UNTAMED MEN
UNTAMED MEN
You will not leave as someone new.
You will leave as the man you've always been, fully awake.
A 5-night men's retreat in the wilds of Namibia, where modern warriors shed their armor, awaken their untamed strength and return home transformed.
14-19 August 2026
Nambwa Tented Lodge, Bwabwata National Park
R64,500 per person sharing +30% single supplement
€4,300 available for international guests
• Only 15 spots available
Hosted at Nambwa, Bwabwata National Park, in the Zambezi region of Namibia.
19-24 February 2027
15 seats available
Dusk in the bushveld. The fire is being laid. You stand on the deck of a treetop suite,
fifteen metres up in the canopy, as an elephant moves
through the long grass below without a sound.
This is what we are offering you. Five days at Nambwa, in the wilds of Bwabwata National Park, located in the world's largest conservation area for wildlife. One threshold ceremony, either a sweat lodge that strips away what has been holding on, or a firewalk across burning coals. Hojo sword training in the long golden light of dusk. Breathwork that quiets a man's whole system. Game drives, boat cruises on the Kwando, sundowners at Horseshoe Lagoon. A bush dinner on a private island, beneath the stars.
And every night, the fire circle, where the work goes deep and a brotherhood is forged that most men go their whole lives without knowing exists. Held by Brett Shuttleworth, Joe van Niekerk and Cobus Visser. Three men who have walked through their own fire and come back with truth to share, with Tinolla Rodgers, the Keeper of the Circle.
This is Untamed Men.
A journey into courage, authenticity, and heart-led living.
This retreat is for the man who has been holding it all.
You have done what was asked of you. You have built the business, or the career, or the family, or all three.
You have shown up. You have provided. You have armoured up when life required it of you,
and you have not put the armour down in a long time.
And quietly, when the world goes still, something in you is asking a question you have not quite let yourself answer.
Is this all there is?
If you are here, that question has already been asked. You may not have words for it yet. You may not be in crisis.
You may, on paper, be doing brilliantly. But something in you has gone quiet that did not used to be quiet.
The fire is still there, but it has been banked under a lot of duty.
This retreat is not a self-improvement course. It is not a coaching weekend. It is a threshold.
You do not need to be in spiritual work. You do not need to be sure of anything.
You only need to be willing to put down what you have been carrying, for five days,
in a circle of men who will meet you exactly where you are,
in a land that has been waiting longer than any of us have been alive.
WHAT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE
Six days. Five nights. The wilds of Bwabwata National Park, where the lodges sit high in the treetops and the elephants pass beneath you in the morning. You arrive at Nambwa Tented Lodge, and the world begins to soften almost immediately. There is a private deck, a quiet walkway through the canopy, and the sound of water moving somewhere in the floodplain below. The team meets you and holds you, the way Nambwa holds everyone who arrives.
Threshold ceremony◆Hojo sword◆Breathwork◆Game drives◆Kwando river cruises◆Sundowners◆
Island bush dinner◆Nightly fire circle
On the first evening, the circle is opened by Tinolla as custodian of this land. Fifteen men around the fire under the southern sky. Brett, Joe, Cobus and Tinolla sit with you, and the work begins, gently, the way these things should begin, with introductions, with breath, with a setting of the ground.
The mornings are early but unhurried. Hojo sword training in the long golden light, a meditative form of Japanese swordsmanship that Brett carries into this work. It is not violence. It is presence sharpened into form. The blade asks for total attention, and total attention is exactly what you came for.
A day comes when the threshold ceremony is held. It may be the sweat lodge, where you enter the ancient heat and let it strip away what has been holding on. It may be the firewalk, where Cobus prepares each man with care before he walks across burning coals. The facilitators choose the ceremony that best serves the group, the season and the land, and you will be told which it will be during the retreat. You will not know what to expect. You do not need to.
Breathwork runs through every day. Joe holds this ground, the breath, the body, the somatic anchor.
The work is not theory. It is felt. You leave each session with your nervous system different to the one you walked in with.
Game drives through Bwabwata. Boat cruises on the Kwando River,
sliding past hippos and elephants and papyrus islands.
Bush walks where the local guides share what their fathers and grandfathers taught them about this land.
