The time Gary Waterworth Owen spent with Sir Laurens, served as inspiration to drive forward his concept of Culture Conscious Conservation, the ResponseABILITY Alliance and Lengthen Your Stride.

“I have tried to take no heed of the morrow - not in an irresponsible way but as an act of trust in a life given in trust. In that sense I go from day to day, and although I love the instant I have a sense of immense distance and a great open horizon in front of me. It seems that the footsteps are extremely important and that, if I look after the footsteps, and lengthen my stride, the miles will take care of themselves.” - Sir Laurens van der Post

Explorers and writers, such as Sir Laurens van der Post and Sir Wilfrid Thesiger, often wrote of the ancient link between humanity and nature, and how within our fast moving cultures of today, much of this link has been forgotten. By visiting the unspoiled places where nature has been allowed to exist since time began, this connection is rekindled.

The extraordinary life of Sir Laurens van der Post (1906-1996) is not easily encapsulated. He was the author of many books, which have sold in the millions, two of which have been produced as feature films, and two more of which served as the basis for two award-winning public television series about the Kalahari Bushmen. Besides writing books, he was been a journalist, soldier, prisoner of war, advisor to British heads of state and other political leaders, a close confidant of Prince Charles, godfather to Prince William, an educator, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, conservationist and more.

Born in 1906 in the interior of southern Africa, he lived among the Kalahari Bushmen, becoming the principal chronicler of the people who created the first blueprint for life on Earth. In the 1970's Lourens met Prince Charles through mutual friends. In 1987 he took Prince Charles on a five-day retreat to the Kalahari, telling the prince, ''This is the real Africa.'' He was also one of C.G. Jung's closest friends for two decades. Laurens dedicated much of his life to emphasizing the meaning and value of indigenous cultures in the modern world, a world he felt is in danger of losing its spiritual identity to technology, prejudice, empty values and a lack of understanding of the interconnectedness of all life on Earth. In 1977, together with Dr Ian Player - the famous South African conservationist, he created the first World Wilderness Congress in Johannesburg.

‘Once in the wilderness, one can observe that attitudes change significantly. Cultural differences become unimportant, barriers are removed and people begin to see each other as people.’  - Dr Ian Player

Read more about the Wilderness Foundation

In 1983, Swiss psychiatrist C.A. Meier delivered a fascinating paper at the 3rd World Wilderness Congress in Inverness, Scotland. "Wilderness and the Search for the Soul of Modern Man" addressed not only the tragedy of our vanishing natural wilderness and the need to preserve it, but also the necessity of preserving man's 'inner wilderness'. "A Testament to the Wilderness" consists of Meier's original address and thoughtful and provocative responses by nine concerned writers from around the world including Sir Laurens : Download a copy

In 1979 his Chelsea neighbour Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister and she called on his advice with matters dealing with southern Africa, notably the Rhodesia settlement of 1979–80. In 1981 he was given a Knighthood.

Selected works by Laurens:

• In a Province, 1934
• Venture to the Interior, 1952
• The Face Beside the Fire, 1953
• A Bar of Shadow, 1954
• Flamingo Feather, 1955
• The Dark Eye in Africa, 1955
• Race Prejudice as Self-Rejection, 1957
• The Lost World of the Kalahari, 1958 - film 1956
• The Heart of the Hunter, 1961
• Patterns of Renewal, 1962
• The Seed and the Sower, 1963 - film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1982), dir. by Nagisa Oshima, starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi, Jack Thompson
• Intuition, Intellect, and the Racial Question, 1964
• A Journey into Russia, 1964 (US title: A View of All the Russias)
• A Portrait of All the Russias, 1967
• The Hunter and the Whale, 1967
• A Portrait of Japan, 1968
• African Cooking, 1970 (with others)
• The Night of the New Moon, August 6, 1945... Hiroshima, 1970 (US title: The Prisoner and the Bomb)
• The Man and the Shadow, 1971
• A Story Like the Wind, 1972
• A Far-Off Place, 1974 - film 1993, based on the books A Far-Off Place and A Story Like the Wind, dir. by Mikael Salomon, starring Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Randall (Embry), Maximilian Schell, Sarel Bok, Jack Thompson
• A Mantis Carol, 1975
• Jung and the Story of Our Time, 1975
• First Catch Your Eland, 177
• Yet Being Someone Other, 1982
• Testament to the Bushman, 1984 (with J. Taylor)
• A Walk with the White Bushman, 1986
• About Blady: a Pattern Out of Time, 1991

In Memory of Past Allies:

Navigate your way to Waterworth Expedition sites on Google Earth.