The African STAR
2013 African STAR
A Self-Transformation Adventure Retreat
June 3-7 and June 11 – 15, 2013
Both events are sold out and wait lists are full.
Please join the interest list for first notice of future events.
IT’S TIME.
You’ve been following the rules all your life: in school, work, and relationships. But there’s a sense that you haven’t quite become all you’re meant to be. You feel your next steps must help heal not only you, but also other people and the world.
If this sounds familiar, join us for the African STAR (Self-Transformation Adventure Retreat). Spend a few delicious days in an intimate group no larger than 12—being coached by Martha and Master Coach and tracker Boyd Varty—in one of the most magical places in the world: Londolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. In this enchanted environment, you’ll find that Nature has been waiting to show you the way to your peace, purpose, and power. I love leading the STARs, Londolozi is one of the most special places on Earth. I am transformed every time I go there and I’ve watched dozens of STAR participants experience the same transformation.
“[STAR] was about as close to heaven as I’ve ever been. The environment is purely natural but exquisitely elegant. The close-up experience with the animals is truly unfathomable. And the human experience of feeling totally at ease, accepted and nothing but love for those around me was pure bliss. Once I returned home it took me days to even turn the car radio on. The zen-like peace persisted and the work-a-day hustle and bustle was unfamiliar and difficult to adjust to. Things in my life took on different meaning because I had been somewhere where the elephants and leopards didn’t care what brand of shoes I was wearing or how much my jewelry cost. What mattered was simply what I was, my spirit, my energy.” — Kym Hibbard, beeyoucoaching.com
“My visit to Londolozi was a completely life-changing, transformative experience. I’ve never been to a more magical, spiritual place! The insights I achieved there allowed me to change my business model to bring in more rewarding clients, helped me ignite my ideas for a brand-new online venture—now thriving—and enabled me to weather the downturn in my industry with more equanimity. I am beyond grateful for such a rewarding brain re-boot!” — Betsy Rapoport
“Working with Martha Beck always produces deep insight and change, but when you add the magic of Mother Africa into the mix, you’re in for quite an experience! The parallels between tracking wildlife and tracking my life’s purpose were profound. I returned from Londolozi with a clear sense of what needed to fall away from my life, and a renewed excitement to do my part in healing the world through my work.” — Chris Brandt
“I loved the “whole” STAR experience. I keep telling all my friends who ask “how was your trip?”, and I give them 3 words to describe it, “Restorative, Transformative, and Magical”. I swear it’s the best experience of my 60 years on this earth.” — Anne Felty
STAR highlights
- Twice-a-day game drives guided by local Shangaan animal trackers—you’ll see lions, cheetahs, hippos, leopards, zebra, giraffe, rhino and just about any animal that appeared in your coloring books as a child.
- First-class luxurious accommodations and gourmet meals in the midst of the African bush.
- Personal coaching sessions by Martha Beck in an intimate group setting of no more than 12
- Amazing story-telling during communal dinners.
- An on-the-ground animal tracking session that becomes a metaphor for tracking your right life. There’s nothing like a steaming pile of rhino dung to put life into perspective.
- Heal yourself and the ecosystem through your support of eco-tourism.
You will gain:
- A clearer picture of your life purpose and mission.
- Empowerment to create healing change in every area of your life, including stubborn and longstanding problems.
- A concrete daily practice you can use indefinitely to continue becoming healthier and more joyful.
- Intimate relationship with the earth, the elements, animals, and plants that constitute your natural home and “family.”
- Profound hope for your own future and the future of all you love.
LOCATION
Londolozi Game Reserve in the bushveld of South Africa.
Untamed, breathtakingly beautiful, and suffused with the energy of spectacular wildlife Londolozi Game Preserve is world-class ecotourism destination that will bring you back to your own true nature. Visitors here experience intimate interactions with the land and animals that are both deeply healing and extraordinarily rare.
