WILD Store
South African Passage: Diaries of the Wilderness Leadership School
Ian C. Player. Hardcover, Preface by Sir Laurens van der Post; Introduction, Extracts from Diaries, Fulcrum Inc. 195 pages, 1987.
South African Passage contains extracts from the diaries of youth who have gone into the wilderness of South Africa with Ian Player and the trail leaders of the Wilderness Leadership School. Since 1958, Ian Player, the man responsible for saving the white rhino from extinction (and brother of international golfer Gary Player) has taken mixed groups of teenagers (13 to 18 years old, black, white, Indian, Asian and many others) on walking treks in the South African wilderness.The selections are profound, humorous, enlightening, wise and full of wonder at the world. The story is one of personal transition for these teenagers – and for the reader – as they look within and without, recognizing what Sir Laurens van der Post calls “the sacred atmosphere” and sense of home we find in the wilderness.