At Londolozi, we have always believed that the wilderness is made up of many kingdoms: animal, plant and mineral. Each quietly plays its part in the greater intelligence of the whole.

The mineral kingdom is perhaps the most ancient of these. Crystals have formed within the earth over extraordinary spans of time and, across cultures, have long been held within spaces of ritual, ceremony and intention. At Londolozi, they also form part of the crystal grid held within the landscape. They are a beautiful reminder of the earth beneath our feet and the unseen layers of the wilderness we inhabit. 

It was this shared reverence for nature and ritual that brought Londolozi’s Creative Director Bronwyn Varty-Laburn together with Kat Macpherson, founder of Cape Town-born The Wild Story.

The Wild Story is a collection of extraordinary, handcrafted objects that invite everyday moments to become rituals. Kat’s crystal-crowned candles and matchboxes bring together natural stone, scent, fire and beautiful craftsmanship. Something as simple as lighting a candle becomes a moment of pause, reflection and intention.

There is something wonderfully Londolozi about this idea.

Nature teaches us ritual constantly: sunrise and sunset, seasons and cycles, gathering around a fire, returning to familiar places. Lighting a candle can become its own small ceremony, changing the feeling of a room through light and fragrance, while the presence and symbolism of the crystal offers a point of grounding and intention.

Together, Bronwyn and Kat have created  bespoke Wild Story x Londolozi pieces celebrating the mineral kingdom and the energetic landscape of Londolozi.

More than a beautiful object, it is an invitation to bring a little of the ritual, stillness and wildness of this place home.

The collaboration now forms part of the carefully curated candle collection at our Londolozi Living Boutique, a meeting of two stories held in crystal, scent and flame.

To mark the launch of the collaboration, The Wild Story spoke with Bronwyn about the deeper ideas behind her work, from sacred geometry and intentional design to the wilderness lessons that have shaped the way she sees the world.

An Apprenticeship to Nature

For Bronwyn, her relationship with nature was not something she discovered later in life. It was the environment in which she was raised.

Growing up at Londolozi, she describes herself as having been “apprenticed” to something far greater than herself. The wilderness, she says, does not teach in obvious ways. It asks you to listen, to notice and to feel your way into understanding.

Over time, that becomes a way of seeing.

“I don’t experience the world as separate parts – people here, nature there,” she explains. “It has always felt like one living, breathing system.”

That sense of interconnectedness is deeply rooted in the landscape around her. Londolozi is a place of continuity, where generations of people, animals and stories have passed through the same wilderness. To grow up within that continuity is to understand that you are part of something that existed before you and will continue after you.

With that comes a sense of responsibility.

For Bronwyn, this idea of being a custodian rather than an owner has become an important part of how she moves through both life and work.

It is this perspective that continues to shape Bronwyn’s work as Londolozi’s Creative Director, where her work spans design, healing, consciousness and the creation of intentional spaces.

For Bronwyn, design begins not with imposing an idea, but with listening.

“What does the land want? What is the energy of the place? What is the intention of the space, and what wants to emerge from the intangible into the tangible?”

It is a patient process. One of noticing light, materials, colour and flow, and allowing a space to reveal itself.

Designing for a Feeling

This philosophy is perhaps most tangible in the Healing House at Londolozi.

Conceived as more than a traditional spa, the Healing House was designed as an environment for reconnection. A place where people could slow down, reconnect with themselves and become more aware of their relationship with the natural world.

It is called a “house” for a reason. For Bronwyn, it is a place where something can return home. Home to its truest nature.

“The Healing House was never meant to simply be a beautiful spa. It was intended to shift a state.”

The design draws on what Bronwyn calls the “old technologies”: colour, symmetry, sacred geometry and natural materials. The intention is not simply to create beauty, but to create an environment that supports a different way of being.

“You sit deeply in the stillness, and slowly the space begins to form.”

The Healing House was also a deeply personal creation, designed alongside Bronwyn’s mother and brother. Every colour, piece of furniture and room was considered with intention.

That level of care, she believes, creates something you can feel.

The Language of Nature

“Sacred geometry, for me, is the language of nature.”

Bronwyn sees it everywhere: in the spiral of a shell, the branching of trees and the patterns created by water.

It is an underlying order, an invisible intelligence that holds life together.

Bringing sacred geometry into the Healing House was therefore not simply about incorporating a particular aesthetic. It was about aligning the space with patterns already present in the natural world, creating a sense of coherence, harmony and flow.

Crystals form another part of this language.

At Londolozi, they offer a connection to the mineral kingdom and to the earth itself. Their presence within the landscape and the Healing House reflects a belief in the importance of grounding ourselves in the natural world.

There is something subtle about this relationship. It does not require explanation or understanding. It can simply be experienced.

Perhaps that is what makes the connection between The Wild Story and Londolozi so natural. Both recognise the power of small, sensory rituals to shift the way we experience a space.

A flame. A scent. A piece of stone formed deep within the earth.

Simple elements, carrying stories much older than us.

A Living Legacy

Londolozi’s story spans generations, and for Bronwyn, being part of that story is both a privilege and a responsibility.

“To be a custodian of something, even for a short time, is a beautiful way of participating in legacy.”

She sees Londolozi not as belonging to one person, but as a collective held by many hands and hearts: human, animal, plant and mineral.

This sense of continuity is perhaps one of the defining qualities of the place. The understanding that we are participants within a landscape, rather than observers of it.

The wilderness has taught Bronwyn that everything is in relationship. That stillness is powerful. That timing matters. That life moves in cycles, and that resisting those cycles creates friction.

And perhaps most importantly, that we already belong.

It is a philosophy that extends far beyond the boundaries of Londolozi. Bronwyn is drawn to places where people remain deeply connected to land and tradition, from across Africa to Italy, Hawaii, South America, India, Ireland and Scotland.

Ultimately, she is drawn to places where there is wilderness and a sense of connection.

Bringing the Wild Home

In a world that moves quickly, there is something powerful about creating small moments that ask us to stop.

To light a candle.

To watch the flame.

To notice the scent moving through a room.

To hold a piece of the earth in our hands.

The Wild Story x Londolozi collaboration is an expression of that pause. A meeting of two stories, rooted in a shared reverence for nature, ritual and the unseen.

For Bronwyn, the wilderness has always been a teacher. Perhaps that is the thread running through her work, from the spaces she creates to the rituals she embraces and the way she understands the mineral kingdom.

It is an invitation to slow down, to listen and to remember that we are not separate from nature, but part of it.

And perhaps that is what we bring home with us.

Not simply a beautiful object, but a little of the stillness, ritual and wildness of Londolozi.