ACCOMMODATIONS
If you think a safari means “roughing it,” think again. You’ll stay in a luxury suite at one of the Lodges at Londolozi, where you’ll enjoy luxurious accommodations, world-class cuisine, available spa treatments, and impeccable service (though this is one luxury hotel where the doors are locked mainly to keep baboons from going through your luggage while you’re away).
There is space for up to 12 people, depending on the number of requests for a private suite.
Your registration includes:
- A rare opportunity to be personally coached by Martha Beck in an intimate group setting of no more than 12.
- Luxurious accommodation at Londolozi for 5 days/4 nights.
- Three meals a day of world-class cuisine plus beverages (including house wines, local brand spirits and beers).
- At least 6 game drives, led by local and experienced guides and trackers, during which you’ll see spectacular wild animals in their natural setting.
- A coaching experience designed to give you access to deep inner peace, a sense of your life’s purpose, and empowerment to achieve your goals.
- The opportunity to help heal ecosystems—all of the net profits from the African STAR go to sustaining and reclaiming African wilderness, and to educational programs for local Africans through the Good Work Foundation, and the LEAP Foundation.
REGISTRATION & DEPOSIT:
$11,800 double occupancy (If you’re traveling singly, we’ll find you a roommate.) - SOLD OUT
($3600 now, then $4100 on 2/15 and 3/15/13)
$16,800 single occupancy - SOLD OUT
($5100 now, then $5850 on 2/15 and 3/15/13)
Space is limited to no more than 12 people, depending on occupancy requests.
Our wait lists are full, but please join the interest list for first notice of future events.
Questions?
Contact AfricanStar@marthabeck.com. We also invite you to download a recorded call with Martha, full of great info. (That link will open a save-as window, so turn off any pop-up blockers.)
Travel Arrangements
Valerie Wilson Travel Inc. has extensive experience helping travelers visiting Africa and Londolozi. If you would like their assistance in making travel arrangements, contact Alicia Diez at 212-592-1203 or aliciad@vwti.com.
Refund Policy
If you cancel on or before February 28, 2013, you will be refunded the registration fee paid so far less a $500 administration fee. If you cancel between March 1-31, 50% of the registration fee paid so far will be refunded. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received after March 31, 2013.
*Note: Air travel and gratuities are not included in the registration fee.
African STAR Itinerary
Day 1 At a Glance: Welcome
2:00 PM: Arrive at Londolozi, check in
3:00 PM: Tea and Introductions
“Tea” does not accurately describe the afternoon meals at Londolozi. You’ll be treated to a delicious and filling meal of a blend of traditional teatime treats, South African dishes and light noshes. The iced coffee is not to be missed!
3:30 PM: Game Drive
We’ll waste no time getting you out into the bush. You’ll observe the gorgeous landscape and enchanting animals from an open Land Rover, accompanied by your coaches, guides and trackers. Assisted by the coaching process, you’ll find that the close encounters with nature at its wildest draw you further away from life stress and deeper into peace.
7:00 PM: Dinner/Fire Circle
Back at the “boma” (an outdoor eating area with stone walls and a central fire pit), you’ll be served a gourmet meal on fine tableware. This dinner will begin a process of joyful and hilarious story-telling that will continue to develop throughout the STAR. Be forewarned: one local hyena has developed a habit of dashing through the boma and stealing fine cheese. This may occur during any dinner, though Londolozi staff will try to prevent it!
Day 2 At a Glance: Entering Inner Peace
6:30 AM: Game Drive
On the game drive that begins this day, you’ll implement strategies for quieting your thoughts and enhancing your sense perceptions. In the past, we’ve found that animals respond to us very differently—with no fear or tension—as the group becomes more deeply calm. This experience will help you “hold” the energy of peace back in your ordinary life.
10:00 AM: Mindful breakfast
11:00 AM: Coaching session
Working with the group Martha will coach each person to release specific anxiety-producing patterns, habits, and thought patterns. As these dissolve, you’ll sense the core of peace that can continue to direct your life long after your STAR experience is complete.
