Natalie from Soul Collective shares a summary of her days at Residence Retreat in Cape Town, reflecting on what it's like to attend a retreat that's focused on cooking rather than yoga or meditation.

This past week, I attended Residence Retreat at the breathtaking Kleinkloof Farm just outside of Cape Town. The overarching theme of the retreat was cooking and connecting with the land through various workshops, from fynbos harvesting to vermouth making, led by local facilitators who gave us enriching insight into ingredients from the heart of the land, and how to translate them into culinary delights.

This was the inaugural retreat for Lars and his team, with the next one coming up in March 2027. Here are some of my reflections and highlights from the past week:

Vergesig Farm with Maria van Zyl

Early on Tuesday morning, we went to visit the family-run Vergesig Farm, where we were greeted by the owner, Maria van Zyl. It’s an organic farm operating on biodynamic farming systems, taking a holistic approach that supports soil health, biodiversity, and animal wellbeing as one connected ecosystem. We got a tour of the grounds, followed by a workshop where Maria showed us how to make butter and ricotta, and let me tell you, these things just taste different when they’re that fresh and straight from the source.

Vermouth workshop led by Adriaan van Zyl

Later that day, we enjoyed a vermouth-making workshop led by Maria’s brother, Adriaan, back at our farmhouse. This is where we really tapped into our intuition and senses, each of us creating a unique blend to be added to our own personalized vermouth. For mine, I leaned into a more earthy and grounded flavor profile, with a mix of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, star anise, buchu (a local plant that is now permanently on my radar!), cardamom, and coriander seed. You can easily make your own blend at home by adding all kinds of herbs and spices to a bottle of vermouth, and it’s a nice exercise to play and experiment with different flavor pairings.

Fynbos harvest hike with Camilla from Cape Fynbos Essential Oils

Everyone instantly fell in love with our herbalist, guide, and all-round expert, Camilla. She led us on a sunrise hike through the surrounding hills, introducing us to local plants and sharing their healing properties as we wove our way through sun-kissed fynbos (a type of native South African shrubland) like buchu, snowbush, and slangbos, just to name a few. After gathering the fynbos, Camilla showed us how she distills them and turns them into essential oils. The beautiful byproduct was a hydrosol, which we turned into a refreshing facial spray and later incorporated into a sauna ritual, guided by another incredible facilitator and Steam Master, Sennia.

Wheel of Balance & Self-Relationship workshop and sound journey with David from Très Nagual

Although most people may associate David with his brand, Très Nagual , he also creates sound journeys and is a calm, cool, and collected space-holder. He guided us through a workshop where we learned about the Wheel of Balance & Self-Relationship, exploring questions about our lives and mapping out a strategic yet realistic plan for moving forward. Later that evening, David led us through a sound journey, weaving in his various Très Nagual scents and gently guiding us into a grounded, meditative state. It felt like a cozy slumber party, with all of us giggling by the fireplace at the end of the night.

Final Dinner

For our final dinner, each participant shared a dish they had created, drawing inspiration from the local landscape and everything we had absorbed during the retreat. Some of the dishes included a chilled gazpacho made with tomatoes from the garden, laab with freshly picked buchu, mint, and basil, lettuce cups with crispy halloumi from Maria’s farm, roasted springbok, and the most delicious fig leaf ice cream. It was so heartwarming to see how supportive and excited everyone was as we sampled each other’s creations.

Farewell sailing trip

Last but not least, we went on a sailing trip along the coast of Cape Town. We were incredibly lucky — within five minutes of being out on the boat, we spotted two whales gracefully gliding through the water. It felt surreal and was such a beautiful way to close the week we had shared together.

My 5 key takeaways from this retreat:

You can still gain a restorative feeling from a retreat that doesn’t necessarily focus on yoga or meditation. Getting out of your routine, sharing delicious meals with good company, learning new things in a new environment, and spending time in nature is often all you need to return to your center.
Seek out ways to connect to the food you eat - whether it’s visiting a local farm, planting vegetables or herbs, or making your own butter. It will change the way you taste and enjoy your food.
Learn about the plants that are native to your area, and find creative ways to incorporate them into your life. You can make an herbal drink (hot or cold), add them to meals for more depth and flavor, or use them in flower arrangements. It’s so simple, but often overlooked.
Host more gatherings where each person shares a homemade dish. Sharing is caring, and food has a way of bringing people together. Cooking is a creative act in itself, and it’s beautiful to see someone express themselves through a dish they’ve made or share a part of their heritage.
Friendships can form in as little as a week. With each day, everyone softens and opens a bit more, and there’s a natural intimacy that comes with learning together and making things with your hands. A retreat is a vessel for quality time well spent, where conversations naturally tend to go deeper.

Follow @rootsofresidence on Instagram to be the first to learn all the details of their 2027 retreat.

Retreat Diary: A Week at Residence Retreat and 5 Key Takeaways