Sundowners at Horseshoe Lagoon, where you sit barefoot in the sand and watch the day fall away over fiery water. There is a bush dinner on a private island, beneath the stars, beside the fire. A creative session at the Sijwa Project,
the women's co-operative we support, where the local artists work with you in expressive art and integration.
And every night, the fire circle. This is where the work goes deep. Where masks come off.
Where the brotherhood is forged.
Most men who walked the March circle tell us afterwards that the fire circles were the part they cannot un-feel.
Throughout, Brett's I AM principles, intention, masterpiece, gratitude, balance, integrity, humour, love,
are woven into the days. Not as theory, but as ground. Lived. Tested in the wild.
You will not be the same when you come home. The men who walked the March circle were not.
Their families noticed. The work continues to land for months afterwards, the way the deep work always does.
See the brochure for the full day-by-day journey.
Your Hidden Sanctuary
Your Tented Suite in the Treetops
Nestled high amongst majestic trees, honouring the elephants' right of way below, an authentic walkway joins decadently spacious tented suites, which emanate a feeling of vastness and evoke a gentle balance of serenity.
As dawn breaks your morning tea or coffee, together with homemade biscuits, are personally delivered to your tent by our Chef. From the privacy of your tree house deck, watch the sky illuminate with hues of purple and amber and re-energise for the day's adventure ahead.
The large herds of elephants, buffalo and plains game that roam the floodplains below later seek refuge and security under your tented suite for the night. Guests are escorted to their rooms after dinner.
Two Ways to Stay
Single
The whole suite to yourself.
Sharing
Share the suite with a fellow guest.
Same suite, same experience. Rates are listed under Investment.
Kwando River
Eastern Zambezi Region, Namibia
Bwabwata
Inside the National Park, in the heart of KAZA
Tree house deck
Private views over the floodplains
Dawn delivery
Tea or coffee & homemade biscuits from our Chef
Who holds this work
Brett Shuttleworth
The Consciousness Pioneer
From international rugby to Africa's first male supermodel, to Hollywood, to one of the world's leading consciousness trainers. Brett has trained over 200,000 people and is the creator of HoJo Consciousness Training. In Untamed Men he guides the inner architecture of the work, the I AM principles he has spent twenty-five years walking men through, and the Hojo sword form. Behind all of it, you meet a man who has walked through his own fire and come back with truth to share.
Joe van Niekerk
The Warrior Healer
Joe van Niekerk represents the ultimate fusion of championship performance and profound healing mastery. As a 50-cap Springbok legend and Toulon Hall of Famer, Joe dominated international rugby for 13 years before embarking on one of the most remarkable transformation journeys in modern sport.
After retiring from professional rugby, Joe overcame personal trauma, addiction and autoimmune conditions through holistic healing. His journey through more than fifty ceremonies, extensive breathwork training and somatic healing has equipped him with unparalleled expertise in masculine transformation.
Through his blend of ancient wisdom and modern psychology, he aims to show that true strength comes from vulnerability and that sustainable success lies in reconnecting to your wholeness.
At retreat centres he has founded in Costa Rica and around the world, Joe uses his expertise in the worlds of elite performance and holistic healing to help men transform their relationship with strength, vulnerability and authentic leadership.
Joe's mission is to help you understand that true performance comes from inner alignment, and that the greatest victories are not won on the field, but in the depths of your own soul.
Cobus Visser
The Viking
Cobus Visser is a South African entrepreneur, business strategist, leadership expert, author and internationally recognised keynote speaker, with more than two decades of experience across consulting, retail, hospitality, technology, manufacturing, franchising, tourism and property investment.
As founder of Cobus Visser International, he helps organisations strengthen leadership, accountability, culture and performance through behavioural science, executive coaching, experiential learning and strategic execution. He also founded Firewalking Africa, a leading experiential leadership and team development organisation delivering transformative programmes to businesses, government institutions, professional sports teams and private organisations.
Cobus is Africa's only Master Firewalking Instructor and the author of Walking Through Fire. More than thirteen thousand people have crossed a threshold with him.
He is co-founder of BSC Ignite Agency and has founded, scaled and exited several businesses. He helped expand Furn4u / Modern Living from six to thirty stores nationwide, creating approximately 350 jobs through that business and more than 8,000 through his career.