1:00 PM: Deep Tension Release Workout (adaptable to any level of fitness)
2:00 PM: Lunch/Tea
3:00 PM: Game Drive
On this game drive, you will enter into an active “conversation” with the wilderness, realizing that you are not separate from nature but part of it—and as such, you are part of its communication system. We have found that our STAR participants often receive dramatic guidance from the land and animals at this stage in the coaching process.
7:00 PM: Dinner/Fire Circle
This dinner is often the most raucous of the week, as our Shangaan hosts treat us to the rambunctious joy of African song and dance.
Day 3 At a Glance: Tracking Your Purpose
6:30 AM: On foot Tracking Exercise
“How did I lose track of my right life?” Almost everyone in civilized society asks this question at some point. When you experience this tracking exercise—learning ancient methods of tracking large animals such as rhinos or elephants—you’ll realize that the very skills you need to live your right life are being awakened within you.
10:00 AM: Breakfast
11:00 AM: Coaching session – Dream Analysis
During this session, Martha will help you “track” your life’s purpose by analyzing a dream you’ve had during the STAR (or another dream that feels important). Because the STAR activities will already have invited messages from your subconscious, your dreams may be suggesting powerful breakthroughs for your personal or professional life.
3:00 PM: On Foot Tracking Practice
Continuation of morning Tracking Exercise.
7:00 PM: Dinner/Fire Circle
Day 4 At a Glance: Embracing Your Power
6:30 AM: Awakening the Animal
This morning begins with a very simple experience: watching nature wake up. From an unusual perspective, you will see the savannah’s “night shift” end and the “day shift” begin. This truly is the greatest show on Earth—and you are an integral part of it.
10:00 AM: Breakfast
11:00 AM: Coaching session
During this session, Martha and Boyd will help you transform the ideas and inspiration that are rising to the surface of your consciousness into a solid, workable life plan. The group will help you brainstorm ideas for continuing to live according to your true nature.
12:30 PM: Aikido
1:30 PM: Londolozi Learning Centre
2:30 PM: Lunch/Tea
3:30 PM: Game Drive
This game drive is about empowering you to follow through on the plans you’ve created during coaching sessions. You’ll find information in nature—sometimes from the most unexpected sources—that you can help solve the problems of your everyday life and embrace a more powerful version of yourself.
7:00 PM: Dinner/Fire Circle
Day 5 At a Glance: Receiving Your Practice
6:00 AM: Final Game Drive and Closing Session
Whatever your personal insights from the STAR experience, Martha, Boyd and the group will help you design a continuing practice to sustain your connection to your true nature. This practice will be both intrinsically rewarding and profoundly life-enhancing.
9:00 AM: Breakfast
10:50 AM: Plane departs Londolozi
Here’s the thing about the STAR—you will be in Africa with an entire team at Londolozi completely dedicated to creating a magical, mystical experience for you. So while we publish this schedule to give you a sense of how the days flow, please know my team and I will be changing things up along the way—all of it geared toward giving you the best experience ever. ~ Martha
African STAR FAQ
HOW YOUR STAR EXPERIENCE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD
Your experience at Londolozi will not only help you, but the natural world. The profits from the STARs go toward healing wild ecosystems from the damage humans have inflicted. This includes making indigenous inhabitants the guardians of the wilderness, by funding education for local Africans through the Good Works Foundation (an educational initiative begun at Londolozi) and the LEAP Foundation (a fund set up in the United States to support the healing of ecosystems and their inhabitants).
The projects your STAR dollars will support include the restoration of the historic migratory routes of vast herds of antelope, the removal of fences throughout the entire continent that have killed countless animals, adult literacy programs for villagers, and much, much more.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How is the STAR different from other African safaris?
It’s always wonderful to experience the African wilderness. However, the STAR takes that experience and turns it into an all-out embrace of your own inner nature. Every waking moment of the STAR has been carefully designed to help you connect with your essential self and re-discover the joy you were born to experience. This is much, much more than a safari. Some of the most highly trained experts in the world will be focusing intense attention on you, helping make the experience luxurious, exciting, deeply rewarding, and even life-transforming.
