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Good cheer fills the balmy evening air, the outdoor table is laden with delicious food. The scenery is drenched in soft candlelight and glows with hundreds of small lights adorning the trees. At dinner, all the hotel guests at Sterrekopje Farm come together to talk about their day and share funny anecdotes. This feeling of community, familiarity and joie de vivre is not exactly what you would expect from a hotel. But many soon realize that this is exactly what they were looking for. Within a few days, strangers become friends - and a farm in South Africa becomes a refuge for the soul.

Sterrekopje Healing Farm
Excelsior Rd, Franschhoek, 7690, South Africa
Tel.: +27 76 420 3507
Web: sterrekopje.com
Price: Doubles from € 610

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But first you have to arrive and embark on the transformative journey. Many people underestimate the amount of emotional strength that such a retreat requires - after all, emotions that have been deeply buried for years often come to the surface and you are suddenly confronted with them far away from your usual environment.

Travel, rituals and rhythms

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Fortunately, the atmosphere at the Sterrekopje Healing Farm in Franschhoek, South Africa, around an hour's drive from Cape Town, is so friendly that you feel safe and in good hands from the very first moment. The team also welcomes the participants with open arms and a great deal of empathy. This lays the foundation for a wholesome, albeit challenging, journey.

Travel, rituals and rhythms

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Not all of the Healing Journeys have the same goal: Guests can choose between two and seven, so-called restorative nights, although the hosts recommend a minimum stay of five nights to really get a feel for the Sterrekopje way of life. Each of the journeys includes the stay, all rituals, meals and drinks as well as daily group activities - the Cleansing Ritual, for example, not only cleanses the body but also the mind, while the Sacred Sleep Ritual teaches you how to improve your sleep in the long term.

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However, what makes Sterrekopje so special is the informal exchange with like-minded people. The group activities play a central role here. The joint pottery course, for example, invites you to give free rein to your creativity, switch off your thoughts and let your inner child take the reins. In addition, such craft activities are the perfect opportunity to connect with the other participants and get to know each other without the formalities. 

A deep connection

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For Sterrekopje founder Nicole Boekhoorn, it was immediately clear that this was a special place with a lot of healing potential. For a long time, the Dutchwoman was looking for something special; a place rooted in nature - a place with a soul where people can find rest and regeneration. "'Sterrekopje' is this place, I knew it from the first moment I saw it. I knew that its purpose and mine were deeply intertwined and destined to unfold side by side," says Boekhoorn refering to the poetic connection of her farm, whose name means the bright star above the small mountain in Afrikaans. Together with her wife Fleur Huijskens and a steadily growing team, Boekhoorn has planted and revitalized the farm and the surrounding land to make it as fertile and sustainable as it once was.

  In addition to the Healing Journeys, other retreats have also been offered since the opening in early 2022. The Wise Women Retreat takes place four times a year in time with the seasons. In harmony with Mother Nature, women - free from fears or reservations - find their way back to themselves and remember their strength, dominion and power. Time and again, profound friendships for life are forged. Families also have the opportunity to take part in the Family Retreat several times a year, where everyone - from young to old - is encouraged to give free rein to their curiosity and imagination. A week of scavenger hunts and art classes for the children, grounding therapies and movement classes for the parents are offered as well as joyful moments of togetherness with pizza baking, family yoga and walks in nature.

Hannelore Vandenbusche

"What we have created here is not a hotel, retreat or wellness center," says Boekhoorn, "it's a home, a sanctuary, a community and a place of protection." Before she discovered Sterrekopje, she imagined long tables of sumptuous food under the stars, where you feel like you're returning to a familiar place. It seems that this was more of a premonition than a mere dream.

Sterrekopje Healing Farm
Excelsior Rd, Franschhoek, 7690, South Africa
Tel.: +27 76 420 3507
Web: sterrekopje.com
Price: Doubles from € 610