The Story of Betelnut Sumba

Betelnut Retreat started out as a love affair with the island of Sumba, its people (especially those down in Kodi where our retreat calls home), and its pristine waves. Ben has been coming here for the last 10 years camping on the land, surfing his heart out, and reconnecting with his soul away from the noise, hustle and bustle of the modern world. Then, after a while he decided to share his little secret with the rest of us (Malcolm, Jeanne, and Eve), and we all equally fell in love with the place.

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To be honest we had been pretty undecided and hesitant about whether to create a retreat in this part of the world. It would have been very easy for us to keep the secret of this paradise and its waves to ourselves, while also preventing the mass tourism that has taken over large parts of Indonesia. However, after talking it through with the lokals we have decided to create something that works in harmony with nature, and respects those that already live here. As such Betelnut Retreat was born.

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Betelnut Retreat is all about getting back to nature. We have deliberately made it as rustic and natural as possible. Almost everything is made of locally grown bamboo and wood (except for a few foundations). There is no mobile phone coverage (and we don't intend to get wifi.... yahoo!), which means you get to experience life as it has always been up until very recently, quiet and slow. Food is cooked onsite, and it is traditional village style of one pot for us all - which means you get to eat delicious jungle curry's, rice, soups, eggs, fry bread etc, to your hearts content (everything is vegetarian only - with the exception of the odd locally caught fish, if that is your thing).

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We have made it a retreat, rather than a homestay/hotel for a number of reasons. In the area where we are located the place is unused to having tourists coming through, so we feel that it is better to control the amount of people that come into the area, and when, and have them come through as a group rather than individually. We are trying to honour the balancing act that is bringing money and people into the area, without compromising the local way of life. 

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For those of you that are surfers, about 500m's down the beach from our retreat there is an awesome left hander that peels out into a channel. It is almost always empty (except when we are on it). Like all Sumba waves it is best (and safest) ridden from mid to high tide. There are also plenty of other spots around the island to explore too.

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The types of retreats that we offer, or that you can run here are: Yoga retreats and/or trainings (we have a yoga shala), surf camps, natural health retreats, plant medicine retreats, or just get away from it and completely log-off retreats, plus whatever you may want to create for yourself. To find out more about the retreats we offer, or you can run, click the button below....

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