SKILLS
WELCOME
Zeki Basan is the founder and head instructor of Highland Survival Skills. Based in the Scottish Highlands where he was born and raised, Zeki teaches skills that are deeply rooted to the wild land that he is from. He Guides bespoke experiences that people never forget. Whether he’s out deer stalking in the Scottish highlands, fishing artic char on the Greenlandic fjords or foraging in the Scottish boreal forest your unique adventure starts here.
Zeki is passionate about wild places and has the opportunity to practice outdoor and traditional crafts in everyday life in his remote environment. He leads courses at his home base in the Cairngorms National Park and teaches courses all over Scotland, working with different companies that use his expertise to teach people about the environment. These courses range from one day experiences to week-long immersions in nature involving traditional skills and crafts such as foraging, fire-craft and fire cooking, trapping, old fishing techniques, tracking and stalking, butchery, tool making, tanning and leather work, shelter construction, basketry, wood carving, and much more. More information is available on the courses page.
Zeki makes sure he extends his knowledge by always experimenting with his craft and spending time with others who are also highly knowledgeable in this subject. He has spent time with tribal people, such as the San Bushmen, and has learned some of their skills for hunting and gathering in their environment. This led to a film he made on a hunt for bush hare called The Wild Within Us. You can fine out more about Zeki's films here.
Zeki works closely with Patrick McGlinchey and together they run the Highlander Course in the Cairngorms. He is the lead guide for a unique course, Wild Lives, that runs on the south coast of Greenland where he works with a local family to deliver the traditional living skills in one of the last great wildernesses.
Zeki is also a qualified Lantra-trained Tree Surgeon and for a number of years he worked as a Glacier Guide in Iceland. He makes his own films about his work and he has featured in different documentaries.
‘Highland Survival Skills aims to hold on to the ancient skills and craft that were once part of everyday life and to this day can give us a greater understanding and respect of the environment around us.’
“We had an incredible experience with Zeki, learning new skills and understanding the landscape and habitats that he is so passionate about. His knowledge and care for the environment and commitment to protecting traditional crafts is infectious. We are lucky to have people like Zeki to teach these valuable skills to a new generation ”
Sir David Beckham
"Zeki is one of those rare people who seems born from another world — not in a strange way, but in the best possible sense. His understanding of the outdoors goes beyond skill; it’s instinctive, almost otherworldly. Whether he’s building shelter from nothing but sticks and imagination, navigating through forests as if guided by the trees themselves, or teaching others how to stay calm when nature tests them, Zeki moves with a quiet confidence that makes everyone around him feel safe. You get the sense that he doesn’t just survive in the wild — he belongs there.
There’s something deeply magnetic about the way Zeki approaches life. His patience, wisdom, and respect for the natural world make him more than a survival expert; he’s a teacher, a guide, and a reminder of how powerful human connection with nature can be. When you’re with Zeki, it’s easy to forget the noise of the modern world — he grounds you, inspires you, and somehow makes you believe that anything is possible. If he really is an alien, then we’re lucky he landed here, because the world feels richer, calmer, and infinitely more alive with him in it."
Ian Wright OBE
"Going into and living in the wild with Zeki was one of the most humbling and eye-opening experiences of my life. He really is the real deal. A humble man who is absolutely a master of his multiple crafts, without claiming to be. Zeki has a profound respect for every inch of the land he lives on, loves and survives on, and I can honestly say it was a life-changing experience being there with him. I felt safe with him and felt like there was a whole world of things to learn from his experience. I hope to spend time with him again."
Benjamin Francis Leftwich