Riding up into the Andes

While snow still sits on the mountain peaks in Argentina,

the arrival of spring causes plant life on the slopes to burst into bloom.

We mounted our horses to climb higher into the Andes range

heading towards the border with Chile.

Rivers were flowing with melt water, but skies were clear.

as we left the cattle lands behind us

and rode further into the mountains

Let me know if you would like to go on a similar ride early next year. A friend of mine is leading one across the Andes from Argentina to Chile - the chance of a lifetime.

A Live Broadcast on USA Radio ~

On Saturday 23rd March 2013  

Sophie Neville was on 'Second Chance Radio Show' in the USA 

interviewed by Dr Diane Dike.

Sophie spoke about her books and her life in Africa.  

Free Kindle copies of 'Ride the Wings of Morning' were offered on the programme. 

As a result it reached #1 in the free Kindle store under the category Travel - Africa in the UK and Canada

~ Click here for the links ~

Sketches from the Okavango Delta ~

I first went to the Okavango to ride horses with PJ and Barney Bestelink.

It is wonderful being on a horse as you can cross both the water-meadows and dry islands.

I then took friends on to stay at Tchau, a camp on the Borro River run by Jez Lye.

The camp looked out over the flood plain.

We slept in large tents on an island, standing in the shade of Jackalberry trees.

The location of the Okavnago Delta in Botswana

Please let Sophie Neville know if you would like to use any of her artwork.
sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

Have you thought of going to Malawi?

You can see Lake Malawi from the heights of the Nyika Plateau.

I spent time at Monkey Bay

where it was possible to camp on the beach

or explore islands

I appreciated the food at Club Makakola

and watching rock hyrax at otter point.

This map charts our journey. It was amazing.

Might I inspire you to travel more?

It's always hard to get away, but one thing I have resolved to do in 2013 is to travel more.

It's always good to travel with a purpose.

A sketch book and a small paintbox can enrich one's experience.

It doesn't matter how good the pictures are. This one didn't work very well but elements proved useful.

It's good to observe, to take visual notes.

I find I have poor hand-eye coordination when I am tired but improve with practice.

If nothing else, you return home with a record of your experience.

All sketches are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

Travel to Africa

If you were wondering where to go in Africa, and when

this might help, but important thing is to just go.

Alastair Fothergill's wildlife movie 'African Cats'

This year Alastair Fothergill, who I was working for at the time I wrote Ride the Wings of Morning, brought out the wildlife movie African Cats produced for DisneyNature. It was filmed entirely on location in the Masai Mara. Each shot is beautiful. Have you seen it? What is quite daunting is that Sarah-Jane and I rode across the same country - on horses.

Sketches of Giraffe

Watching girafffe is an incredibly peaceful activity.

This is possibly because although they seem to be silent, the adults communicate at a frequency we cannot detect.

It's always rather alarming to see how long their tongues are.

It is diffcult to draw them when you are given a regular-sized commission, but not impossible:

I once produced this ink and watercolour to illustrate a brochure.

And this cartoon for a map of horse safaris in the Okavango.

But this quick sketch is perhaps my favorite.


All sketches are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

What Ant and Tessa Baber are doing now - two of the characters from 'Ride the Wings of Morning'

Anthony and Tessa Baber, who appear in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' are still running horse safaris in the Waterberg. They have had great success breeding rare species such as Sable Antelope and Livingstone Eland. I was able to take Tamzin out to ride with them for a much needed break from her own livestock. She was thrilled to meet the rhino and was amazed how close Anthony got to them - on foot.

Elephants I have known ~

I was once able to spend three days at Abu's Camp in Botswana. This is Abu.

I not only walked with Africa elephants, but we rode them.

What was enchanting was that the young elephants - orphans who had been adopted into the herd - came with us. Having completed these graphics for the Elephant Back Safaris I went on to sketch wild elephants in Damaraland, in Namibia.

I ended up with two sets of silhouettes of elephant walking acorss the desert in single file, as they do, which I sold as limited edition prints and as 'Elephant Writing Paper'. These sold through the David Sheppherd Wildlife Foundation and The Born Free catalogues.

It looks a bit odd without any writing on it. This is how it looked in the catalogue.

And on my own art website.

All sketches are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

A recent review from a rider ~

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous! 

"Ride the Wings of the Morning" is a fabulous read and within a couple of pages I was transported to the African bush. The places and the characters are captured brilliantly. It brings to life some of the reality of life in the bush and the ridiculous situations that you do find yourself in...

Sophie writes with such wit, humility and perception. I did chuckle out loud several times! Even my non-horsey husband enjoyed it as he has had to be dragged around Africa ...   ~ Jane Dawson

Geese I have drawn ~

I have always loved sketching geese. I drew these when I was exhibiting at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge. I was there talking on otter conservation. With out two otters. I am sure you can understand that not that much was achieved in the way of painting and can only imagine what happened when one of the otters escaped.

My South African friend Rupert Baber - who appears in Ride the Wings of Morning - bought five geese as a security measure. They wandered around the garden honking at strangers. I thought they were lovely. The only problem was that they had to be shut up on the tennis court at night so that they were secure themselves. It actually made them easier to paint.

An acrylic on canvas.

Back in England I drew a goose standing on the ice, executed by using a glass tube ~ thick black ink on smooth cartridge paper.

I made prints and experimented with different backgrounds. Many of the resultant geese were auctioned to raise money for charity.

The end result was an award-winning painting. We used the image for invitations and charity Christmas cards. I framed and exhibited black and white prints in a number of galleries, including the shop at Slimbridge. It proved the goose that laid the golden egg - or golden prints anyway.

All sketches on the blog are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk