WHERE YOU WILL STAY
Where the Rhythm of the Ocean Meets the Rhythm of Your Soul
Located on the tropical, palm-fringed shore of the Indian Ocean, Salt Rock Hotel's prime beachfront position ensures every suite enjoys spectacular sea views. In the early morning or evening, you might spot dolphins from your room. At night, the sound of the surf will sing you to sleep.
There is something about the ocean. The way the rhythm of waves breaking and retreating mimics the rhythm of your breathing. Part of your transformation will be powered by this place.
On The Beach
Walk directly onto golden sand at the tidal pool with views of marine life below.
Unbeatable Coastline Views
Doze or do some serious dolphin spotting. You might even spy whales in season.
Sunrise & Sunsets with Palm Trees
Palm-fringed shores and skies that turn gold at the end of each day. This is the backdrop to your three days of transformation.
Coco's Buffet
Full-board dining to nourish body and soulacross your three-day stay.
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.
The Wild Eye Retreat:
The Transformative Lens
The Wild Eye Retreat: The Transformative Lens
An eight day photographic immersion in the heart of Namibia's Bwabwata National Park, where the whole photographic process is brought into alignment with the principles of nature, through Herbert Brauer's Photo-Life-Synthesis®.
We gather in the wild from 3 to 10 November 2027
Seven unhurried days of photography, journaling, reflection and silence in the heart of Bwabwata National Park.
FOR CREATIVES, LEADERS, VISIONAIRIES AND PHOTOGRAPHERS
– anyone in search for transition
– who has lost access to themselves
– you may find yourself wondering how to reconnect and how to
create a sense of meaning rather than achievement and performance alone.
This program supports you with taking steps into another
chapter or season of your life on a higher level than you currently can see for yourself.
The retreat offers both the space and the tools to reconnect with nature,
inside and out, and to access the creative potential
to approach every day’s challenges & opportunities with expanded awareness.
Guided by Quirine Peeters & Herbert Brauer,
you’ll benefit from a combination of creative nature
mentoring and transformative coaching,
a unique photographic process and journaling method that will serve
you through daily practices to discover,
reflect and renew your flow and meaning of life.
Both have truely diversed backgrounds that strongly complements each
other into a an unusual harmony that is available for you.
Supported by Tinolla Rodgers makes this an ideal space if you choose an extraordinary transformation for yourself and your life.
Between sessions you’ll rest deeply,
enjoy silence,
reflect and soak in the sights and sounds of the wild bush.
Every practice you learn here can be woven into your daily life when you return home,
so the reconnection you find stays with you well beyond the retreat,
supporting your seeing,
your awareness, your focus and your well-being.
This is not a retreat about escaping your life.
Not about entertainment, regular education nor conventional recreation.
It is a way of bringing your creative expression again in alignment with nature.
You may belong here if…
You've entered a transition and don't yet know what comes next
Your creativity has become habitual rather than alive
You feel there is something wanting to emerge through you
You want to reconnect with your own voice
You don't necessarily need another course, you want an experience that changes the way you perceive
Four pillars, bridged with the craft of photography and journaling itself.
Guided by Herbert Brauer,
The Wild Eyes Retreat is built on the foundation of Photo-Life-Synthesis,
the process he developed in 2020, in which the components of the entire photographic act are practised in alignment with nature's principles, drawing on the attributes of nature's five elements within the structure of the medicine wheel.
Woven through these movements is the craft itself - the foundational relationship between aperture, shutter speed and iso, the elements and principles of composition,
visual design and visual storytelling,
the qualities of light both external and internal,
and the relationship between content and abstraction.
One to one mentoring guarantees you personal attention throughout.
Seven days, held with intention
The daily rhythm is flowing through cycles and seasons,
held gently by Quirine & Herbert. Moving between craft,
nature practice, image and word.
What follows is the shape of experience rather than a fixed timetable.
Craft, nature practice, photography and rest
The daily rhythm is held gently by Herbert,
moving between craft, nature practice, photography and rest.
What follows is the shape of the experience rather than a fixed timetable.
Arrival and Opening
We gather as the light softens for a quiet opening circle, setting down the journey here and stepping into the stillness of the days ahead.
Foundations
The early days establish the ground — the foundational craft, the first intentioned nature practices, and the visual acuteness exercises that sharpen how you see, all held alongside first light photography and afternoon game drives that bring you close to game otherwise not approachable.
Deepening
Through the middle of the retreat, the four movements of Photo-Life-Synthesis are woven with the rhythms of the bush — morning and afternoon game drives, a soulful boat cruise on the Kwando, gentle bush walks, long siestas, and stretches of solitary practice with camera and journal.
Immersion
Barefoot sundowners in the sand at Horseshoe Lagoon, a bush dinner on a private island beneath a symphony of night sounds, the expressive art experience at The Sijwa Project, and one to one mentoring on the images you are making.
