Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to another SLG meetup your host Alvaro to bring you another exciting guest to talk about in this particular case The ultimate horseback African adventure and that's gonna be with the CEO of African horse of ours Her name is Isabel Javi and she's gonna tell us all about the different experiences that they're providing in Africa with this ultimate African horseback Experience which by the way, I gotta tell you when I was going over all these different things I was mind-blown because I've been doing safaris and never seen something like this So super excited. I'm a big fan of traveling on doing these ultimate unique experiences in my opinion This is a different category of luxury. So she's gonna tell us all about it. And I'm sure you guys are gonna enjoy there You know, what's happening Isabelle.
How are you? I'm good. Thanks. How are you?
I was expecting to see you in a horse. What happened? I get it I know I mean the UK which is much colder at the moment than I'm usually out in Africa which is much nicer. Wow No, definitely a big difference.
When are you going back to Africa? I Will probably be heading back in April. So a little while here in the UK for now. Got you So I was making an intro by yourself I mean definitely one of these unique things that you don't get to see every day in fact last year I was in Kenya I was in my side Mara and I see that this is one of the locations that you offer this ultimate African horseback experience and I was thinking man when I was in the Safari I was in the car I was just like making sure that we can see some animals and so but to be on a horse I mean, that's another level.
So tell us a little bit about what is it that you guys are offering that this is so crazy Well, actually it's not too crazy But it's definitely very very cool. So yeah, I guess well if you've experienced a nice time I'm a by vehicle which is obviously amazing and the scenery is amazing and the wildlife is incredible But then to experience it from the back of the horse So, you know, you take the car away and you're just moving through this landscape in complete silence or you're countering across the plains And you know when you come across lion from horseback it gives you a whole different adrenaline rush to when you're in the vehicle So yeah, it's a very unique experience. It's something very different and particularly I mean, I don't know if you horse ride, but if you're a horse rider, you know, a lot of us are very passionate about riding and we love riding all the time So then to combine it with seeing these incredible landscapes and animals is just you know, there's there's nothing better basically It's an amazing combination. I mean, I'm not a horse rider like I'm okay.
I can't build a horse But I mean obvious picture in seeing some lions coming next to the horse I hope that there is some sort of training or procedure for that because when I was in the Massai Mara We all decided to see a lot of these lions and then all the bufalo So there was this huge battle going on and in my mind I'm thinking thank God I'm in the car because everybody started to get close to us But in my mind I'm thinking if this happens to a horse like what's the deal? So tell us a little bit about what are the circumstances when you're in a horse in the middle of this wide wide wide wide Why don't you? Yeah, so in order to ride in areas where we can come across big games So big cats and lions elephants or buffalo We require everyone to be really experienced and really experienced rider And so, you know, the horses are really well behaved But you need to be able to react in any situation You know if we need you to move away because an elephant comes you close or stand your ground if there's lions So you have to be very experienced to ride in those areas. So if you're less experienced, we wouldn't take you near the lions You can go we've got options where you can go where there's giraffe, zebra, lots of different types of planes game Right rhino that kind of thing So it kind of depends on your riding level as to to kind of minimize the risk and there's a lot of training that is involved Like people always think that lions are a big problem, but actually so horses are a very big prey for lions They're much bigger than a zebra and the lions also recognize that they've got something unnatural about them You know, they've got odd smelling humans and if you see lion, you never run So you stand together as a group and the way lions hunt is they pick off an individual So if you're together as a group, they're like hang on a minute.
This thing I thought was prey is not scared It's not running and then they actually become more nervous of you or they're notoriously lazy So they get bored and move away. So actually lions don't really pose too much of a threat to the horses No, that makes sense and I hope that people don't lie about oh, I'm really good at that You put them in that group and they're in trouble. I don't want to be there this low guy in the group Just exactly what tell me what you've just got to know not the slowest and then you're right exactly always put moving the middle That's it. So tell me what is some of the craziest things that it has happened.
I mean, I'm sure you've had something Yeah, I mean look you you can I mean it's always an adventure and you can get so elephants can charge you so you can get charged by elephants But again like the the training of the guides is unreal So they to become like a head guide you've probably been leading a surprise for you know 10 15 years plus and They can read the animals body language really really well So if you're in a question and you know horses you can like read a horses body language really well You can tell there's you know pissed off or scared or anything like that So they can see that in an elephant So the chances of getting charged are very rare and normally only happens if you come across an animal by surprise Because if you're approaching the animal slowly and you've seen it the guides will be able to read the situation and they won't you know They'll read the boundary that the animal is giving But if you do come across the most surprise sometimes you do have to get out of there Which is why we only take experienced riders and you turn and you move away and you follow the backup guide away from Whatever the potential threat is you follow the backup guy and the lead guide stays behind to block the situation and he carries A bull whip which is like a circuit. So if you crack it it goes off like a gun So it makes a really loud noise and that you know diverts and scares anything away So there's lots of like they've explained to you you know Everything that what to do in all these situations before you before you head out but luckily it is very rare to have that kind of Good to know now. I see that you have different destinations different experiences different lengths So what are some of the different packages that you offer the most popular ones? So well the mass I'm our is one of our most popular as I'm sure you can imagine why having you know having been there We actually do so it's so we kind of have a mix We have either lodge based options Which is where you kind of you stay in one spot and you ride out each day but returning to the same base So we've got those in Kenya South Africa Botswana and the people that really like luxury and really love really You know a lodge that's got all the creature campers that works really really well And then our other kind of branch is that we have trail rides where you book kind of a set seven night departure And then you move from a to b as you move along.
