THE RETREAT:
What is it that you are searching for? How would you be if you knew it was already within you and only needed to awaken? Imagine this life free from a single doubt convincing us that we are not already hOMe.... wherever we are.
We are each born with it… the drum of our heartbeat and the ocean of our breath that are constantly reminding us to come hOMe to our truest nature.
Africa is where all humankind arose and took its first steps and that ancient drum beat is calling us back to the wilds. The moment you step foot on African soil you regain a sense of belonging. Amongst wild animals, lush landscapes, and endless skies, we come hOMe to nature and come hOMe to the truest sense of ourselves.
Through a deep immersion into and close observation of this wild place, we remember ourselves as the very nature we revere and return hOMe to ourselves.
Join this journey of rediscovery in the South African bush.
RETREAT CONTENT:
NEW DATES TBD!
- 10 Daily dawn and dusk game drives: wisdom gathering in the wild.
- Yoga asana and meditation both in the wild and at camp (no previous experience required).
- Sacred cacao ceremony to gently support the heart's opening to more.
- Forest bathing and tree meditations.
- Vision questing, journaling and group gatherings to share wisdom gleaned in the wild.
- Around the bonfire, gathering as tribe and sharing our stories under the Milky Way.
- Visit to the rhino orphanage
INVESTMENT:
As we are in South Africa the investment is in rands (R 38 580) and the dollar amount is thus dependent on the exchange rate at the time of your payment. Currently this calculates to approximately $2600 US Dollars.
Local rate (for South Africans only) of R20 000.
This will include shared accommodations as we will be staying in an exclusive-use lodge with four chalets, yoga, meditation and tree meditations, ten game drives (adventures into the bush to observe and commune with nature and the wildlife), vision questing, hiking around and exploring the bush, delicious and nourishing vegetarian meals, storytelling from locals and from sweet Mother Earth, and so much more.
This also includes transportation to and from the game lodge; a 3 hour drive from King Shaka Airport.
This Does not Include:
Your investment will not include airfare or gratuities.
OUR LOCATION:
ABOUT MANYONI PRIVATE GAME RESERVE
Manyoni Private Game Reserve is set in the rolling bushveld of KwaZulu-Natal, & we are blessed to be based in one of its exclusive, private game lodges called Fever Tree Lodge. The lodge is in the heart of 26 000 hectares/65 000 acres of breathtaking wilderness, in which the big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo) roam freely. It also has a healthy population of endangered cheetah as well as a critically important rhino orphanage for the conservation of these precious creatures. We have organised a special visit to the orphanage.
ACCOMODATION:
Fever Tree Lodge, our sole-use camp, has four private chalets each with their own unique perspective onto the ideallic landscape and waterholes dotted around the camp. This means you can see animals coming to drink right from your very own bed; the true definition of luxury. Each room is beautifully decorated and spacious and has a double and three quarter bed furnished with crisp linen, adjoining bathroom.
GETTING THERE:
The easiest way to get there is to fly into South Africa’s central hub, Johannesburg and hop onto a short one hour flight to Durban from there. A minibus will be arranged to bring you to the lodge.
SEASON:
Late April in KwaZulu- Natal is warm during the day and cool during the evenings. The bush is still lush and green from summer but there is typically no rain, which usually falls between November-February. The bushveld is beautiful at this time of year and teaming with life, including young animals such as wildebeest, impala and warthogs born during the summer season.
EXTENDING YOUR TRIP:
Amy has been a guide/ranger for a decade now and private guides in South Africa and further afield throughout Africa. If you’re looking to add on explorations of other wilderness areas, scuba diving, a beach getaway or some time in the Mother City, Cape Town, she will be more than happy to set you up with all you need to know and the best insider’s tips.
YOUR HOSTS
Meet Tara
With some teachers, the lessons are planned. They are practiced. They are rehearsed. And they are perfected to a tee. But Tara Eschenroeder offers a different experience. Teaching was Tara’s dharma long before she realized it. She grew up with a bow and arrow in her hands, learning to pull back with just enough aim and control to send her arrow into the abyss, knowing and trusting it would hit its intended mark. And so she enters each class, each workshop, each lesson.. Having prepared her body and mind to become that bow - that vessel - that let’s her lesson go.. Weaving its way into the provided space and landing wherever it is intended.
Tara felt that call in 2007 when she first felt the spark of a tiny flame. And instead of approaching that flame fearing the heat, she chose to approach it with love, stoking the fire that was burning within for her passion of yoga. By the end of 2009, she received her 200 hour RYT under Arlene Bjork and Grace Yoga Training Systems. She continued to follow what she knew and trusted her path to be, and she obtained her 500 hour RYT through Om On Yoga under the guidance and wisdom of Jennifer Elliott.
Inside the studio, no two classes or workshops are ever the same. Students are not told what to do, they are empowered to listen to their own bodies. And while there are general cues throughout of “warrior” and “downward dog” (almost always accompanied by their sanskrit name), one is also just as likely to hear cues of “listen to the animal within,” “move through honey, “ride the wave of your breath,” or, simply, just an encouragement to “dance.” Her mentoring sessions follow a similar pattern. Mentees are not told what to do but instead empowered to listen within with offered guidance- never forced, and always an open-minded invitation to explore. Tara’s Psychology degree from James Madison University and Elementary Education License from Mary Baldwin College give her a studied foundation for helping others, but it’s her natural instincts and open heart that help students see the best in themselves.
Traveling is Tara’s home, as she spends much of her time around the country holding workshops, retreats, and classes. She has also received additional teaching credentials with Project Yoga Richmond and YoKid Stretch Your Limits, as well as serving as a proud Ambassador for Lululemon Athletica. Yet, so much of her teaching is done off of the yoga mat. Tara openly and outwardly lives the teachings has been inspired to share. Just as she would encourage a student falling out of a pose to take themselves lightly, she does the same as she navigates through challenges. And just as she would encourage a student to trust themselves as they spread their wings into something new on the mat, she is a living example of trusting what she knew was her calling as she spread her own wings. She approaches life with that same love that she used to approach that initial flame, and she encourages each person with whom is comes in contact to do the same. And by doing so, she is living out her truth and her drishti of being a vessel of blessing.
Meet Amy
It’s true what they say about a name because being born an Attenborough, Amy doesn't believe she ever really had much choice about what direction her life would take. After completing her Journalism and Media Studies degree Amy followed her deep love of nature to the bush. She planned to stay for a year, which quickly turned into ten.
During that time, she worked at Phinda Private Game Reserve, Ngala Private Game Reserve and Londolozi Game Reserve, some of South Africa's most prestigious lodges. She took a particular liking to walking, spending as much time as she could on foot approaching animals with her guests. She has travelled to Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, India, Uganda and throughout South America in search of wildlife. Her greatest adventure was living in Gabon training local guides for the WWF and Smithsonian Institute, where they spent weeks at a time living like early nomads in the dense and remote coastal forests, fulfilling a life-long dream of tracking and habituating wild gorillas.
Nature has always been her biggest teacher. Seeing how embodied and present animals are inspired Amy to begin practising yoga. She is qualified as a vinyasa and yin teacher and spent six months training under a Hatha master in Boulder, Colorado. She is also a certified Martha Beck life coach. With this mixture of passions and skills, Amy leads specialised wellness safaris that incorporate yoga, meditation, mindfulness and personalised life coaching in order to restore body, mind and spirit in the most beautiful wilderness locations on the continent.
