Safari rules for our first ride

After introduction to our fantastic guides Owen and Bianca, it was time to align all together upon the rules for horse riding in the jungle:

1) Never dismount your horse in the jungle, because you might need your horse to outrun a dangerous situation. Even when the horses are scared, calm them down but never jump off.

2) When there’s a dangerous situation with animals trying to charge (means attack), the front guide will try to resolve the situation by making whipping sound (sounds like a gunshot), so that meanwhile the group can escape taking the backdoor with the back guide. If necessary, the guides are allowed to kill the animal, because the wild animals are smart so whenever they encountered a conflicting situation with humans, they’ll keep remembering it and be even more aggressive next time. That’s why unfortunately you’ll need to take them down. During that fight, if there’s one person to be killed, it will be the guides giving their lives for the group. Just like a captain of his ship: they will stand and take full responsibility of the situation.

3) When facing a lion, never turn your back and never run away. Simply stay on the horse and start walking backwards. The guide will take over and shoot in the air or flap the whip, so the group can escape. As long as the guide is not in-flight mode, the lion won’t chase the group.

4) When facing buffaloes, run for your live. As said before, they are one of the deadliest animals in Africa, so you don’t want an angry herd chasing you. Their deadly capability lies into their grouping, speed and sharp horns.

5) Never reach an animal closer than your guide.

6) You’re allowed to walk and trot next to each other, but during canter (galop) stay in one line or the horses start outracing each other.

7) Last but not least, enjoy the ride and the crazy adventure !!

Tip: Besides your riding gear (pants, riding boots or shoes & chaps, helmet, gloves), also bring a scarf for the dust. As we will be cantering many times through the dusty and sandy jungle, you might need a scarf to protect your mouth and nose for breathing.Read more