Anything I might have hoped for before coming was exceeded tenfold. This isn’t your typical beach retreat. Every moment was thoughtfully curated in a way that helped us slow down, connect, and see Zanzibar through the eyes of the people who live here. It opened something in me that I didn’t even realise needed space.

What surprised me most was how deeply we connected as women. We arrived as strangers, yet by the end it felt like a sisterhood was forming in real time.

Akua held the space with so much intention. You can feel her genuine relationships across the island and the love she pours into curating theses experience. Because of that, we were welcomed into places and moments that felt truly special, the kind you simply wouldn’t find on your own.

I would recommend this to absolutely everyone. You get to experience the culture, the traditions, the food, the rhythm of life here but you also experience yourself in a new way. The connections, the insights, the sense of belonging, they stay with you. ‘Magical’ is the only word that comes close to describing this experience.

Conscious integration is a luxury I rarely give enough space to. And I deliberately say give myself as opposed to have time for, because the Unbecoming Retreat process reminded me that I am in the driving seat of my life.

Before leaving for the retreat, I made a promise to myself to explore what unbecoming meant to me and the things I wanted to let go of.

Unbecoming means exploring the shadow, the parts of myself holding me back from my greatness. The things I avoid giving time to and, most importantly at this point in my life, my fear of myself. Unbecoming individuality to be all of me.

Through connection with the land, the people, and the simplicity of life around me, I could see how I had silently been sabotaging myself. In that moment, I allowed myself to fall apart. I cried shamelessly all day. My tears burst through without notice and far beyond my control, so I let them flow and grow. And they did. They flowed and grew and grew. I cried through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and right through the night. Held by you, Akua, and by the sisterhood that was silently forming around me, from the children to the mammas and the new friends.

I was unbecoming, but I was not alone.

Amazing Akua. I have been touched, moved, and enriched by this experience in infinite ways, and I wanted to take a moment to celebrate and recognise the foundational role you’ve played in that. Akua, take a bow. You reach the parts no others can.

I think not only of my personal gains and enjoyment when I say this, but also the many opportunities your work has created for your partners and the communities involved in this epic adventure. It was great to be part of an experience that celebrates, champions, and fosters partnership, mutual benefit, womanhood, and respect, all too rare.

Thank you for the time and opportunities you provided for me and everyone else to connect with Zanzi, its people, its culture, its nature, ourselves, and each other.