SAFARI & DOLPHIN ADVENTURE
South Africa & Mocambique
With Courtney Ward, Rhianne van der Linde & Lolla Odendaal
Dates: 4 – 14 February 2025
Shakti Shiva Academy and Halo Gaia invite you to join us for the adventure of a lifetime!
YOU are invited to journey with us on an exploration of inner and outer landscapes over 10 magnificent days in which we’ll drop out of time, entering the ever-present eternal moment of now…
NOW is the time to re-enter the dreaming and discover the world that we really want to live in. One day, we become aware of a calling beckoning us from our familiar world into listening to the voice of our soul. This call becomes louder and louder until we realize that we must answer, so that once again we walk our own path, fall more deeply in love with ourselves and return to our untamed essence…
YOUR outside world is really an exact reflection of your inner world. This is a universal law!
"As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…”
― Hermes Trismegistus
Both our land and ocean safari’s are designed to help you drop deeper into the truth of who you are. Nature is the facilitator, and the quieter and stiller we become, the more she reveals her wisdom to us…
The re-imagining of who we are arises out of the contemplation, meditation and embodiment of truth reflected to us by the wildness of the natural environment in which we will totally immerse using inquiry, silence, dreaming, visioning, ceremony, and play.
Through guided drum journeys, liquid yoga, transformational breathwork, shamanic sound & song medicine and mindful movement, we learn to listen to the subtle messages of our bodies in service of our souls deepest longing.
In communion with the bodies of the gentle giants (elephants), we receive the pulse of the earth into our beings, we listen to the ancient wisdom of the mountains and we share our dreaming with the intelligence of the trees. In communion with the bodies of the whales and dolphins and the body of the ocean, we listen deeply to ourselves.
It’s time to wake up and return home to yourself – to pull back your projections and expectations and take a good look inside to welcome who is there.
We’ve chosen two diverse outer landscapes to explore as a reflection of our inner reality:
Tembe Elephant Park
A remote and magical place lying deep in the sand forests and wetlands of northern Tongaland. With its non-intrusive approach to wildlife conservation, Tembe is truly a wildlife reserve that will captivate your imagination for years to come.
Tembe is a Big Five reserve – home to an abundance of wildlife – offering visitors a very special bush experience.
Unique to Tembe are the intimate encounters you’ll have with some of the largest elephants in Africa. The 300km2 reserve, located in the Republic of South Africa between Kwa-Zulu Natal and Mozambique, is the ancestral home of the Tembe tribe who own and co-manage both the Park and the Tembe Elephant Lodge.
And of course, Tembe’s abundant wildlife extends far beyond the Big Five – Tembe is home to many antelope species, including the rare and elusive suni, one of the smallest and shyest species of buck in southern Africa as well as giraffe, wildebeest and a host of other small mammals, reptiles, insects and 340 species of birds.
View LIVE camera and sighting highlights here
Take a short visual journey through the Tembe Elephant park lodge here
- 3 nights in luxury en-suite tented accommodation with private deck
- 3 x 3-hour sunrise safari drives exploring the beauty and mystery of nature in the early mornings (we’ll stop for hot beverages & rusks at the MAHLASELA HIDE and waterhole)
- 3 x 3-hour tranquil afternoon sunset game drive’s (we’ll stop for sundowners at the MAHLASELA HIDE and waterhole)
- Game Drives are conducted in open safari vehicles by Tembe’s expert field guides. Your guide will share their knowledge, passion and stories of this unspoilt reserve offering you unique memorable experiences with nature that you will never forget.
- Early morning continental breakfast with hot tea/coffee
- Hot breakfast on return from early morning game drive
- Late lunch served in the afternoons
- 3 course dinners – enjoy rustic bush cuisine served under the stars, surrounded by the night sounds of the bush.
- Bar with complimentary tea/coffee/refreshments.
- Cool off in the pool near the boma in the afternoons
- Optional transfers to and from the Mahlasela hide during the day
- Enjoy a pampering private massage under a tree canopy surrounded by the sounds of the African bush (for your own account)
Ponta Malongane
A partially protected marine reserve and home to approximately 200+ Wild Inshore Bottlenose dolphins. You’ll have several respectful opportunities to observe, meet and encounter these intelligent beings in their natural environment. The un-spoilt beauty of the blue sea, golden beaches, and lush coastal vegetation are the playground for our liquid explorations…
We live in radical times on planet earth – times of devastation and unprecedented opportunity. The choice is ours: whether to stay in the Old Paradigm – or to Jump to the Next Level of who we can be. Dolphin consciousness has the extraordinary ability to help us make the leap. Their movement is an exhilarating funnel of joy. Their sonar sound waves read us inside out and blast us with healing sound. They reconnect us to our unbridled wildness, our free spirits. They carry us along in a dance of endless play. The sound of their song penetrates your body and can utterly transform the degree of freedom with which you live your life.
