Ecofluency Wilderness Retreat at Bergplaas Nature Reserve

13-18 April 2025

THE INVITATION

In this first-time collaboration between Ecofluency and Bergplaas, we invite you to feel what it’s like to learn directly from a rewilding landscape.

Reweaving the elemental wisdom of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether between inner and outer landscapes, Saskia and Wayne will lead a series of experiential activities to facilitate you in meeting the more-than-human in this majestic landscape.

Participants will begin composting outdated worldviews rooted in colonisation and dissolve the illusion of disconnection, to remember what it feels like to belong to our beloved Earth who nurtures and supports every aspect of our lives. Daily practices, from guided journeys to inner realms with Saskia to silent micro-pilgrimages in the wilderness with Wayne, will enliven embodied dialogue with self, others, and land in a practical, efficient and energetically safe way.

It is for anybody interested in communing and communicating with Nature, including those who practise it already, although no previous experience is required. The aim is to return home with skills to co-create your life and future in closer alignment with abundance for all of life on Earth.

 
 

What’s included?

  • 5 nights in your choice of shared accommodation at Bergplaas Nature Reserve

  • All vegetarian meals (gluten-free available) and teas & coffees, freshly prepared on site

  • Facilitation by Dr Saskia von Diest, founder of Ecofluency, and Wayne Maspero, manager and head guide of Bergplaas Nature Reserve

  • A 90min online follow-up call for integration, one month after the immersion

  • Access to the new Ecofluency Alumni Hub, for asking questions, practicing with different exercises, and sharing with others to keeping growing your practice

 
 


THE SETTING

The 5000-hectare Bergplaas Nature Reserve, in the high altitude Sneeuberg Mountains of the Great Karoo, is one of South Africa’s first rewilding endeavours. Originally made up of three livestock farms, the internal fences were removed, and the wildlife that historically roamed this area have been reintroduced.

The vision of the founder, Princess Irene van Lippe-Biesterfeld of the Netherlands, is to “give the land back to herself”. Her immersive courses held at Bergplaas were designed to heal the wounds of the separation that humans feel from the rest of Nature, and have evolved into their iconic Spirit of the Wild programmes.

Inspired by the global Rights of Nature movement, Bergplaas is working together with pioneering organisations like WildLaw Institute to grant this land legal personhood. Saskia is a member of the steering committee as a consultant, communicating with the Bergplaas landscape in this process.

As this deeply ancient landscape is being given a modern voice through the Rights of Nature, it is the perfect setting for rekindling your ancestral birthright for communing and communicating with all of Nature.

A visit to the Karoo Fossil Centre in Graaff Reinet on your way back is highly recommended, where you’ll find an impressive collection of fossils from creatures who were not only our ancestors, but ancestors of the dinosaurs, too.

 

The Karoo Fossil Centre in Graaff Reinet.

 


The GUESTHOUSE

Bergplaas’ guesthouse and cottage together have 7 twin bedrooms, two of which have en-suite bathrooms. There are  two indoor lounges, a spacious veranda, a comfortable dining room with a fireplace, and a beautiful garden that merges with the rock outcrops of the surrounding wilderness. You will have time during the programme to relax and integrate in this nourishing spaces.

Participants are recommended to bring both warm and cool clothing, as temperatures can vary greatly, ranging from 5 to 25 degrees Celsius between day and night in April.

Check in is 15:00-17:00 on Monday 13 April, and we start the programme at 18:00 on that day. We close our immersion at 10:00 on Saturday 18 April, and check out is by 11:00.

WHAT IS ECOFLUENCY?

This retreat offers a deeper experience of Ecofluency - the science, art, and magic of two-way communication with Nature using a wider range of senses and awareness.

We will cover Ecofluency 9-step guidelines for Nature communication, as well as deep, embodied, magical experiences of being immersed in the wisdom and spirit of this ancient landscape. It is designed to help you explore a unique way of connecting with your surrounding landscape that is practical and relevant for everyday life.

