Yoga Safari

Are you longing to relax and to reconnect with nature?  Why not strike a yoga pose in the the African savannah?  Take some inspiration from the animals that surround you.  Find the straight and tall posture of a giraffe, the impeccable balance of a marabou stork, the weightlessness of a soaring snake eagle, and the perfect stillness of a lion laying in wait.  Discover your inner peace amidst the natural harmony of pristine wilderness….

Perfect peace in the Chyulu Hills

In our increasingly complex and technology-driven lives, it is more important than ever to find time to relax.  Campi ya Kanzi is the perfect place to unwind and escape, restoring mind, body, and spirit in one of the world’s most beautiful places.

Campi ya Kanzi recently hosted ten guests for a week-long, rejuvenating yoga retreat.  In addition to hikes and game drives, the guests enjoyed restorative yoga practice twice a day in a variety of locations – at Okoikuma for a sundowner, at Tembo House under the stars, even pool-side with a view of Kilimanjaro.  They also visited the Chyulu Conservation and Research Center, picnicked in the cloud forest, and even taught some yoga to the Maasai children in a local village.

The guests represented the Modo/Moksha community from Modo Yoga NYC and Moksha Yoga Montreal, which have raised over $85,000 for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.  We are extremely grateful to the Modo/Moksha community for its tremendous support!  We absolutely loved hosting this yoga safari and look forward to further collaboration in the future.  Here, we share some wonderful photographs and feedback from our Modo/Moksha guests.

Lenkai, a local Maasai warrior, strikes a fierce and fitting warrior pose.

 

Our Maasai staff have clearly mastered the warrior pose.  It’s second nature.

“Campi ya Kanzi connects you to people, nature, and the beauty of the Chyulu Hills, stimulating thinking around sustainability and conservation and the interconnection of it all.  It awakens your consciousness, and you feel so alive.  It truly is the perfect place to practice yoga.  There really is no other place like it.”

– Rebecca
(pictured above with the staff)

Can you do this?

 

Our guests shared their love of yoga with the children in Iltilal.

 

Happy to see the bar after a full day of yoga!

“The sheer beauty of this land is hard to grasp through pictures.  The air was so pure and clear that you could see hundreds of miles away.  The skies were filled with more stars than I had ever seen in my life.  The savannah was so quiet most of the time that it invited you to a constant state of peace and meditation.  I had my best yoga practice experience ever on top of a 25-million-year-old lava rock overlooking the plains of Africa, facing the sunset and Mount Kilimanjaro.”

– Guillaume
(pictured in the third photo below)

Sunset yoga at Okoikuma.  Pure bliss.

 

Daytime yoga at Okoikuma above the endless plains

 

Guillaume takes in the view.

“As the saying goes, ‘life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.’  This trip was the one time that every moment took my breath away.  It left me speechless.  Campi ya Kanzi is the perfect canvas for a yoga safari retreat, which is destined to leave pieces of your heart up on a mountain during a yoga practice.  Waking up facing the savannah, zebras, and giraffes was magical, but nothing left me more stunned than the heartfelt people.  Luca and Antonella did more than host; they invited us into their home with arms wide open.  Parashi, Stefano, Sunde (and I can go on and on) felt more like family and friends that made us feel like anything was possible.  I am truly inspired by these humble, big-hearted people.  I can’t wait to do this again!  Asante sana.”

– Sonia
(pictured at the top of the page)

Monkeying around on a natural tree swing in the cloud forest

 

The yogis pose at the “cathedral” fig tree in the cloud forest.

 

Thank you to our ten wonderful guests and to the entire Modo/Moksha community
for supporting MWCT and for bringing your beautiful yoga practice to Campi ya Kanzi!