Discovery Channel’s survival reality series ‘Naked and Afraid’ has been touted as a cultural phenomenon because of its authentic and outrageous format. It’s spin-off, ‘Naked and Afraid XL,’ takes things to another level, as a group of people is tasked with surviving in extreme environmental conditions for 40 days instead of just 21 in the parent series, without any assistance from the production crew.
One of the survivalist veterans, Sarah Bartell, features in ‘Naked and Afraid XL’ season 6 which drops the contestants in the scorching Savannah of South Africa. In case you wish to know more about her personal life, keep scrolling!
Sarah Bartell: Where is She From?
Sarah originally hails from Portland, Oregon. She has been fascinated with wildlife from her early childhood days. While living with her family in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, Sarah experienced the hustle and bustle of open-air markets and street performances. She went as far as to pose with a real python in her hand. See for yourself!
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She is currently pursuing an off-grid lifestyle in her homestead in Klickitat in Goldendale, Washington.
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Sarah is in an open relationship with her partner Danny Graves, since 2014. The two first met in 2011 on a trip to Burning Man.
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Sarah Bartell: Profession
Sarah is a taxidermist by profession. She is the founder of Wildheart Homestead that is dedicated to education, sustainability, and preservation of nature’s gifts. She also tends to rescue animals until they find a foster home.
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Apart from that, Sarah makes amazingly beautiful headdresses, ornaments, artistic decoration pieces mostly from fur, leather and bones. They are mostly made from road-kills she stumbles across or animals donated to her by others due to justifiable reasons.
She ensures her fellow ‘Naked and Afraid’ members get great discounts on her products.
Sarah usually eats items grown on her farm but also hunts squirrels on some days when the farm produce isn’t enough. Sometimes you can find her using handlining techniques to catch fishes from the nearby Columbia River Gorge.
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Sarah is a proud mother of several dogs/wolfdogs, a flock of Ayam Cemani chickens, and quite a few sheep.
Here’s is the latest addition to her family. Meet Ayla, a 90% wolf who loves to cuddle up to her mother.
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Check out the heart-warming story about how the Mumma’s boy, Ivar, took care of her mother, Sarah, when she returned from her wilderness trip to Africa.
The least ferocious member of her family is her cat, Blackjack. Here’s a picture of Blackjack doing sun-salutations.
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She often goes on road-trips and adventures with her partner and friends from neighboring towns.
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Sarah is also a photographer and her favorite destinations for photography are abandoned houses, schools, and hospitals. Along with having an excellent eye for photography, Sarah also enjoys being the subject of the clicks.
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Sarah Bartell: Naked and Afraid Journey
Sarah has appeared on the fifth episode of ‘Naked and Afraid’ season 10. During her survival challenge in the Ecuadorian jungle, Sarah Bartell and her co-contestant David Shirley were joined by a third survivalist, a vegan yoga instructor named Makani Nalu. Although David tapped out after four days, Sarah continued with Makani until the extraction day, becoming the first woman duo to survive the challenge.
In her journey, Sarah lost over 30 pounds and had to do most of the work because of Makani’s lack of effort. During her time on the show, Sarah used her tracking skills to trace an ocelot in the waterproof shelter she built to brace the tropical storms in the Amazonian jungle. She also suffered multiple insect bites, one of which got severely infected. It did take a toll on her mental health, but the wild child survived. Sarah was also a part of ‘Naked and Afraid: Just Kidding.’ In the special, she talked about the funny and exciting experiences on her 21-day challenge.
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