Forge it.
Before the main event begins, spend a day at Rutherford Forge making a field knife by hand.
ADVENTURE RETREAT / VALLEY & KINGDOM
The Valley
& Kingdom.
A seven-day, six-night private route for a small group of men: four days settling into the Valley at Ficksburg, then three days on horseback through Lesotho. Before the main event starts, a separate Rutherford Forge day gives every guest the chance to make a field knife for the route ahead.
Men only · invite only · two new guest places per event. If you are not invited, a complete guest profile and interview are required before any place can be considered. Rutherford Forge is scheduled before Day 1. Main route: Ficksburg / Lesotho / Johannesburg return.
ROUTE NOTE / 01
4 DAYS
VALLEY
3 DAYS
KINGDOM
VALLEY
3 DAYS
KINGDOM
Stillness first. Then movement. A considered route through two very different worlds.
THE MAIN IDEA
One route.
Two worlds.
The Valley and Kingdom Retreat is deliberately sequenced. The Valley gives the group time to arrive, settle, walk, eat well and get honest. The Kingdom asks more of the body: long days in the saddle, open country and mountain weather.
Rutherford Forge comes before both. It is a separate pre-retreat day before the event start, where guests make a personal field knife—an object to take into the route and keep after it.
The Valley.
Arrive through Johannesburg and settle into Ficksburg: hiking, breathwork, fire, good food, cold water and conversations that have enough time.
The Kingdom.
Three days on horseback in Lesotho—mountains, remote villages, high passes, rivers and nights under endless sky.
Carry it home.
Return toward Johannesburg with the people, the story and the knife you made before the route began.
THE ITINERARY
Rutherford Forge is deliberately set before the main event. Then the seven-day route moves from Ficksburg’s slower Valley rhythm into the open, horseback country of Lesotho.
- PRE-RETREAT / DAY 0RUTHERFORD FORGE
A separate pre-event day to make a personal field knife before Day 1 starts.
- DAY 1ARRIVAL & TRANSFER
Arrive via Johannesburg, transfer to the Farm in Ficksburg, share a welcome dinner and open the week.
- DAYS 2–4THE FARM / FICKSBURG
Hikes, breathwork, fires, shared food, cold water, storytelling and space to reset.
- DAYS 5–7LESOTHO HORSEBACK
Ride through mountain country, villages, passes and rivers, with the landscape setting the pace.
- DAY 7 / RETURNJOHANNESBURG
Transfer back toward Johannesburg for onward travel after the route comes to a close.
WHAT IS SET / WHAT COMES LATER
Built around
the route.
What you can count on
- A seven-day / six-night main route across Ficksburg and Lesotho.
- Four days in the Valley, followed by three days of horseback country in the Kingdom.
- A hands-on Rutherford Forge day before the event start, plus a personal field knife to carry after it.
- Shared meals, local people on the ground and a small-group culture.
- A transparent HISA cost-plus model: actual trip costs + 10%, shared before booking.
What we will announce
- The exact main-retreat dates, the separate Rutherford Forge date and arrival windows.
- The final host team, accommodation, transfer timings and route-specific packing list.
- Price, inclusions and the booking process once the edition is confirmed.
VALLEY & KINGDOM / INVITE ONLY
When it’s
time to go.
The Valley & Kingdom Retreat is a private, men-only, invite-only event—not a public departure. Two new guest places are held for people outside the invited group; request consideration through the Experiences page, where short-listed applicants may be invited to interview. It is not a booking. This once-a-year route is built at transparent actual costs + 10%, not as a high-margin public departure.
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