This year’s retreats in South Africa were full of playful surprises, especially during our time at Kruger Untamed. During our morning bush walks, as we looked for fresh animal tracks, the land and the animals seemed to be inviting us to take our time and pay attention to the details.

There was an abundance of storytelling, laughter, and insights shared with the group. As a facilitator, I watched how these experiences helped people embrace vulnerability and uncertainty. As a lifelong student of nature, I was also being invited to listen, especially to the quiet exchanges happening between our group and the animals around us.

Learning to Recognize What Another Needs

One day, we arrived at a watering hole where we planned to get out of our vehicles, orient ourselves to the land, and offer our gratitude. A herd of elephants was already there, drinking and tending to one another.

We paused to cherish their presence. After a few minutes, they slowly moved on to continue grazing. To me, it felt like an acknowledgment that we, too, wished to spend time in that space.

During another day, while observing tracks, our tracker spotted a warthog approaching a watering hole ahead. We watched him briefly, then moved away to give him room to carry on.

These encounters offered a chance to recognize that everyone has a need and a right to be here. We could notice another being’s intentions and respond with care. It was lovely to watch participants become aware of that exchange, recognizing when to remain still and when to make space.

When we slow down and enter into a conversation of feeling and emotional awareness, words are no longer our only way of understanding one another.

Watching Resistance Give Way to Openness

Being in the South African bushveld can be breathtaking, but it also disrupts what feels familiar. For some people, stepping away from daily routines creates permission to let go. For others, it brings unsettled feelings and resistance.

As one night rolled into two and then three, we could see the tension fading away. Body language and facial expressions softened. People seemed more at ease, and more willing to be vulnerable with one another. I noticed that their hearts began opening to uncertainty rather than bracing against it.

Birdsong, giraffes watching us watching them, and young elephants playing together was part of the unfolding. Watching the baby elephants wrestle, I could almost hear the reminder: it’s okay, don’t take yourselves too seriously.

Alongside these encounters were the fireside stories, shared grief, tears, laughter, and curiosity. All these experiences came together like a musical orchestra, where every instrument contributes to a greater whole.

The invitation I felt was simple: you belong. Your unique way of being has something to offer. You can be wholeheartedly yourself here.

Finding Our Bearings When the Familiar No Longer Works

This year, our group explored how disruption can help us listen to insights and creativity that may be guiding us into a new phase of life. We shared stories about the larger cycles of change and how difficult it can be to recognize where we are within them.

We spoke about the threshold as the beginning of a cycle: an event or transition that ushers us into a new season and begins to shape us. We may sense that something is changing before we understand what it requires of us.

Then comes the renaissance, a time of development. As this season unfolds, we gain new insights, skills, and knowledge. We start sharing what we’re learning with the people around us.

Unraveling is often the most disorienting part. It’s when the encounter challenges our old ways of coping and we can’t resolve it. The understanding we once had of ourselves may no longer feel secure, and we can experience a loss of identity or a sense of isolation.

We also spoke about the return, when we emerge with something the experience has given us: a lesson, a capacity, or something tangible we can offer our community. What we carry forward remains connected to the difficulty we lived through and it can be an offering to others.

These cycles gave us a way to reflect on the questions each person had brought to the retreat. It can take courage to surrender to the way life may be guiding us. Naming an experience of unraveling doesn’t make it easy, but it can help us consider it within a larger story that’s actively unfolding.

Giving Our Attention Without Knowing What’s Next

One evening, we spotted two cheetahs far from the road. In this area of Kruger National Park, we needed to stay on the road, so we watched from a distance.

With so much open space around them, the cheetahs could have continued in any direction. We sat silently, observing them with awe and delight. Then they walked toward our vehicle and crossed directly in front of us. It felt almost as though they were saying, “Yes, we feel you too. It’s nice to meet you.”

That encounter stands out to me because of the unexpected intimacy. We couldn’t arrange it or know that it would happen. We could only be present for what the animals chose to do.

There was something in that experience that echoed our conversations about uncertainty: how much becomes available in our awareness when we allow a moment to unfold.

Returning Home with More to Listen To

Every retreat is different because each participant arrives with different questions, and each encounter offers something new to consider. This is part of what continues to draw me back every year. The relationship between people, animals, and the land always gives me more to learn.

Many participants describe a feeling of remembering in the South African bushveld. For me, it’s a place to reflect on our human story and our own growth within it, and to restore a connection with the natural world.

I came home with an invitation to keep listening: to notice when I’m bracing against change, to make room for other people’s needs, and to remain curious when I don’t yet understand what’s unfolding.

The attention we practice in the bushveld has a place in our lives at home. We can bring it to a difficult conversation or a change we didn’t anticipate. It can be as simple as applying it during a quiet moment in the day. Each offers another opportunity to understand ourselves and the relationships we are part of.

If you feel drawn to join a future South African retreat or explore my other retreat offerings, I invite you to join our mailing list to learn more.