Ideas for for Christmas & New Year Rides
It is worth thinking ahead if you are interested in a break over the Christmas season as flights get booked up and very expensive well in advance. Here are a few ideas - please contact us for more detailed information.
~ Lodges and Estancia – unpack only once ~
Argentina, Estancia Los Potreros - a delightful family run organic working estancia north of Buenos Aires near Cordoba in the Sierras Chicas steeped in history, every comfort in an unfussy way, wonderful horses including the sublime Peruvian Paso and the chance to try your hand at polo, swimming pool, own label wines. Depending on your dates a moonlit jaunt into the hills is a ride to treasure in the memory banks. Great to tie in with a few days in Buenos Aires. 7 nights USD2520 (approx £1840)
South Africa, Ant’s Nest and Ant’s Hill - two family run lodges in their own reserves in the Waterberg, 3 hours north of Johannesburg, and replete with every possible comfort. A wide range of horses, pool side massages and elephant safaris available. The Waterberg boasts some of the prettiest and most diverse bush in South Africa and the reserves now have over 40 game species including zebra, eland, giraffe, kudu, wildebeest, buffalo, warthog, bushpig, rare antelope such as oryx and sable and also white rhino. Wonderful relaxation option. 7 nights from 29,050 rand (approx £2766)
South Africa, Bhangazi - North east coast just over the border from Mozambique, the highest bird count in Africa, the world’s largest black rhino population, Africa's tallest forested dunes and 220 kilometres of pristine beaches lapped by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, where turtles nest, whales pass and dolphins play in the surf. Game includes leopard, Cape buffalo, cheetah, wild dog, crocodile, hippo, zebra and lots of different antelopes. Two levels of camping, super delightful ‘True Safari’ (walk-in tents, sheets, proper bed, laundry) and the fewer frills ‘Adventure Safari’. 7 nights True Safari £1750, Adventure Safari 7 nights £1050.
~ Progressive rides, some lodge/estancia/fort/hotel nights, some camping ~
India – Rajasthan Christmas Ride - 21st December to 3rd January
Your chance to ride the unique Marwari horses, light, fast and fun as you pass through a varied landscape of desert, bush and hills, with wide sandy tracks excellent for picking up a little speed as you pass farmland worked with camels and cows. Wonderful pageantry abounds, you are flanked banner-bearing grooms as you come to roost each evening at either a fort, a hotel and sometimes your private camp, not quite as glamorous as African camping but not ‘roughing it’ by a long shot.! With a night in Jaipur at the end of the ride and the chance to see the beautiful Amber Palace. Ride rate USD4385 (approx £3200)
Mexico, Valle de Bravo - Classic Ride, 28th December to 4th January, progressive route but one base accommodation in a comfortable family finca (ranch), delightful laid back riding western style on very biddable forward going horses and all in the beautiful Valle de Bravo with the gem of Lake Avandaro set in the centre and the magical Monarch Butterfly sanctuary nearby, a ‘must see’ at least once in one’s life, and at this time of year the ultimate in pine tree decorations. Classic Ride over New Year USD2580 (approx £1885)
South Africa, Wait a Little - 20th to 27th December
Two very comfortable semi permanent camps with pool, one night African bush experience under the stars, great horses which are very well schooled, some fast riding, excellent game viewing, delicious food and fun hosts. Ride rate 7 nights £2100
Uruguay - 19th to 26th December & 27th December to 3rd January
For max 6 riders, great criollo horses, wonderful rolling country, charming fun gauchos as wingmen, beach riding, some cattle work if you like and nights in comfortable estancias (no camping). Very Latin and enormous fun. Ride rate US2750 per person (approx £2007)
~ Rather more gritty camping, progressive route and more miles per day ~
Argentina to Chile - Across the Andes - 12th to 21st December
Riding from Argentine Patagonia near Bariloche over the Andes into Chile, great horses Argentine and Chilean criollos, wonderful riding - a fine mix of steep and challenging, flat out and dusty and twisting through bamboo and monkey puzzle forests! Great camping, wonderful locations, roaring fires and plenty of red wine - USD4515 (approx £3300)
Ethiopia - Highland & Montane Forest Ride - 27th December to 3rd January. Cross high plateaux, babbling brooks and see a land you never thought existed on fit huge-hearted little horses, a squad of renowned Abyssinian ponies, and Abyssinian ponies crossed with Lipizzaner, Arab and Thoroughbreds, descendents of Emperor Haile Selassie’s own stable, a combination of hotels and basic camping, with the opportunity to visit Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its medieval churches hewn from rock. 9 nights (including Lalibela extension) Euros 1785 (approx £1608) 6 nights - (with 6 days riding) Euros 1225 (approx £1104) assuming a minimum of 4 riders.
Jordan - Wadi Rum - 17th to 26th December & 26th December to 3rd January.
No frills camping in the stark beauty of Wadi Rum, a protected area of 720 square kilometres of dramatic desert wilderness, huge mountains of sandstone and granite rear up from wide sandy valleys reaching heights of heights of 1700 meters and more, the only real way to see it is by Arab, the horse for this course. 5 /6 nights camping in the desert, and 3 nights hotels including a visit to Petra "a rose-red city half as old as time". Diving is a good ‘add-on’, or a few extra days on the Dead Sea in a nice spa is worth considering. Ride rate 9 nights Euros 1440 (approx £1300)
Morocco - Golden Sands, Agadir and Atlantic Coast - 19th to 26th December & 26th December to 2nd January
Fit and forward going berber Arab horses, wild landscape, great to escape from it all. Very easy to get to and within no time you feel a million miles from Europe. Ride fertile plains, long sandy tracks, pass tree climbing goats (really), lakeside camps, vast bird reserves and gallop the shores of the Atlantic. Euros 940 (approx £847)
Southern Chile - Torres del Paine - 22nd December to 2nd January
A breathtaking landscape on the very southern tip of the American continent, the very tip toes of Patagonia on the edge of the massive Southern Patagonia icefield. Unbelievable landscape and it is mid summer so hours and hours of daylight. Some rather capricious weather however so don’t count on shorts and t shirts, but worth every layer. Fitness required to make the most of the generous and energetic horses that carry you through this most splendid of lands. Simple camping or the comforts of a series of estancias. Camping Ride USD3185 (approx £2325), Estancia Ride USD3950 (approx £2884)
Tanzania - Kilimanjaro Ride - 27th December to 4th January
Not the densest game area, but certainly dramatic, under the gaze of Kilimanjaro, adventurous and for the fit, 6 hours or so a day, 250km to cover, a wonderful African bush experience. Perfect to tie in with a few days on the beach, perhaps Christmas on the beach and New Year in the bush? Assuming a minimum of 5 riding guests - USD $3370 (approx £2460)
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