Closing and Integration
We gather one last time to draw the whole journey into a closing ceremony, and to carry home the practices, the techniques and the renewed way of seeing we have found.
Aligned with the cycle of the sun
Our daily rhythm is designed to balance rest and activity,
time in solitude and time among like minded peers.
To accomplish that,
we align each day with the cycle of the sun.
We wake early and leave camp at dawn to immerse ourselves in Photo-Life-Synthesis, as the sun's first rays change every quality of light within a very short time. The animals, the plants, and we ourselves respond to this, in ways you will discover.
After about three hours, we return to home base for coffee and a snack and carry on with feedback and journaling until midday.
We pause for lunch and a rest — this is what nature's own cycle suggests if we wish to align ourselves fully with it.
Three hours before sunset, we leave camp again to spend more time with, and behind, our lenses — these remarkable inventions we can use as both a window and a mirror.
Sunset is a time for reflection, before we gather at home base to share, commune and rest.
For the committed participant, the pendulum keeps swinging between a sense of achievement and a sense of accomplishment — and in that movement something opens: the expansion of awareness, connection, creative alignment and expression.
Held by those who live the work
Herbert Brauer
Facilitator · Creator of Photo-Life-Synthesis®
Namibian born Herbert Brauer is one of a small number of lens based communicators who works both as a stills photographer and an award winning filmmaker. Although his work includes urban settings, he is known for month long assignments in remote wilderness areas, often living a self contained, pioneering life.
From a young age his path has been a continuing quest to combine an ever deepening connection with nature and an exploration of how this informs his creative impulse. Alongside the lens based mediums, he has broadened his visual skill through painting, and his biological drawings have been published in scientific publications and monographs.
Herbert has been communicating his experiences and observations for close to three decades, resulting in many wildlife documentaries for international broadcasters, photo essays, ecotourism marketing material and exhibitions. He initiated, studied at and helped to shape the first private photography only college in Southern Africa.
It is his additional work as a full time transformative coach, mentor and nature guide that allows him to understand humanity's needs during times of disruption and change. In 2020 he developed Photo-Life-Synthesis, and today he creates photographic projects in collaboration with reputable conservation initiatives across Africa and beyond, facilitating immersions in which participants are encouraged to recognise a deeper responsibility in the web of life, and their own role as custodians of nature.
- Award winning wildlife filmmaker and stills photographer, close to three decades of work for international broadcasters and channels
- Creator of Photo-Life-Synthesis, a process aligning the photographic act with nature's five elements and the medicine wheel
- Studies in life and geo-sciences at South African universities
- Training in shamanic based nature philosophies and traditions in South and North America, and applied metaphysics in South Africa
- Full time transformative coach, mentor and nature guide
- Director of the classic conservation documentary The Last Lioness
Tinolla Rodgers
Owner · Host
Tinolla Rodgers is the owner of Retreats in the Wild and African Monarch Journeys, and the visionary behind experiences that reconnect people with themselves through the wisdom of nature.
With more than three decades in luxury hospitality across Southern and East Africa, Tinolla has dedicated her life to creating places where people feel deeply seen, safe, and transformed. Her own journey has shown her that healing is not something we find, but something we remember when we slow down enough to truly listen.
Tinolla gently holds a space where people can soften, reconnect, and return to what matters most. She has a unique gift for awakening the wisdom that already lives within each person, guiding them into a deeper relationship with themselves, with one another, and with the living intelligence of the natural world. Through simple yet profound experiences, she helps participants rediscover their innate connection to the Earth, recognising nature not merely as a backdrop, but as a teacher, a mirror, and a guide.
Every Retreat in the Wild is thoughtfully curated with extraordinary care, inviting guests into experiences that nourish the body, awaken the heart, expand awareness, and leave a lasting imprint on the soul.
Quirine Peeters
Expansion Architect · Leadership & Nature Facilitator
Belgian-born Quirine Peeters is an entrepreneur, business strategist and facilitator whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, self-expression, business and a deeper connection to life. With a background in business engineering, entrepreneurship and international business development, she has spent the past decade exploring what it means to build, lead and grow from a place of authenticity rather than external pressure or performance.
From childhood days, Quirine was drawn to understanding how people, businesses and organisations work. Her first exposure to international business was through the family business where she grew up, including visits to Mexico, Costa Rica and Spain that shaped the first steps of her journey. She studied Business Engineering at the University of Antwerp, with further international experiences and learning languages. Her entrepreneurial path began when she headed the family business and soon after built and sold a second business, with clients including IKEA, Lidl, Telenet and Atlas Copco.
