RETREAT TO SHASHANI LODGE TO RELAX AND REJUVENATE

By Michael Nott

There is no more profitable investment than investing in yourself. You are your best healer, hero and leader. Reconnect to find the answer you are looking for.

A stay at Shashani Lodge is a unique and unforgettable experience. For local Zimbabweans it’s an opportunity to escape from the hustle and bustle and all the stresses of city life. For international travellers it’s the perfect start or ending to a tour of the country.

Husband and wife team Zoe and Vusa Mazula offer different retreats hosted at Shashani. They are usually three day/ two night events but guests are welcome to extend their stay at the lodge. There are three different kinds of retreats, each individually tailored to offer skills, tasks, and workshops to benefit from. They also include notes emailed to you for future reference and practice. The retreats are designed to help people in a holistic way, incorporating mind, body, soul, and emotional well-being. Zoe and Vusa are professional musicians with a passion and wisdom in frequency healing of the inside to transform your outer world.

Life is how you see it. The retreats are designed to help individuals to reconnect with themselves and their own unique healing power and wisdom to correct imbalances in their lives. Learning to thrive rather than just survive. The three retreats on offer are Reconnect to Self, Reconnect to Nature, and Reconnect to Thrive. Reconnect to Self is curated to help you eliminate the stresses and demands of everyday life and find your real self. It will help individuals to recognise the blocks and imbalances in their lives that are holding them back and to start positive changes. It’s designed to reignite your own individual wisdom and do away with negative thoughts and beliefs from past emotional trauma. It will reawaken your inner power and strengths.

Reconnect to Nature will help you to appreciate nature’s infinite power and wisdom. It includes nurturing and regenerating the soil; how and why to consider creating an organic food forest—largely based around permaculture principles. Food gardens take a while to establish but will provide year round nutritious food with little effort, and they can be established on a small or large scale depending on available resources; It will also focus on building with natural materials; natural medicines and using natural methods to reduce stress and face daily challenges.

Reconnect to Thrive is designed to teach people how to flourish in the wild—survival skills, wild foods, natural medicines, and first aid, as well as navigation abilities to find your way around. It’s a fun and educational adventure for adults and ideal for parents to reconnect and bond with their teenage children. It also covers conflict resolution, how to deal with stressful situations, and problem solving so it’s excellent for corporate team building.

Apart from being professional musicians, Zoë and Vusa are currently building a food forest in Bulawayo and work providing therapy for horses in need of physical or behavioural rehabilitation. Oh, and if that’s not enough they also do dowsing.

The retreats accommodate 6 to 10 participants, including teens (over 16), adults and the elderly. When you book for the retreat, accommodation and meals at the Lodge are included.

The Lodge is nestled in a private game reserve bordering on the Matobo National Park. The Matobo Hills have been declared a UNECO World Heritage Site not only for the distinctive unspoilt beauty of the landscape but also for the wildlife and the exceptional cultural heritage of the area.

It’s situated in the Shashani Valley, close to the town of Plumtree on the border with Botswana, and about an hour’s drive from Bulawayo, also called the “City of Kings and Queens” in honour of the great Ndebele king Lobengula.

It’s child-friendly, and there’s loads of activities available for both adults and children so it’s great for family getaways. One child under 18, sharing with two adults, can stay free of charge, while children staying in their own rooms get reduced rates.

There are 10 double or twin rooms each with a private verandah and en suite, a restaurant, a bar a swimming pool and a firepit. Activities – apart from, or during, the retreats – include game drives where you’ll see plains game. There’s extensive birdlife – around 340 species have been identified making it ideal for a birding safari. The adjacent National Park has a number of dams which are great for a day’s fishing excursion.

You can take an easy guided walk to view the game close up and visit the rock paintings which are some of the oldest in the world. You can visit the remains of ancient grain bins and soak in the culture and history of this outstanding part of Africa. The huge powerful granite outcrops and boulders are remarkable . The Hills are a magical place where visitors can hear whispers of the African spirit. You can also take tour of the nearby city of Bulawayo and learn about its historical and cultural wealth. All of this is available while enjoying a satisfying and rewarding retreat.

To contact Zoe and Vusa for information or to book a retreat: Call/WhatsApp +26378 865 9878.

Email: [email protected]

From Destination 19