All humans are born with the capacity to commune and communicate with any aspect of Nature, because we are Nature. This way of being exists beyond all languages, and has been known and practised by indigenous peoples worldwide for millennia. Although many have forgotten how to use this ancient ability, this immersion offers an opportunity to reclaim the power of this birth-right, allowing access to the deeper knowledge, wisdom and divinity of Nature that is not often available to our everyday human minds.

On a practical level, communicating with Nature helps us make more holistic and efficient decisions in all aspects of our lives: growing food, choosing a place to live, understanding the behaviour of wild or domestic animals, creating rituals and ceremonies for inspiration and abundance, expanding your professional work in ecological alignment, or healing traumas to become whole and to spiritually evolve.

Human existence with other species depends on dialogue with them, as they call on us to co-evolve and create our future in alignment with all of Nature. The world is waiting – join the conversation!

 
 

YOUR HOSTS

DR SASKIA VON DIEST

Saskia is the founder of Ecofluency, an award-winning organisation that offers education, facilitation and consulting in Nature communication.

An animal communication workshop during her PhD in Plant Pathology inspired her to investigate how farmers use this to inform practical management decisions. From 2014-2020, she held two postdoctoral fellowships, between Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and at Coventry University, UK, investigating intuitive farming as part of a new field of subtle agroecology. During her postdoctoral years, she further developed her own skills in communicating with trees, animals, land, nature spirits and ancestors. She’s trained as a Family Constellations facilitator, and in the Way of the Warrior Healer for psychic surgery.

In 2021, she created Ecofluency, to offer education, consulting, and paths of activism in Nature communication, and promote other human voices in this field. She is also a director of the Organisation for Noetic Ecology, and a founding member of Nature’s Council.

With 16 years of experience teaching and facilitating through various forms and in many countries, Saskia’s passion is creating opportunities for people to have their own experience of dialogue with more-than-human Nature. Her aim is to support individuals and organisations in reclaiming these ancestral skills, for personal and planetary transformation: ecofluency.org

 
 


WAYNE MASPERO

Wayne is the manager and lead facilitator at Bergplaas Nature Reserve. Based at Bergplaas for the last 19 years, he plays a key role in biodiversity stewardship, and mentoring up-and-coming conservationists from Nelson Mandela University.

He combines ecological expertise with a deep commitment to helping individuals discover personal insight, leadership and a meaningful connection to nature. With previous experience in guiding at the Sabi Sands, isiMangaliso Wetland Park and the Masai Mara, he sees his calling of guiding as something far beyond simply sharing knowledge; for him, it as a pathway to connection, awareness and personal transformation.

 
 

BERGPLAAS NATURE RESERVE

The programme for the immersion is co-designed with, and will be energetically held, by the spirit of the land of Bergplaas Nature Reserve.

 
 
 
 

BOOKINGS

Booking rates are inclusive of shared accommodation, all meals, teas & coffee, facilitation by Saskia and Wayne, and an online integration call.

Prices in bold are the early bird rates valid until 19 December 2025.

  • Twin bedroom with shared bathroom: R13,000 pp | R14,000 pp

  • Twin/double bedroom with en-suite bathroom: R13,500 pp | R14,500 pp

A 30% deposit secures your booking. Please book directly with Saskia: saskia(at)ecofluency.org.

The rate excludes travel to and from Bergplaas, comprehensive medical and travel insurance, gratuities, laundry, items of a personal nature, items not specified under Inclusions.

Any questions can be sent to Saskia at saskia(at)ecofluency.org.

 
 

Service policy

Cancellation and refund:

  • If I cancel or postpone the event for any reason, ticket(s) will be refunded in full.

  • Bookings are made on a first come, first served basis. A 30% deposit is required to secure your booking, and the remainder is due by 15 February 2026.

  • The 30% deposit is only refundable until 15 January 2026. If you wish to cancel your booking after this date, you may transfer your ticket(s) to a friend. To do this, please contact me to provide details of the new ticket holder(s) at least 2 weeks before the event so that I can give them any necessary details about the workshop.

  • No-shows are not entitled to refunds, exchanges or transfers.

  • Printed notes will be provided during the workshop. These are strictly for your own use, and may not be copied, edited or distributed in any form. All workshop content is copyright of Saskia von Diest and the other facilitators, all rights reserved.