Founders Oasis: South Africa!

The intent of the program is to help you reconnect with yourself and create close, trusting relationships with like-minded leaders.

Come ready to fully engage in the retreat, unplug from the world, and be open to expand your comfort zone and explore new possibilities.

Bring a business challenge you’d like to solve, or a new project or chapter of your life and work you’d like to design as a theme for the experience.

Please make sure you are able to commit to the full program without interruption (no work calls, leaving early, arriving late). Please prepare your colleagues and loved ones for reduced communication. This is so that the group can begin and end together and benefit from your full presence. This is very important for the design of the program both for you, and the quality of experience for the other attendees.

Through a mix of short teachings, exploration of the mind, connection with nature, group exercises, hikes, somatic experiments, cold dips, tracking, and ceremonies, you’ll walk away refreshed with new insights - and lifelong connections with an extraordinary group of humans.

We are cultivating a group of founders and leaders devoted to personal growth, leadership, high integrity and fun. An open mind and a spirit of adventure will really help. Note - it’s ok to be a little scared of going into the bush in South Africa for the first time - that’s normal, and will be part of the growth.

Decent fitness will be helpful, but this is not intended to be an intense hiking program. We will be tracking on the ground a significant amount which will require a basic level of fitness - mainly at a slow walking pace with lots of stopping for 2-3 hours at a time. We will also be supported by vehicles as needed in most cases.

Early June – Preparation

We will meet for a group call to introduce and connect the group before we meet for the retreat. During this call, we will also assign some content to help inspire you prepare for getting the most out of this deeply transformational journey. Many who have gone before you have experienced deeply valuable insights and have gone home to uplevel their lives in a meaningful way.

25 June – arrival to South Africa

Please book your ticket to arrive in Johannesburg by June 25th so we can start our program together as a group on the morning of the 26th.

26 June – Tour of Johannesburg South Africa

This is a transition day to adjust to the time zone and connect with your new team. We will do a day of urban “tracking” with a tour of Johannesburg, a visit to a neighborhood and a printing company run by youth in the township of Soweto, and have lunch at one of Nelson Mandela’s homes where he lived after leaving prison. In the evening, we will have a beautiful welcome dinner before we head to the wilds of Kruger the next day. 

27 June – Depart Joburg / arrive to Kruger Wilderness

We depart from Joburg in the morning to Kruger and fly into Skukuza airport, where we will be picked up by our team and enjoy a 90 minute game drive to the camp where we’re likely to see many wild animals.

27 June – 2 July – Crossing the Threshold: Founders Oasis Retreat in Kruger Untamed camp

Our Founders Oasis retreat operates out of Tshokwane River Camp.

The retreat is 5 nights/6 days with a strong focus on personal development activities, wilderness and tracking opportunities interwoven. 

We are adaptable to any specific outcomes you would like to work on during the retreat to further personalize the experience.

You will have an opportunity to share where you are in your process once the prework questions are sent out about a month before the retreat begins. 

Justin and Yanush will lead the group in coaching while Renias and Alex and other guides will share their knowledge, wisdom and stories of plants, animals and tracking. Being together with them will be like writing another chapter in the book, The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life – a prerequisite for the trip if you haven’t already read it!

2 July – Return from the wild

We create a beautiful closure and completion of the retreat. We depart from Kruger and arrive in Joburg around 3 pm local time where we will go our separate ways.

July – Integration

We believe that integrating our learnings is extremely important. It allows us to take time to review, share, and develop new distinctions and practices in our life. We will have two 90-minute group coaching calls for integration within the two months after returning. If desired, we also offer additional 1:1 coaching that can be discussed as a separate agreement.

All attendees will be sleeping in single tent unless a shared tent is requested.

Each room has a private camping shower and chemical toilet.

Bring comfortable shoes, preferably hiking boots, and appropriate outdoor gear for day hiking on flat ground with underbrush.

Many of our crew were glad to have hiking gators to protect from ticks and scratchy grasses and underbrush, but this is not mandatory.

Please bring sunscreen, tick repellant, rain jacket, etc.

The winter nights and mornings are chilly in this region, so you will want to bring layers. A down jacket is a good idea as it packs down easily, and there are times in the evening or in the early morning if we are up with the sunrise where you will be happy to have it. You will want a winter hat, and it’s recommended to bring thermal underlayers, and a sweater or fleece. You might want some light weight gloves and wool socks.

It will be like warm spring or fall conditions mid-morning till evening.

If you are crazy like us, you may want to bring a swimsuit in case you would like to do a cold dip in the camp pool!

International flights:

Arrival in Johannesburg by June 25th.

We arrive from the camping back in Johannesburg by about 3:00 PM on the 2nd of July, so you can plan your return that evening or the next day - or we’d encourage you to go check out Cape Town for a couple of days if you can!

We will be sleeping in a secure campground surrounded by electric game fences that keep out predators.

Diet restrictions can be accommodated upon advanced notice.

We will be in Africa during the winter season so there are fewer mosquitos. Consult your health professional about recommendations for malaria prevention if needed.

There are small ticks in the area and it’s a requirement of our program to diligently wear repellent at all times. We also recommend treating your outdoor clothing with Permathrin. Here is more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2H32jvv3XA

When we are moving in the wilderness on foot, or in a vehicle, we will be accompanied by expert trackers who understand how to read animals and avoid dangerous situations, plus they carry a rifle as a backup precaution.

The camp is equipped with thorough safety and evacuation protocols that we can share if this will help you feel more comfortable.