Campfire Conversations with Brett Horley

On one side of the campfire, we sit in the esteemed company of safari mentor, doyen, and great friend, Michel Girardin, and on the other, our fellow black leopard enthusiast, powerhouse, and conservation leader, Sharon Haussmann. This is an episode for the nature lovers, the seekers of authenticity, and those of you who might know these famous names in the Lowveld and in the eco tourism industry....

This is an episode we are happy to have put together after finally convincing these guests to spend an hour in the "spotlight". These two human beings have plenty of stories to tell from their lives working in the bush and we have spent many a night under the stars and around a fire. This time, we recorded the conversation and we promise, you'll thank us. Kevin Maclaughlin and Luan Oosthuizen both...

The boma at Tulela was given its first run as the new podcast location and we were honoured to be in the company of incredible travel, wildlife, and lifestyle photographer, Em Gatland, and machine videographer, Rogan Kerr. These two are good friends of ours and we've shared the wonderful Klaserie with them for many years, but before they were bush bedonnered, they were coastal kids from Natal! We...

This is the first episode of our second season on the podcast, and we are joined by two familiar faces and two new guests! You'll recognise Kruger Park wild dog expert Grant Beverley and ecologist and human-wildlife conflict innovator, Michael Grover. And new to the "campfire" are Tristan Dicks of WildEarth fame, and Ben Muller, who is a wildlife veterinarian who works side by side with Joel Alves...

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 Au...

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 e...

John Dixon - JD to most - refers to himself as a 1960s model, which means he has decades of safari experience behind him. He is a true legend of the region and knows all the songs to prove his hours spent around campfires! His career spans 35 years and his collection of stories, memories, and (often inappropriate) anecdotes are always told with excellent humour. No one has seen JD's face since the...

Get comfortable, pour yourself something cold and join us for this firecracker of an episode of Campfire Conversations: stories from the African continent. Fair warning that this episode is momentarily NSFW about 9 minutes in, but we recommend not missing a minute!   Sitting on the other side of the fire today is Kruger Park's African wild dog expert, Grant Beverley, who is a local celebrity...

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 a...

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 Activa...