To encounter a dolphin in the wild – in the open ocean – is a true gift. Their agile, playful spirits inspire a well spring of joy and childlike curiosity. Wild dolphins invite an incredible sense of freedom – it is an immense privilege to meet them here in these clear, warm and beautiful waters. To dance with a dolphin is a transmission of pure LOVE.. it is Life transforming!
We invite you for an immersion into the world of wild dolphins – to be enraptured by their scintillating aliveness, to have your heart melted by the love and beauty they radiate, and to have your internal rigidities replaced by a viscerally felt sense of your own oceanic liquid body.
The Dolphins are waiting for you to come and meet them. And so are we…
- 7 nights in semi-luxury beachfront villa with gorgeous sea view (single or shared)
- 3 x 1.5 hour ocean safari launches with the opportunity to encounter and swim with the resident pods of wild bottlenose dolphins (Our Wild Dolphin encounters are deeply respectful and are always conducted on the dolphins terms and natures conditions)
- Snorkelling over shallow coral reefs with turtles, manta rays and an abundant variety of marine life.
- Professional snorkel gear – mask, fins and snorkel (You’re also welcome to bring your own)
- Basic snorkel course, boat safety and dolphin etiquette
- Dedicated boat with experienced skipper and crew.
- Direct access to an exquisite sandy beach – 7km of wild, untouched coastline and warm pristine waters….
- 4 x three-course dinners prepared on site for us by our personal chef (vegan, gluten-free and other reasonable dietary requirements are easily catered for)
- We’ll enjoy 3 x dinner’s eating out at fabulous restaurants in the local village (for your own account)
- 7 x two-course brunch’s (after our early morning launches or liquid yoga sessions)
- Teas and coffees (soft drinks and alcohol for your own account)
- Photographs of your ocean experiences
We are available to the conversation - noticing and responsive to the reflections and messages we receive and trusting the journeys we are being invited on...
Feedback from past attendees
The re-imagining of who we are arises out of the contemplation, meditation and embodiment of truth reflected to us by the wildness of the natural environment...
What we're sharing with you
- Liquid Yoga with Cora: resting into the unknown and with no expectations we enter the ‘mystery’ – moving the breath through the body and the body through the breath, our bodies soften and relax, open and expand…
- Liquid Breath with Cora: discover how relaxing and impactful it can be to experience your breath in a completely new way
- Transformational breathwork with Rhianne
- Sacred shamanic medicine song & sound journey with Courtney
- Drumming circles around the fire
- Subtle body practices opening us to greater stillness and finer sensation
- Subtle movement practices to awaken your liquid body
- Simple rituals, ceremonies and embodied meditations connecting you deeply with your essential nature
- Celebration, play & fun
- Silence, relaxation & deep rest
Through guided drum journeys, liquid yoga, transformational breathwork, shamanic sound & song medicine and mindful movement, we learn to listen to the subtle messages of our bodies in service of our souls deepest longing.
Your Facilitators
Courtney Ward
Partially based in Ponta Malongane, where it is said that heaven meets earth; Courtney guided Shakti Malan – founder of the Shakti Shiva Academy on her first life-changing encounter with the in-shore bottlenose dolphins of Malongane, Mozambique.
Through her intimate relations with the dolphins, her love of people and her love of the ocean, Courtney offers an extraordinary Ocean Awareness program and together with Shakti Shiva Academy creates a unique annual dolphin swim retreat.
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Essentially a performer in the great arts of the divine, Courtney is a talented artist, actor and musician. She is especially gifted in her spontaneous ability to apply her artistic gifts and musical talents to a group dynamic in aid of personal transformation and creativity. Since 1999 Courtney has worked passionately and intensively with the resident pod of Inshore Bottle Nose dolphins of Southern Mozambique as Halo Gaia’s owner, Ponta Malongane`s Ocean Safari guide, leading Dolphin Swim Facilitator and data collector.
Click here to watch Dolphin Delight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEdZh1h7uv8&t=21s
Specialities: Wild Dolphin Swim Retreats, Ocean Safari’s, Healing with Music – Medicine Song & Sound Journey’s, Conscious, Respectful & Responsible Eco-Tourism.