So in the mass I'm our for example It's mobile camping. So the whole camp moves with you Each is amazing, but it's very much glamping You know like it's off the floor beds hot showers They kind of heat water over the sky off the showers and things like that So it's we say we say camping in you know, a vertical on this now personal question So how did this come about? Were you a horse rider? You love safari said, okay, let's provide it or how did it all come about?
Yeah, so I've written since I was young So my family no one in my family rides, but I came home from school one day and said I wanted to ride a horse Cyber in since I was very little and then I first went to Africa when I went to I went to Namibia on a family in Holiday when I was 18 and then was like this is pretty cool And then when I was at university my one of my very great friends is from Kenya And so during the summers I would go out and spend a lot of time in Kenya with her And so when I left university, I knew I really loved Kenya I'd loved Namibia so I wanted to explore more of Africa and I discovered that horse safari is where I think and so I really wanted to do one But having been fresh out of university, I definitely couldn't afford at that point So I thought well, maybe I can work for a horse safari company So I went I emailed everybody and I ended up as someone so ride Botswana one of our operators in Botswana got back and said yeah Our manager who's a stable manager is a wave two months do you want to come and fill in? So I was like yeah, books my flights and went you know two days later for what was supposed to be two months in Africa But you know it's now eight years later And two months turned into four months and then I went and worked with horses in Malawi And then I got a contact to work with horses in Zimbabwe And it was in Zimbabwe that I met my now business partner Who was I was thinking of setting up a company African horse fries were looking for somebody to head it I don't suppose you're interested and so 23 year old me was like yes I went home and I'm back my bags and came back out and then yep, but when it comes to 2016 I love it. That's amazing. Look at you now.
What a journey. That's awesome. That's amazing Now, I'm sure it's not easy to manage such business especially in the UK and in Africa and in the culture difference and I look the landscape and everything We're not talking about selling t-shirts, you know It's about providing ultimate luxury experiences where you also depend on people's lives because you are putting the whole just taking place So why are some of the things that you've learned throughout this process that we're like wow? Gosh, yeah, I mean there's lots of things I think the you know the reason that's so a lot of our a lot of our customers You know we do provide luxury experiences So they have the budget and they know that they want to do something incredible So for us it's that we've got to provide all of the legwork because often they don't have the time to They've got the budget, but they don't have the time to do the research and get everything exactly right So it's kind of I think in the detail and that's what I've had to learn Because you just have to know so much about all of the different logistics of Africa and getting from one place to the other and that kind of So definitely you know at the beginning sometimes I'd have to scramble and be like, oh gosh, you know someone say, what do you do that?
Yeah, sure we do that and then you know somebody working hard to do it Whereas now I think you know, we've got a pretty good everything. We kind of a really good system in place So I think it's yeah, it's it's the detail that took a long time to really perfect Well, that's awesome. With that being said I always ask this question to all of our guests and I would love to know your answer Why is luxury to you? Yeah, so I said this through and I was having a think about it And I think it goes so for me, I think it's space I think especially like in today's world everyone's vying for space.
So like space and exclusivity So it's being able to be in the middle of the wilderness where you're going out and you're riding You don't see another another person or another sign of human life And yet you're coming back to a lodge that could be a five-star hotel But it's also really authentic. So you're still sleeping under canvas tense But in a beautiful, you know bed and you've got a beautiful freestanding bath as you look out across this like wilderness area So I think luxury for me is like a space within this like pristine wilderness Well, definitely you're offering luxury because that's exactly what it is and I love that Forgot the latest Isabelle. I'm really happy that we did this and for people that want to find out more information about these sorts of adventures Where can they find? The probably the best way is to follow us on instagram so african-host safaris I'll pop us a message there.
You know, that's we people contacted Contact us every day looking for looking for rides and we can if you're a solo traveler We can set you up with other solo travelers if you're just looking for a bit of inspiration We can send you some ideas. So yeah, don't be shy. We're happy to chat with our safaris all day every day There you go. Here you have it.
Isabelle from our african-host safaris. Thank you so much I appreciate you and good luck with everything that you have going on. I will see each other soon. No worries.
Thank you for having us on and yeah Look forward to seeing you on most of our in africa. And thanks again for everybody tuning in today. We hope you enjoyed it. I remember embrace it's beautiful success in life My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time