2. What makes this trip extraordinary?
Aside from a coaching intensive like no other, the centerpiece of the STAR experience is Londolozi itself. The managers of Londolozi set out to “restore Eden” (the very word Londolozi means “protector of all living things”). The spirit and feeling of this location are completely indescribable–that’s why we’re inviting you half way around the world to experience it for yourself. The animals seem to be affected by this ambience; they respond to humans in ways that are almost nurturing, always enlightening, and different from similar encounters even in other African locations. This is simply like no other place on earth.
3. Will I receive coaching from Martha?
You will not only receive personal attention from me during the coaching sessions, we will also share many adventures, meals and general festivities that are included on the itinerary. I see this as my chance to do the kind of deep, client-focused coaching I most enjoy.
4. What kind of physical shape do I need to be in?
We can accommodate any level of physical fitness. You’ll have an opportunity to do activities (such as yoga) at whatever level of intensity feels comfortable to you. You may choose to do some light walking but no more than an hour a day, at the most. If you love exercise, you can enjoy Londolozi’s workout facilities and world-class instructors.
5. How will I sustain and implement what I learned about myself from STAR?
A practice will be custom-designed specifically for you during the coaching sessions. This will help you sustain the positive experience of the STAR through a simple, pleasurable sustained activity. Participants often form lasting friendships that continue to benefit them after the STAR.
6. Is it safe to walk around the reserve?
You’ll be asked to have a staff member accompany you if you want to leave the camp (for example, to jog) or walk around when it is dark. Though animals regularly pass through the camp, no one has ever been seriously harmed at Londolozi because every precaution is taken to maintain your safety.
7. When should I arrive in South Africa? How do I get to Londolozi?
We recommend that you arrive in Johannesburg a couple of days ahead of time to recuperate from jet lag. The easiest way to get to Londolozi is via a Federal Air flight from Johannesburg (Oliver Tambo International Airport). These flights must be booked and paid for directly through Londolozi and we will assist you with this once you register.
8. Can I arrive early at Londolozi?
Yes, if space is available. You will be responsible for any charges outside of the STAR dates. Please contact Londolozi directly at linda@londolozi.co.za to check availability and rates.
9. If I’m coming alone, who will I room with?
If you registered for double occupancy, you will be assigned a roommate. The cottages you’ll occupy are very spacious, and many people come on their own.
10. Where can I get more information about flights, hotels, sightseeing, passports, etc?
Valerie Wilson Travel Inc. has extensive experience helping travelers visiting Africa and Londolozi. If you would like assistance in making travel arrangements, contact Alicia Diaz at 212-592-1203 or aliciad@vwti.com.
11. What expenses are included?
With the exception of airfare from your hometown, hotel in Johannesburg, the charter flight from Johannesburg to the game reserve, and gratuities, all expenses (including accommodations, meals, activities, and game drives) are included.
12. What kind of clothes and shoes should I pack?
Since June is late autumn/early winter in South Africa, it will be warm when the sun is out and may be quite cold (and we aren’t kidding!) when the sun sets. The atmosphere and Londolozi is very casual and dinner is outside so dressing for dinner means layering up. Here are some things to include when you pack: long and short sleeve tees, sweaters or sweatshirts, comfortable pants and shorts/skirts, walking shoes and/or hiking boots or suitable trainers, sun hat and sun glasses, sunscreen, wind breaker, warm fleece or bush jacket, gloves and hat. Please note that Federal Air has a luggage limit of one bag weighing 20kgs (44 lbs) per person, in a soft bag if possible.
13. Do I need to get any shots/immunizations?
Londolozi is technically located in a malaria area, though the disease is not at all common there. You should talk to your doctor or travel health clinic about ways to prevent malaria (e.g. taking anti-malaria pills). For more information, go to the Centers for Disease Control website.
14. Is there more information available about the STAR?
Yes. For more information or to request a free mp3 recording of a STAR information call led by Martha Beck, please email AfricanStar@marthabeck.com. (You’ll also receive a link to this recording upon your registration.)
*group photo: Phyllis Lane http://www.phyllislane.