Living with haemophilia and having overcome periods of paralysis, Cobus climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on crutches. His journey embodies resilience, courage and his belief that extraordinary potential exists within every individual.
In Untamed Men, Cobus brings his gift for meeting thresholds into the circle, and when the firewalk is chosen, he holds it with great care.
Tinolla Rodgers
The Keeper of the Circle
Tinolla Rodgers is the Owner and Managing Director of African Monarch Journeys and Retreats in the Wild. Over more than thirty years in luxury eco hospitality, sustainable tourism and community development across Africa, she has made the guest experience her life's work. Every need is anticipated and every detail is considered, so that each person who arrives feels genuinely held.
Tinolla built this space because she saw what the men in her life were carrying, and what they had nowhere to lay down. On Untamed Men, she is not behind the scenes. She is present throughout the journey, walking alongside Brett, Joe and Cobus in every session and supporting the work as it unfolds. In a retreat devoted so deeply to masculine strength, she brings the balancing presence of the feminine. That presence is receptive and nurturing, and it is quietly strong. It gives the men a place to soften, to feel safe and to be met with warmth as well as challenge. At times, Tinolla may step in to offer the feminine perspective on a topic.
Tinolla opens and closes each retreat in ceremony. At the opening she asks for the blessing of the land and honours the ground on which the work will take place. At the close she offers thanks and releases the circle back into the world.
Her work is grounded in a lifelong relationship with the wild and in her practice as a certified ThetaHealing practitioner. Deeply rooted in the Zambezi Region, where her lodges are held in partnership with the local conservancies, she holds a simple belief at the centre of everything she creates: nature remembers what humanity has forgotten.
Tinolla holds the land, the rhythm and the heart of the circle. Behind her, a dedicated team ensures that every man is comfortable, nourished and cared for in the spirit of warm, authentic African hospitality.
Rupali Mahendra
Your Retreats in the Wild Angel
Your warm point of contact from the moment you reach out to the day you arrive at Nambwa. Every question, every detail, every small worry comes to her. She is the woman holding your journey alongside us, before the retreat itself begins.
VOICES FROM THE CIRCLE
What the wild gives is hard to put into words.
So we will let the men who walked the Untamed Men circle speak for themselves.
These are their voices, in their own time, in their own words.
The wife of one of the March guests wrote to Tinolla afterwards. She said simply, "He came home different. Thank you."
WHAT MAKES NAMBWA EXTRAORDINARY?
You won't feel like a guest in nature. You'll become part of it.
The wide layout and elevated design ensures privacy, stillness and peaceful nights.
The juxtaposition of luxury + wilderness nurtures trust: you know you're safe, yet untamed.
Waking to silence, starlight and nature primes your nervous system for deep inner work.
This accommodation is more than “where you sleep”. It's a vessel for your transformation.
Exclusive & Secluded
With only 10 spacious tented suites, your retreat won't feel crowded. It will feel sacred.
Treetop Living Among Wildlife
Elevated wooden walkways ensure you tread lightly on the land. Below and around you: elephants, buffalo and plains game roam freely.
Generous Space & Comfort
Each suite spans 110 square metres with a private lounge, en-suite bathroom and full opening walls to bring the outdoors in.
Private Decks & Views
Step out onto your deck each morning. Watch the floodplain awaken. Sip coffee or tea delivered to your tent as dawn breaks.
Design that Honors the Land
Natural, calming decor, mosquito nets, biodegradable amenities and safe storage strike the balance between comfort and ecological respect.
Gathering Spaces with Presence
The lodge's heart is its majestic deck, open airy dining, panoramic views and the chance to spot wildlife right from the lodge grounds.
Wildlife at Your Doorstep
Some days, you won't need to go on a game drive. Animals often drift under your deck or through camp, offering powerful encounters from safety and quiet presence.
Curated Dining Experiences
Imagine a bush dinner on a private island with a symphony of night sounds meeting the crackling of a warming fire. Imagine sundowners with no fences between you and the hippos.
MEET YOUR FACILITATORS
This retreat isn't just held by a place.
It's held by men who've walked through the fire themselves, and returned with the tools to guide others through it too.
