São Paulo – Travel agency Cavalgadas Brasil just finished a trip to Morocco and will offer, in January, other ones to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (picture above), and to Jordan. The travel agency from Curitiba, Paraná state, specializes in tours focusing on horse riding and included the Arab countries this year. Cavalgadas Brasil also offers horse riding tours for foreigners in Brazilian cities.
The tour that the agency is offering in the Arab countries in January is part of a larger package, which will begin with a 10-day period in India, at the end of December, and follows with a week in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in January’s second week, and then other five days in Jordan. However, it’s possible to go to only one of the countries.
Cavalgagas Brasil’s director, Paulo Junqueira Arantes, says that, for Dubai, there’s only one day planned, with a ride in the desert, and that the five-day horse ride will take place in Abu Dhabi, also in the desert. The tour in the UAE was named 1001 Nights in Arabia. The ride will go through the Al Wathba reservation and Al Ain, salt lakes, camel farms and changing dunes. There’s a chance for the tourists to gallop and take firm sand trails.
The tourists will sleep in tents, but they can also choose to sleep in resorts. However, for the latter option they will have to take a car from the rest site to the resort and come back in the morning.
According to Arantes, each ride tour varies in its difficulty level. The one for the UAE requires an intermediary skill level. To assign a level, the agency takes into account both the tourist’s conditioning and horse-riding experience, with a higher level in one making up for the lack of the other. The tourist can take up horse-riding riding lessons before the trip, called riding clinics by the agency.
The tour in Jordan is the Lawrence Tour and includes a visit to the historical city of Petra, a ride through the Wadi Rum desert and a visit to the Dead Sea. Petra is Jordan’s most famous tourist city, full of rock-sculpted temples and tombs. The horse-riding experience level required for this tour is advanced. Both in the UAE and Jordan, the agency provides Arabian horses.
For now, Cavalgadas Brasil organized only one trip to the Arab countries, to Morocco, this month. But besides the UAE and Jordan, with a scheduled departure in January, the agency is also organizing trips to Oman. These are the Arab countries with which the agency will work with, according to Paulo Junqueira Arantes.
The director says that Brazilians are interested in horse riding trips to the Middle East, but that some destinations are too far away, which increase costs. He says that, among the Arabs, Morocco is a strong one because it is a historical destination, is closer to Brazil and it’s very well-known among Brazilians. Regarding the UAE tour, what stands out is Dubai, for the modernity, says Arantes.
Cavalgadas Brasil offers horse riding tours to over 40 countries, with Portugal, Spain, Peru, Argentina and Italy the most popular. The package prices are, on average, USD 2,000, for one week, including the rides, food and lodging in tents, but they can vary, according to the destination and type of lodging. In each country, the agency works with partners from an international network operating with these types of tours.
Arantes says that they use Arabian horses in the Arab countries, but that in Morocco they used also Arabian Barb horses, a mixed breed of Barb and Arabian horses. The Arabian horses are also used by the agency in rides in Namibia, South Africa and Uruguay. In the other countries, the breeds vary. In the trips offered by the agency, in addition to the rides, there’s also time to visit the local tourist attractions.
Cavalgadas Brasil was founded 15 years ago. Arantes says that among Brazilians traveling abroad, 65% are women and that the average age is 45 years. Among foreigners looking for horse riding trips in Brazil, 80% are women, with an average age of 55 years.
The horse-riding tourism offered by the agency in Brazil, for foreigners and Brazilians, includes many destinations, from Minas Gerais, where they can ride in the Estrada Real (Royal Road), to Pará, in Ilha de Marajó, plus other places in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul or Bahia. The tours are always taken in places with incredible natural beauty, with some including historical sites.
Contact:
Cavalgadas Brasil
Website: www.cavalgadasbrasil.com.br
Whatsapp: 55 41 9 9990-0981
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
