Pafuri 5 Day Walking & Yoga Retreat
The Experience
There is something in our genetic code that remembers that Africa is where all of our earliest human ancestors first evolved 2 million years ago. Wilderness guide and psychiatrist Ian McCallum puts it so well when he says, “We have to remember that our identity is intimately tied to the earth itself. To lose ones sense of union with wild places is to pre-empt what I believe is one of the most over-looked conditions in modern psychiatry – homesickness. Often presenting as a restless depression, homesickness and a loss of wildness are the same thing. The cure to homesickness is to remember where we came from and where we belong.” And once we know where we belong it is our task to return to these places to receive their medicine.
Pafuri is one such place to come home to. It jogs your genetic memory and re-awakens your sense of belonging to wild places.
Despite living in this modern era, we are best adapted to living in a natural environment. It’s likely because 99,9% of our evolutionary passage was spent as hunter-gatherers and our minds and bodies are not sufficiently prepared for what the technological era expects of us. Despite the increasingly technologically connected world we live in, it seems modern humans feel more disconnected from others every day. The results are not difficult to see. Depression, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness plague the modern human. And the cure to this lies in healing the human-nature split. We invite you take precious time out from your busy life to deep dive into an awe-inspiring immersion of pristine wilderness and find your rightful place in it.
ABOUT PAFURI:
The private Pafuri concession – within the world-famous Kruger National Park – lies in a vast, almost inaccessible triangle of wilderness between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers, along South Africa’s north-eastern frontier. Between them, the two great valleys embrace one of Africa’s most spectacular landscapes, with mountains and gorges in the west giving way to plains, pans, baobabs and fever tree forests in the east.
This ancient land, particularly the low-lying floodplains near the confluence at Crooks’ Corner where our camp is located, harbours an abundance of life. It’s a natural choke point for wildlife crossing from north to south and back, and forms a distinct ecological region. Huge herds of elephant, buffalo and other game congregate here, especially when the surrounding bush lies parched before the rains. Predators and scavengers, ranging from the great cats and hyenas to servals, genets, civets, caracals, amongst many others, find shelter here.
The area is also famous for its elephant herds in winter (when we are there), which come to drink from the Luvuvhu river.
The wildlife roams without the hindrance of borders in a trans-frontier park that spans 3 countries. The diversity also brings a profusion of birds, with numerous sightings in what bird lovers regard as South Africa’s most rewarding birding destination.
While comprising only about 1% of the Kruger National Park’s actual area, Pafuri contains plants and animals representing almost 75% of the Parks total diversity.
WHO IS THIS RETREAT AIMED AT?
This is an exclusive, next-level wilderness safari retreat, designed for those who appreciate an inner as well as outer journey, who enjoy the freedom that comes with periods of silence, & who can recognise beauty in both the small and large creations of nature. A medium level of fitness is required (we will walk between 6 – 12km per day at a gentle pace).
Retreat Content
22-26 Sep 2023
– Daily dawn & dusk guided walks: wisdom gathering in the wild. We may drive to a certain point in the reserve and walk from there.
– Afternoons may include game drives, a short walk or yoga practice.
– Jivamukti and yin yoga & grounding techniques to open and revitalize the body.
– Meditation practices along the Luvuvhu River and atop remote rocky outcrops with vast stretches of wilderness below to expand awareness.
– Journaling prompts.
– Around the bonfire, sharing our stories under the Milky Way and a star talk exploring our place in the universe.
– Free middays to relax, swim in the river, rest, journal, connect with other participants or integrate learnings.
Investment in Yourself
R44 195 per person sharing rate
R58 299 single supplement rate
South African residents rates available –
please contact us directly (amy@wildagain.africa or nicci@wildagain.africa)
Rates are per person sharing in Meru style tents, with exquisite attention to detail, and all the necessities for your comfort – crisp linen, an ensuite bathroom, private outdoor bucket shower with water heated to your preference. The experience is as close to nature as you can possibly be, whilst having all creature comforts catered to. The camp is set on the banks of the Luvuvhu River where many animals camp to drink (particularly in the dry season when you will be visiting). Staying true to its leave no trace policy, the camp is set up seasonally and is only open from 1 April – 30 October each year, giving the land time to regenerate.
Includes:
~ 2 guided walks per day with two professional trails guides,
~ daily game drives with private vehicle,
~ all facilitation by two qualified yoga teachers,
~ shared accommodation in exclusive-use camp,
~ 3 nourishing meals per day, sundowners, all drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and snacks,
~ return road transfer from OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg) – Pafuri
~ community and conservation levy
Space strictly limited to 7 guests, and pre-booking with a non-refundable 50% deposit to reserve your place.
This Does not Include
Your investment will not include airfare, visa (if necessary), travel insurance or gratuities.
Getting there
Arrival
– Fly into OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg (JHB) on 21 September 2023.
– We advise you to arrive the day before because our trip starts at 5:30am on 21 September 2023. We advise everyone to stay overnight at the Protea Hotel or Intercontinental Hotel (both at the OR Tambo International airport) and the shuttle will depart from here on 21 September to arrive at Pafuri in time for your first afternoon walk.
Departure
– We say farewell to new and old friends after a walk, yoga and breakfast on 26 September 2023. The shuttle will take you back to OR Tambo International Airport and will depart from Pafuri at 11am. Ensure that your flight out/onward travel is after 9pm on 26 September or the morning of 27 September, allowing for possible delays.
– We do encourage you to stay and savour southern Africa so please let us know if you need advice/help booking onward travel. Just ask!
Meet Your Guides
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.
Meet Nicci
I only discovered my love for the bush in 2003, when my then boyfriend (now husband) took me on a day trip to the Kruger National Park. When a giraffe crossed the path of our car, I fell in love not only with the man sitting next to me but the wildness and adventure that the bush had to offer.
An insatiable craving for the wilderness led to a holiday home in Olifants North Game Reserve in 2007 where I started to spend extended amounts of time exploring, learning and immersing myself in nature. Since then we have done multiple trips throughout Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Tanzania as well as worked in Kenya and Ghana.
I started to practice yoga in 2015. In 2018, after losing the heart for advertising, I left a 20 year career behind to practice, study and teach yoga.
In 2019, I travelled to Costa Rica to complete the Jivamukti 300 hour teacher training in the stunning wilderness area of Nosara, which got me thinking, how do I combine my passions into one?
Call it fate, serendipity or karma but a mutual friend introduced Amy and I and as they say, the rest is history.
I am extensively travelled, ridiculously organised, and very detail oriented. I am a lover of upside down poses, adventure, the beach and wilderness, and with over 600 hours of yoga training behind me now a certified Jivamukti teacher. I am currently working towards a FGASA Apprentice Field Guide qualification.
I firmly believe in embodying the tenets of my practice but first and foremost – kindness and compassion for the earth and all its beings, through my thoughts, words and actions.
Being part of the Wild Again team means combining all my passions for the bush, yoga, wellness and travel into one incredible adventure.
I cannot wait to help you plan your ultimate trip and re-connect you with Africa, its wild inhabitants and ultimately yourself.
RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY BY EMAILING AMY AT
amy@wildagain.africa or nicci@wildagain.africa