Her professional journey gradually moved beyond conventional business strategy. Having worked closely with entrepreneurs, founders and leadership teams, her interest moved to how beliefs, identity, fears and untapped potential ultimately shaped how leaders created organisations. It was here that Quirine discovered the value of bringing unconventional methods and approaches into her practice. Forest walks, meditations, Energetic Flow Analysis, Human Design, family and intergenerational constellations, healthy living and astrology complemented her conventional strategic and commercial background, leading participants to expand their view and recognise blind spots and new possibilities to great effect. Writing and journaling has been an integral part of Quirine's and her participants' process of accessing and expressing our vast inner universe.
Today, Quirine works as an International Expansion Architect, helping leaders, founders and mission-driven businesses translate who they truly are into how they lead, communicate, position and grow. She works where identity, expression and strategy meet, combining sharp business thinking with intuition, presence and a strong ability to see what is underneath the surface. Quirine has lived in Spain, Greece, South Africa and, most recently, Namibia.
Quirine facilitates deep nature immersions in Namibia, bringing participants back to their essence and elevating recognition of their potential. Her life experiences, projected into wild nature, enable her to recognise her own and participants' deeper inspirations and motivations. Far removed from the noise and structures of modern life, participants are invited to slow down, reconnect with themselves and return to the essential. Quirine's deep connection and resonance with elephants inspires the next step in her journey.
Her work is rooted in a simple belief: meaningful growth rarely originates through more pressure, more performance or more doing. There is another, soulful way — one where presence replaces performance, truth inspires strategy, and deepest self-expression becomes the source of impact, efficiency and the recognition of endless possibilities.
Rupali Mahendra
Your Retreats in the Wild Angel
Rupali walks beside you long before you arrive at Nambwa. From your first enquiry to the moment you step into the wild, she lovingly holds every stage of your preparation, ensuring that you feel informed, supported and cared for.
ALL RETREATS INCLUDE
7 nights accommodation
Meals
Activities
Facilitation & mentoring: Daily guidance, instruction and feedback in group. Individual mentoring on photography and journalling throughout.
Pre-retreat calls
Post-retreat calls
Personalised e-book with energy reading and foundational photographic instructions upfront
A field journal and creativity tuition material.
What's Excluded
International flights
Transfers
Visa costs
Travel insurance
Personal purchases
Camera equipment
All beverages
A few things are yours to bring
This is a creative nature immersion with a focus on photography and journaling,
so a few things are yours to bring. Rupali will walk you through all of it during onboarding.
A digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR), mirrorless, bridge or compact camera, covering a range between wide angle and telephoto lenses. You’ll discover your perfect camera match in our first discovery call. ( Estimated cost if you don’t have a camera is €500 upwards)
A sense of curiosity, humour, enthusiasm and an open heart and willingness to discover an inner world that serves a greater good.
"If photography is a passport to life, then Photo-Life-Synthesis expands our experience and understanding of life."
- Herbert Brauer
There are journeys we remember for the images we brought home.
And there are journeys we remember for the way we learned to see while we were there.
The Wild Eyes Retreat is not simply eight days in a beautiful place with a camera in your hand.
It is an invitation to lay down the habit of merely capturing,
to reconnect with nature inside and out,
and to remember the seeing that has been within you all along.
If something in you has been longing to reconnect,
perhaps this is your moment to answer.
We would be honoured to welcome you as one of only twelve participants
who will share this journey together.
INVESTMENT
There are trips that fill a memory card, and there are journeys that fill something in us.
Only one of them changes how we see afterward.
The Wild Eye Retreat gives back more than a camera roll and goes
beyond what you know.
Eight days to put down the urge to capture everything and pick up instead
the practice of sensing what truely attracts you in life.
Whether you are a new comer or your photography has started to feel
like a habit rather than a hunger, this may be the nudge you’ve been waiting for.
If you thought your words don’t matter,
allow your voice to speak.
We would be honoured to have you alongside
eleven others on a journey rarely taken
There are journeys we remember for the images we brought home.
And there are journeys we remember for the way we learned to see while we were there.
Not ready to decide today?
Download the full brochure and read it somewhere quiet,
in your own time, at your own pace.
The Wild Eyes Retreat is not simply eight days in a beautiful place with a camera in your hand.
The Wild Eyes Retreat is not simply eight days in a beautiful place with a camera in your hand.
It is an invitation:
- to lay down the habit of capturing, thinking in old patterns and achieving,
- to reconnect with nature inside and out,
- to remember a new way of seeing and sensing that has been within you all along.
- to reclaim the power of your voice, written something in you has been longing to reconnect,
this is your moment to answer.
We would be honoured to welcome you as one of only twelve participants
who will share this journey together.
“What will be different about me when I go home?”
See the world from a different view, a new point you have chosen from.
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? LET'S TALK
Not everyone is ready to book with just a few clicks.
If this retreat stirs something in you, but you want clarity, reassurance or personal guidance before committing - let’s talk.
Schedule a 30-minute call with our team and we’ll walk you through the travel, the experience and the details that matter to you.
© Copyrights by African Monarch Journeys. All Rights Reserved.