private Facebook group and to the Tracker Mentoring eLearning centre. Here, you will find Bonus Materials for Mentored Trackers (journal templates, species lists, etc.), first access to newly documented tracks and signs, Advanced Assignments, and a community of peers undertaking the same journey from all over the world. We currently have students from South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Zimbabwe, the USA, Canada, Tanzania and mainland Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, and more!

Enroll now, and start when you are ready. Work at your own pace, and finish when you feel that you have mastered the material. Once you enroll, you are a part of the Tracker Mentoring Community for life, and you can come back to the material again and again, and continue corresponding with your international tracking community and your mentors!

A course certificate is available for trackers who provide evidence of completing the Assignments and Daily Routines and participate in the Tracker Mentoring Community.

Coming Soon

  • Course 2 – Mammals of Southern Africa and their Tracks & Signs
  • Course 3 – Invertebrates of Southern Africa and their Tracks & Signs
  • Course 4 – Mammals of Southern Africa and their Tracks & Signs
  • Course 5 – Trailing animals in Southern Africa

Custom courses are available for educational institutions and groups.

Some photos from our students!