Brett Shuttleworth
The Visionary Guide
Former rugby player, international model, Hollywood actor and founder of Smiling Souls Retreats, Brett has spent over a decade helping men rediscover the strength and clarity they thought they'd lost.
His facilitation blends ancient wisdom and embodied practice; breath, sweat, stillness and wild honesty. Brett's gift lies in creating spaces where walls fall away and truth has room to breathe.
Joe van Niekerk
The Warrior Healer
Once a celebrated Springbok rugby player, Joe walked away from the spotlight to follow a deeper calling.
Today, he leads men through transformational experiences that bridge strength with softness, fire with presence and performance with purpose. His own journey from global sports fame to spiritual leadership gives him a rare ability to hold space with power, humility and heart.
Together, Brett and Joe bring deep experience, grounded leadership and embodied truth.
They don't just teach the work, they live it. And they'll hold the fire beside you every step of the way.
YOUR RETREAT BEGINS THE MOMENT YOU LAND IN AFRICA
YOUR RETREAT BEGINS THE MOMENT YOU LAND IN AFRICA
We'll make sure every step feels effortless.
Step 1: Flights
International guests fly into Johannesburg or Cape Town, then connect to:
• Katima Mulilo (Namibia), the closest, approx. 1 hour to the lodge
• Kasane (Botswana)
• Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe)
• Livingstone (Zambia)
Step 2: Lodge transfers
A simple travel plan with clear pickup details and timing.
Step 3: What to pack
• Lightweight, breathable clothing in natural tones
• Warm layers for evenings by the fire
• Comfortable walking shoes, swimwear and flip-flops
• A hat, sunscreen, insect repellent and a sense of adventure
Travel support
• Dedicated team for travel questions
• Visa guidance and assistance
• Airport meet and greet and transfers to Nambwa, arranged on request at an additional cost
• 24/7 on-ground support
Your retreat ticket includes
• 5 nights at Nambwa Tented Lodge
• All meals & wild-bush dining
• Threshold ceremony (sweat lodge or firewalk), breathwork & sword
• Game drives, walks & boat cruises
• Fire circles & guided sessions
• Travel coordination & support
From treetop to touchdown, we've got you. All you need to do is arrive.
investment
This is not the kind of retreat one books lightly. It is the kind one books because something inside has already decided.
A 30% deposit secures your seat.
Date: 19-24 February 2027
Location: Nambwa Tented Lodge, Bwabwata National Park, Namibia
Local SADC Rates
N$71,999
Per person sharing
SINGLE
N$93,000
INTERNATIONAL Rates (N$)
N$91,000
Per person sharing
N$118,000
SINGLE
INTERNATIONAL Rates (EURO)
€4,900
Per person sharing
€6,300
SINGLE
Sit with us, before you decide.
There is no pressure here. If a quiet yes is forming, or if something is in the way and you would like to name it, book a gentle conversation with our team. No one will be sold to. No one will be rushed.
Choose a time that suits you, and Rupali will be in touch to confirm.
YOU HAVE READ THIS FAR FOR A REASON.
YOU HAVE READ THIS FAR FOR A REASON.
The doors are open. The land is waiting. The circle is gathering. If this is yours, you have probably known it for some time. Trust that quiet voice. Step across.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Do I need to be experienced with this kind of work?
No. Most men arrive having never sat in a circle like this. You do not need to be in spiritual work, or sure of anything. You only need to be willing.
What is the level of physical activity?
Gentle to moderate. The sword work, breathwork and walks are accessible to most men. Nothing is forced, and you choose your own depth in every session.
What is the food like?
Nourishing and generous, lovingly prepared by our local chefs. Let us know any dietary requirements when you reserve and we will take care of them.
Will there be alone time?
Yes. The days are full but unhurried, with quiet space to rest on your private deck, to integrate, and simply to be.
What should I tell my partner or family?
That this is five days to put down what you have been carrying, in a circle of men, in one of the wildest places left. Most men come home steadier, and their families feel it.
Will there be a sweat lodge and a firewalk?
Each retreat includes one threshold ceremony, either a sweat lodge or a firewalk, not both. The facilitators choose the ceremony that best serves the group, the season and the land, and you will be told which it will be during the retreat.
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