Returning to Place
A Nature-Based Retreat with Sicelo Mbatha & Petra van de Kop
Sunday 28 June – Wednesday 1 July 2026 · Landgoed Quadenoord, Renkum
NEW: Nature-based retreat Returning to Place
About this retreat
A spacious pause in a fast-changing world. During this three-day retreat we camp in the forest, walk along the Renkumse Beek, and explore practices that help us slow down, listen deeply, and reconnect with the wider web of life. Guided by Ubuntu — I am because we are — we explore belonging, interdependence, and the resources that support us, so we can return to daily life with more clarity, steadiness, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Sicelo Mbatha brings his Zulu heritage and decades of wilderness guiding. His presence in Europe is rare, and this retreat offers a unique opportunity to learn from his grounded wisdom and inspirational storytelling about interdependence, belonging, and ancestral connection. Petra brings systemic practice and nature-based facilitation. She helps us move through the world with respect, curiosity, and care. Together they create a grounded, warm environment for reflection, renewal, and meaningful connection.
Together we explore how to stay in relationship — with ourselves, with others, and with the places we live. We look with compassion at our own patterns and at the larger forces shaping our time. And we make room for what strengthens us: camping in the forest, nourishing vegetarian meals, walking in silence, shared moments, solo time in nature, and the simple experience of being part of a temporary community. This will bring you clarity, vitality, and renewed focus and hope.
What you can expect
Time in nature to slow down and reconnect • Nature‑based and systemic practices • Walking in silence • Space for reflection, rest, and renewal • Solo time in nature • Group circles for sharing and inquiry • A supportive environment to explore what matters to you now • Nourishing vegetarian meals • Camping in a simple, beautiful forest area • Digital detox • Guidance by two experienced facilitators • Language: English (with Dutch support where needed).
Who is this for?
This retreat welcomes individuals and professionals longing for rest, reconnection, and deeper relationship with the living world, and who want to walk their purpose with more clarity and presence in life and work, for themselves and the communities they serve.
Program
- Sunday 28 June: at 7 pm we open the retreat together – arriving on the land, meeting one another, and gently crossing into retreat mode. You can set up your tent beforehand and are welcome on the campsite from 3 pm. As darkness comes in, the moon will be our first companion. She will be full during the retreat!
- Monday & Tuesday: we root ourselves in Returning to Place and Rest & Renewal: moving in silence along the streams, experiencing the place through our senses, and pausing for simple practices that help us listen to the place. Sicelo is great storyteller: his stories on wilderness, kinship and reciprocity will inspire us. You will also spend solo time in nature to follow your own pace and curiosity.
- Wednesday 1 July: we gather what has taken shape these days being in outer & inner natures, and harvest what you will carry back into your daily life and work and the communities that you serve. We close around 3 pm.
Practical information
Dates: Sunday 28 June – Wednesday 1 July 2026
Location: Landgoed Quadenoord, Renkum, located in a forest area along the ‘Renkumse Beek’ at the edge of the Veluwe near the river Rhine.
Accommodation: Camping in your own tent or minibus. We have basic nature campsite “Het Paradijs”, specifically for our group (no electricity, no WiFi, showers with natural spring water, drinking water provided). There is a so called ‘Giant Hat’ that provides shelter and a good place for an evening fire. For more info about Quadenoord see bottom of this page.
Food: nourishing vegetarian meals, you make your lunch pack at breakfast
Group size: between 8 to 14 participants
Contact & registration
If you have questions or specific needs, please reach out so we can explore together what is possible. For questions and registration you can contact Petra by mail: petra@kopenco.nl
After registration you will receive practical details that help you prepare:
- A packing list, including guidance on clothing, camping essentials, and items that support you during the retreat.
- Travel information on how to reach Landgoed Quadenoord
- Practical information about the Campsite and facilities
- Payment instructions
Interested?
About the facilitators:
Sicelo C. Mbatha is a wilderness guide and author of Black Lion. Sicelo brings over 20 years of experience guiding people into deeper relationship with land, community, and purpose. His work is rooted in Ubuntu and Zulu heritage, emphasizing interdependence, respect, and care for all life. Sicelo invites participants to slow down, listen with the whole body, and meet the natural world as a partner in awareness and responsibility. www.umkhiwanesacredpathways.com
Petra van de Kop is a systemic facilitator and nature-based coach. She supports groups and individuals in reconnecting with themselves, each other, their purpose, and the living world. Petra invites participants to meet nature in ways that bring them closer to the Earth and to their own inner nature, supporting authentic presence and grounded, responsible action in their daily lives.
About Landgoed Quadenoord
Landgoed Quadenoord is a 230-hectare estate in the Renkums Beekdal, on the southern edge of the Veluwe. The area combines forest, grassland, organic fields, and clear spring-fed streams. Scattered across the estate are ancient burial fields — quiet archaeological traces showing how long people have lived with and cared for this landscape.
The estate has been in the same family since 1872 and is part of a Natura 2000 conservation area, home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife.
Camping at Quadenoord is simple and close to nature. There is no electricity or WiFi; you stay in a quiet forest setting with basic facilities. There are warm showers and forest toilets within walking distance. Our retreat location, the Paradijs, is a sheltered clearing with a spacious Giant Hat structure, picnic tables, benches, and a fire bowl — a beautiful place that naturally supports the purpose of this retreat. Coordinates: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8ktXuQFyTYs5cLqf9