I am SO thrilled that my friend, Brett Horley, has launched his own fireside podcast! This is exactly what our industry needs at a time when so many of us are longing for some quality time in the bush. Mr Horley is a well-known guide in the Southern African safari circuit and has been leading safaris all over Africa under his safari company, Brett Horley Safaris. Tune in for some fun!
Campfire Conversations is hosted by safari guide, Brett Horley, and welcomes listeners to a virtual fireside chat in Africa. Over a drink of choice and alongside a campfire, Brett sits down with a variety of special guests and friends who lead adventurous lives and careers in the bush. These stories are real memories, experiences, and opinions intended to entertain and allow listeners an escape to Africa. Pour yourself a cold one and join us!
Shannon Wild invited us to her beautiful home in the bush and we did our thing with gin and tonic, local Zwakala lager and a gently smouldering fire! It was a true honour to sit opposite this woman of wildlife and chat to her about her illustrious career behind the lens. She needs no introduction – her phenomenal photography and cinematography speaks for itself, but what we can say is that this Aussie in Africa leads with her heart and integrity in all that she does. She is humble and one of the hardest working people we’ve met. And don’t call her an Influencer! Brett talks about his 3.5-second glimpse of the black leopard in Kenya while Shannon shares about her months spent pursuing the real Black Panther in India for her National Geographic documentary.
Dave McLerran joins us too, all the way from Texas, where we believe he ran away from the President in favour of a quiet life in Africa. Too bad, though, because he has joined Shannon and her husband Russell MacLaughlin in their fast-paced world of wildlife filmmaking! Dave made the big decision to leave his high stress life in the US and pursue his passion for wildlife photography instead. He first met Shannon when he waved at Shannon from a tourist vehicle in India where he too was looking for a glimpse of the rare black panther of Kabini. Now, based in Hoedspruit, he makes sure we are all well fed with Texan slow-smoked meat and he is acing his new life behind the lens in the African bushveld!
Welcome to Campfire Conversations, Shannon and Dave!
Do yourself a favour (if you haven’t already) and buy Shannon Wild’s jewellery for conservation (Instagram @shannonwildjewellery); follow her on @shannon__wild and find Dave at @davemacphoto.
Dr Joel Alves is a wildlife veterinarian with some WILD stories to tell. You can be sure to see him throughout the Greater Kruger region where he races between numerous rhino dehorning operations and performs life-saving treatments in the field on all sorts of animals, from small antelope species to elephants. He has flown in planes with sedated lions (or not so sedated…) and African wild dogs en route to their new home, and he has had the enormous privilege of working on forest elephants in the Wild West of Africa – the Congo. We spent a few weeks trying to pin him down purely because of his fast-paced lifestyle, which is fuelled equally by passion and his superhuman energy levels, so a big thank you to Joel for joining us for a beer and a chat!
Mike Grover is back for more on this episode, adding insight and perspective from his field of expertise in human-wildlife conflict and environmental health. An invaluable member of this conversation, thank you Mike!
As always, this episode is mingled with a bit PG 13 humour, but most of all we hope it entertains our listeners and stokes that little fire for Africa in our hearts.
Thank you, too, to Katherine Kuntz and John Dixon (guests on episode 4) for joining us again, and a special mention to JD for leading us in song at the end!
Be sure to follow Joel on Instagram and see some of the crazy stuff he gets up to, saving wildlife alongside a team of excellent ground-based and aerial conservationists.
Some would say Tayla McCurdy was born for her role on SafariLive where she guided virtual game drives live-streamed to tens of thousands of listeners around the globe. She is entertaining, quick-witted, kind and energetic. Her (one-sided) dialogue with various animals she encounters in her life as a safari guide makes her Instagram stories addictively amusing, but there is no mistaking her authentic knowledge and passion for nature and wildlife. We sat her in the hot seat for episode 2 of Campfire Conversations, and next to her was Ale Olivieri, who tolerates Tayla as both a friend and a colleague (kidding, T!)
Ale Olivieri is the founder of private safari company called Wandering Thru and while that it familiar territory for us, she is by far the most exotic guest we will have on this show! Half Italian and half Venezuelan, Ale also speaks four languages fluently, as well as Russian, Latvian, Afrikaans and Shangaan conversationally. She is a leopard expert and a baker of delicious things. Her academic qualifications are something to be admired, and her modesty even more so.
Last, but certainly not least is Brenden Pienaar, who is a great friend and mentor and trails guide Ninja! What we learned was that to many school peers, Brenden was known as Bots and nothing else. Growing up in Botswana and South Africa, this man has stayed true to the African roots he was born with. He is obsessed with primitive wilderness trails and is undoubtedly THE person you want to get lost in the bush with. His professional qualifications make him the best in his business, which is the well known and superb walking safari operator, Lowveld Trails Co.
We thoroughly enjoyed sitting around a fire with these legendary humans and recording this episode. Please take a seat and let our campfire conversations entertain you!
Walking up the coast of South Africa in a sarong with a 28kg backpack has been a highlight of Footsteps Through Africa founder and safari guide Jo Cooper’s career so far. His life and death moments from the journey made for some epic fireside stories to kick off this FIRST episode of Campfire Conversations, hosted by Brett Horley! Sitting alongside Jo is Michael Grover, co-director of Activating Africa and consultant for conservation initiatives that boost socio-economic development in African communities living alongside wildlife areas. Both these guys do incredible work and as good friends we were so thrilled to have them as our first ever guests! Pour yourself a drink and listen to our chat around an African campfire.
Find Jo Cooper on Facebook, Instagram and at footstepsthroughafrica.com where you can read about his overland safari tour itineraries and the community projects he is supporting through his safari business.
Find Mike Grover on Facebook and track his inspiring work with various conservation organisations initiating community engagement in conservation.
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Follow Brett Horley Safaris on Facebook and Instagram.
