Hello yogis and storytellers! I am so so so excited to announce a new retreat in one of my favorite countries on God’s green earth: South Africa.
I’m co-hosting this retreat with my friend and collaborator Nichole Sobecki, a phenomenally talented photojournalist who I am lucky to work with on the regular (you can see some of our stories on abortion access in post-conflict and crisis settings here, here, and here, and don’t miss her award-winning and vitally important story on cheetah trafficking in National Geographic).
We’ll start off in Cape Town, one of the most stunning cities I’ve ever seen, where we’ll practice with the city’s best yoga teachers (including the ones who trained me as a yoga teacher!); visit Robben Island, the Museum of Contemporary African Art, and other spaces that tell the story of this extraordinary country; and eat at some of the city’s best restaurants. It will be autumn in South Africa, so a particularly beautiful time to be there: Crisp, cool, and lovely.
Then we’ll set off for wine country. On the way, we’ll take a private guided tour of a cheetah sanctuary that rehabilitates these endangered animals and returns them to the wild — and where Nichole has visited in her work for National Geographic covering conservation and the scourge of cheetah trafficking. Once in the Cape Winelands, we’ll practice yoga daily, indulge in farm-fresh food grown nearby, and almost definitely drink way too much wine in vineyards across Paarl, Stellenbosch, and Franschhoek.
Finally, we’ll fly east for safari, where we’ll stay in a luxury safari camp on a private conservancy near Kruger National Park. Bring your camera and come prepared to see the Big Five and much, much more.
Throughout the retreat, daily yoga will be on offer. Nichole will lead photography workshops — not just how to take a great photo on safari, but how to use visual tools to tell a compelling story. Jill will lead accompanying writing workshops focused on effective storytelling and weaving words with images. And we’ll both work with you individually on your own story-telling project.
We are limiting this retreat to 10 participants. Investment is $7,450 for a shared double room for nine days across Cape Town, winelands, and safari. This cost covers just about everything: all hotels, internal flights and other transport, all of your meals (including at some of South Africa’s best restaurants), wine and other drinks, three nights and four days at a luxury private safari camp with twice-daily game drives, conservancy fees, bush breakfasts and sundowners (AM breakfast and sunset drinks on safari), daily yoga, daily storytelling workshops, entry into Robben Island and the Museum of Contemporary African Art, a private tour of a cheetah rehabilitation and re-wilding sanctuary, wine tastings, optional hikes and excursions, and much much more. Roundtrip airfare to Cape Town and travel insurance is not included.
If you’re interested, let me know ASAP! Our Kenya retreat sold out in just a few weeks, so we do anticipate that these 10 spots will go fast.
And I’m available to answer any questions you might have. Hope to see a few of you in South Africa this spring…
xx Jill