About Rhoda...
Rhoda is a tracker, naturalist and adventurer who is passionate about connecting people to the natural world and the art of tracking. She has lead expeditions to some of the wildest places on the planet, including Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula and Namibia’s Kalahari Desert.
Born in South Africa, Rhoda has had a lifelong interest in wildlife, nature and the environment.
Beginning her formal tracking education in the UK in 2003, she spent two years training in mantracking and tactical tracking.
Rhoda subsequently travelled to learn more about tracking wildlife with the San people in Namibia, a tribal community widely considered to be the best trackers in the world, before returning to the UK to continue her lifelong learning journey, and to continue to teach others. Rhoda is one of very few women internationally who have studied the science of tracking humans and wildlife in such depth, and she has made it her mission to succeed in mastering skills that have always been traditionally dominated by men.
Studying Zoological Conservation Management at university, Rhoda recently topped up her academic studies with a post graduate diploma in Environmental Protection and Sustainability, and has been training others in tracking, foraging for edible and medicinal plants, basic survival skills and rewilding for over two decades. She has an interest in anthropology and is highly driven to reconnect people with the skills and traditions still practiced by indigenous communities around the world, and to educate others about the importance of protecting our precious ecosystems and wild fauna and flora.
Rhoda currently heads up a tracking school called TrackCraft, where she instructs on a variety of courses and workshops on both mantracking and wildlife tracking. She also operates a search and rescue tracking team, training volunteers to use tracking skills at speed to find vulnerable missing people much faster than traditional search methods allow. Rhoda was also a qualified medic and team Medical Officer for Mountain Rescue for a number of years.
Featuring in the documentaries Panthera Brittania, Panthera Britannia Declassified and Big Cat Britain Declassified, Rhoda appears as presenter and tracker for a field expedition investigating the existence of big cats such as leopards and mountain lions in the UK.
Rhoda is writing her first book on the subject of wildlife tracking. A testament to her dedication and multifaceted talents, Rhoda Watkins is a trailblazer who channels her expertise and passion to ignite a genuine connection between humanity and the enchanting world of tracking.