ON SEASON 10 of the hit History Channel survival competition show Alone , Tarcisio “ Taz ” Ramos Dos Santos spent 40 days living off the land in a remote part of Northern Saskatchewan , Canada . Now , he ’ s teaching those skills to people in the Berkshires .
ON SEASON 10 of the hit History Channel survival competition show Alone , Tarcisio “ Taz ” Ramos Dos Santos spent 40 days living off the land in a remote part of Northern Saskatchewan , Canada . Now , he ’ s teaching those skills to people in the Berkshires .
Taz was raised in the small state of Sergipe , Brazil , where he lived in a fishing village with no electricity or running water in his home . The eldest of five , he moved to the U . S . at age 25 with his girlfriend at the time whose family had a second home in Upstate New York . He later settled in Amherst , where he rode his bike to Northampton to learn English at the International Language Institute of Massachusetts .
When he and his girlfriend were watching TV and came across survival competition shows , he didn ’ t understand why people in the U . S . wanted to learn survival skills ; not having to was a sign of success in his eyes .
“ I grew up having to farm and hunt and fish to live , so it ’ s nice when you don ’ t have to , when you choose to ,” he says , walking through the expansive homestead garden he maintains in Becket with a friend . We ’ re just a few steps from the treehouse where he ’ s lived for more than five years . “ We grow a good percentage of food here — squash , potatoes , garlic , onions , corn , beans ,” he adds , glancing at the massive pigs and a handful of donkeys on either side of the raised path leading to his home .
He ’ s happy to share the knowledge he ’ s accumulated over the last few decades . Last spring , he co-taught a survival course with Micah Mortali , founding director of the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership . They ’ ll teach the course again from March 30 to April 4 at Kripalu in Lenox . It ’ s titled “ Beyond Survival : Earth Skills , Connection , and the Healing Power of Outdoor Living .” Taz also has trained staff at Kripalu and taught outdoor skills to kids at the Flying Deer Nature Center in Chatham , New York . And he held a homesteading workshop through the Becket Athenaeum last fall , where he taught participants homesteading basics like taking care of chickens , gardening , and firemaking . (“ Chickens are the gateway to homesteading ,” he jokes .)
Prior to living in the treehouse , Taz lived on a homestead nearby . When he sold the property , a friend offered him the treehouse he ’ d built with his son , although it needed fixing up before Taz could move in . Taz turned it into a cozy home just big enough for a bed in the loft , a couple