To view more about the work that Courtney offers you can view her website here: https://www.halogaia.com/ . To purchase her music album, Spirit Song, click here: https://shaktishiva.academy/product/spirit-song-music-album-by-courtney-ward/
Rhianne van der Linde
For the past 10 years Rhianne has been organizing and co-facilitating retreats in Mozambique. The energy of her many encounters with the dolphins and the vastness of the ocean permeate her being.
Truth as emptiness and Truth as embodiment – as consciousness expressing in form, in beautiful breathing bodies of love…it is this language of the heart, this feminine language of embodiment & feeling that I am most interested in learning and sharing.
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Rhianne walked alongside Shakti managing all of her in-person workshops and retreats from 2010 until her death in 2017.
Being in Shakti’s flight path has been one of the greatest gifts in my life and as principal and senior faculty at the Shakti Shiva Academy, I remain totally in-service to the co-creation of intimate online and retreat spaces for vulnerable & embodied sharing.
An avid alchemist and a dedicated dreamer with a depth of knowledge and experience of transforming the mundane into the magical, my personal explorations have led me into working with dreams, as a companion to those busy with their journey of dying, exploring the breath as a thread connecting us directly to source & processing and ritual with groups in wild nature.
Specialities: Breathwork, Dreamwork, Shadow Exploration & Integration, Sexual Awakening for Women, Embodiment and Somatic practices, Body De-armouring.
To enquire about booking a one-on-one personal session you can email Rhianne: rhianne@shaktishiva.academy
Lolla Odendaal
Lolla is a Wilderness Guide who is inspired by her witnessing the simplicity with which nature reveals our true selves.
She started her journey as a Nature Conservationist, River Guide, and Mountain Guide, and has been steered on a path deeper into the mysteries of the inter-connectedness of our Human-Nature.
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Lolla guides Vision Quests for women, and leads Sweat Lodges.
Her exploration of sacred landscapes focuses on revealing their relevance to modern lives.
Investment
Prices include all accommodation, meals & facilitation as detailed above
Prices are per person (sharing or single)
From: R10,334 / month for 3 months and a R10,000 sign-up fee
NOT INCLUDED
➺ Travel from home country to Mozambique – Maputo – return
➺ E-VISA registration for Mozambique (ZAR200 per person)
➺ Personal sundries – staff tips, holistic treatments etc.
➺ Drinks – alcoholic beverages
➺ 3 x dinner’s out in Malongane
If you have any questions, we invite you to schedule a discovery call with us.
F.A.Q
What is NOT included in the investment of this retreat?
- Travel from home country to Mozambique – Maputo – return
- E-VISA registration for Mozambique (ZAR200 per person)
- Personal sundries – staff tips, holistic treatments etc.
- Drinks – alcoholic beverages
- 3 x dinner’s out in Malongane
Who is this retreat for and do I need a partner to do this work?
This retreat is for all sincere seekers of truth of any gender or orientation, single or partnered, gay, straight, bi-sexual, fluid – whichever way your sexuality flows. You do not need a partner to participate. For those who are in partnerships, you may find that this will bring a greater dimension to your relating and intimacy with one another.
Do I need a partner to do this work?
No, this retreat is designed to be a personal journey, tapping into your own inner discoveries. For those who are in partnerships you may find that this will bring a greater dimension to your relating and intimacy with one another.
What if I need more support?
If you find you require additional support aside from the group coaching sessions provided with this course, then you are welcome to approach any of the facilitators and book private sessions. These sessions are booked and paid separately and negotiated between you and the facilitator in their private capacity.
What about confidentiality?
Your journey remains completely confidential. If you wish to share on the community website, there is a confidentiality agreement in place. Participation in the course Facebook and WhatsApp groups is entirely optional.
Does the retreat require specific knowledge or experience?
No. In fact, sometimes the less you know, the better it is – this opens you to beginner’s mind and to meeting the material in a fresh way.
Do you provide refunds? (NNB Update DATE)
Unless you cancel your registration timeously, the Shakti Shiva Academy does not offer a refund for any other reason.
During the first month of the course, that is up to and including 31 May 2023, you can de-register from the course by writing an email to info@shaktishiva.academy
If you selected the monthly payment plan when registering, we will cancel your future payments, however, please take note that no refunds will be provided.
If you selected to pay in full upfront when registering, we will refund 80% of your payment.
After ADD DATE, you can no longer de-register from the course.