Yoga + Storytelling Journey in Kenya
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Yoga. Storytelling. Kenya.
Join award-winning Nairobi-based photographer Nichole Sobecki and journalist and yoga teacher Jill Filipovic for an extraordinary nine-day journey in magical Kenya.
We begin in Nairobi, Kenya’s humming capitol, where we’ll practice with one of the city’s best yoga teachers, meet some baby elephants, and visit a giraffe sanctuary. Then we’ll be off to Ol Pejeta in Kenya’s Laikipia region for three days of safari, yoga, meditation, bush walks, sundowners, and more. Finally, we will head to Lamu on the Kenyan coast for a festival of unlimited yoga, where we’ll also enjoy fresh-caught seafood, evening dhow rides, long beach walks, and the ability to explore one of the most stunning and special places in the world.
Throughout the retreat, Nichole will lead photography workshops — not just how to take a great photo on safari, but how to use visual tools to tell a compelling story. Jill will lead accompanying writing workshops focused on effective storytelling and weaving words with images. This is not your typical drop-into-a-beautiful-place yoga retreat: Nichole has lived in Nairobi for a decade, and Jill spent several years there as well; we’ll be taking you to our very favorite places that may not be on the typical tourist agenda. And we’ll both work with you individually on your own story-telling project.
Schedule
Saturday 12 March:
Arrive in Nairobi, stay at the Trademark Hotel
Sunday 13 March:
9am Breakfast
10am Meet in the hotel lobby for group transport for the day
11am Visit to Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage
12pm Visit to the Nairobi giraffe sanctuary
1pm Group lunch at the Talisman restaurant
2:30pm Storytelling workshop
3:30pm Soft yoga, breath, and meditation practice
7pm Dinner at Beit e Selam
Monday 14 March:
7am Depart for Ol Pejeta
11am Game drive
1pm Arrive at the Safari Cottages, lunch, storytelling workshop
3pm Vinyasa flow yoga
4pm Game drive + Sundowners
6pm Drinks around the fire
7pm Dinner
Tuesday 15 March:
7am Game drive
9am Bush breakfast
12pm Lunch
1pm Storytelling workshop
3pm Vinyasa flow yoga
4pm Game drive + Sundowners
6pm Drinks around the fire
7pm Dinner
Wednesday 16 March:
7am Game drive
8am Bush breakfast
11am Flight to Lamu
3pm Settle into Lamu houses, Storytelling workshop
4pm Vinyasa flow yoga
5:30pm Sundowners at Peponi Hotel
8pm Dinner at Peponi Hotel
Thursday 17 March:
8am Breakfast
9am Yoga on offer all day at your convenience
12pm Storytelling workshop
3pm Arm balance + Inversion workshop
5pm Dhow cruise + sundowners
7pm Swahili seafood feast in the house
Friday 18 March:
8am Breakfast
9am Yoga on offer all day at your convenience
12pm Storytelling workshop
5pm Sundowners
7pm Dinner in the house + work showcase
Saturday 19 March:
8am Breakfast
9am Yoga on offer all day at your convenience
12pm Storytelling workshop
1pm Optional departure for those with Saturday night flights
5pm Sundowners
8pm Dinner at the house
Sunday 20 March:
8am Vinyasa flow + meditation
9am Breakfast
1pm Depart for NBO
Meet Your Teachers
Jill Filipovic is a journalist, lawyer, and yoga teacher who lived in Nairobi for several years and is now based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a weekly columnist for CNN, the author of OK BOOMER, LET’S TALK: How My Generation Got Left Behind and THE H-SPOT: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness, and a regular contributor to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and others. She teaches energetic and alignment-focused Vinyasa flow, deep and chilled out Yin, and targeted inversion workshops.
Nichole Sobecki is an award-winning Nairobi-based photographer represented by the photo agency VII. From 2012-2015 Nichole led Agence France-Presse’s East Africa video bureau before immersing herself in documentary photography. She is also a contributor to Everyday Africa, a collection of images shot on mobile phones across the continent, and an attempt to showcase the moments missing from dramatic news images — everyday life that is neither idealized nor debased. The primary focus of Nichole’s work is on humanity’s fraught, intimate, and ultimately unbreakable connection to the natural world.
March 12-20 2022
The retreat includes:
-Daily vinyasa flow yoga
-Options for intensive yoga workshops and/or restorative Yin
-Daily workshops in photography, writing, or both
-Individual feedback and edits on writing and photo projects
-Shared accommodations in Nairobi, Ol Pejeta, and Lamu
-Two nights and three days of safari
-All transfers and flights within Kenya
-Conservancy fees
-Sunrise and sunset game drives
-Bush walks and conservation tours
-Visits to Sheldrick’s elephant orphanage, a giraffe sanctuary, and the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary (founded by Jane Goodall)
-Bush breakfasts and sundowners (drinks on safari at sunset)
-Three meals per day while on safari
-All drinks, including juice, soda, beer and wine
-A nighttime game drive
-A ticket to the Lamu Yoga Festival and unlimited yoga during the festival
-Sunset dhow cruise
-Breakfasts and dinners in Lamu
-and much more!
Accommodation:
The Trademark Hotel in Nairobi is a unique and modern spot ideally located for easy access to all Nairobi has to offer.
The Safari Cottages in Laikipia’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy are eco-luxury cabins in the bush, each with their own view of the nearby river and the game it attracts. Each cottage sleeps two to four people with a large shared living room, fireplace, private en suite bathrooms, and expansive veranda. Enjoy all-natural bathing products, a fabulous chef, unlimited beer and wine, twice-daily game drives, a night drive to spot nocturnal animals, and breakfasts and sundowners out in the bush or on the savanna.
Shela is a small beachfront village in Lamu where we will stay in private Lamu-style houses with open windows and courtyards to enjoy the sea breeze. Enjoy Swahili food (some of the best in the world), including fresh fish, coconut curries, and of course a Dawa at happy hour. The Lamu Yoga Festival is planned for our time in Shela, which will offer a wide variety of yoga classes all day long. (If the yoga festival is moved or canceled, daily yoga classes will be on offer).
Cost
Shared double accommodations: $5,100
Private single accommodations: $7,000
Reach out for info on resident rates
We are limiting this retreat to 12 participants.
Included in the cost: Accommodation for 8 nights, all flights and transfers within Kenya, most meals, drinks including beer and wine, daily yoga, daily storytelling workshops, morning and evening game drives, targeted yoga workshops, and private editing sessions with Jill and / or Nichole.
Option for a shared double room or a private.
A $500 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your spot.
Full payment is due no later than January 1, 2022.
Payment plans are available: Six installments of $850 paid monthly (beginning at latest August 1, 2021).
What’s NOT included: Roundtrip airfare to NBO; a $50 tourist visa; travel insurance (highly recommended); staff tips; premium spirits, cocktails and wines; lunches during the yoga festival (so you can eat at your convenience); souvenirs, laundry, and other personal expenses; spa services and massage.
