world reviewer
Claudia Flisi
From her home in Italy, Claudia has ridden on five continents, from sea level (in Australia) to 5,000 meters (Kyrgyzstan). On horseback, she has chased bulls in Ecuador, dodged cobras in India, and avoided elephants in Botswana. On her own two feet, she has climbed Uluru and camped in Cappadoccia. When not travelling, Claudia writes about business and culture for the International Herald Tribune and many other publications, and for corporate clients ranging from Apple (computers) to Zegna (clothing). She shares her life with an Italian husband, two multicultural sons, a bilingual dog, and two blogs about expat life
(http://community.pinkmagazine.com/blogs/italy/) and http://frenchfacelift.blogspot.com/
Her website is www.flisi.net.
You can read her excellent introduction to horse riding holidays at http://www.worldreviewer.com/info/horse-riding-holidays.html
Claudia Flisi's activity
- 13 Oct 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed Riding on Rapa Nui in Easter Island, Chile
Tropical beaches. Mystical Moais. Volcanic craters. What a riding vacation on Easter Island lacks in technical challenge, it more than makes up for in sheer exoticism. You’ll be riding South American Criollo horses, generally at a walk, all the…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Pushkar Camel Fair in Ajmer, India
What’s a horse doing at a camel fair? Aside the apocryphal quip that a camel is a horse designed by a committee, it makes a lot of sense to ride a horse to India’s Pushkar Camel Fair in November. The fair is a combination commercial bazaar …"
- 28 Sep 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed Riding Lipizzaners in Lipica in Slovenia
"Anyone who has seen white Lipizzaner horses soaring through the air in a capriole understands how the myth of Pegasus can persist. What rider has not dreamed of flying with such an animal? You can come close by riding in Lipica, the area in Western Slo…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Trailing Tuscany's truffles on horseback in Tuscany, Italy
The autumn air in Tuscany is heavy with truffles and other temptations; what better way to work up an appetite than with a brisk canter through the magical Tuscan hills? Or a day-long exploration of the countryside, perhaps on locally-bred Maremma horse…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Romantik Hotel Villa Novecento in Piedmont-Northeast, Italy
"You don’t expect to find Gemütlichkeit in Italy (the word itself doesn’t exist in Italian) but if you had to name a hotel that embodied its essence, the Romantik Hotel Villa Novecento would be it. Located near the centre of charming Courmayeur – an A li…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Trailing the Great Migration on horseback in Tanzania
Many safaris on horseback give you the opportunity to gallop alongside gazelle and giraffes. But few afford the spectacle of riding alongside more than two million animals (wildebeest, zebra and gazelles) as they take part in the greatest land migration…"
- 19 Sep 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed Picoaga Hotel in Cusco, Peru
Because Cuzco is the gateway to the best-known attractions of Peru, including but not limited to Machu Picchu, tourists who come here often wind up using their hotel as a hub. They arrive, spend a day or so to acclimatize, go off to sightsee, return, go …"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Hotel Picoaga in Cusco, Peru
Because Cuzco is the gateway to the best-known attractions of Peru, including but not limited to Machu Picchu, tourists who come here often wind up using their hotel as a hub. They arrive, spend a day or so to acclimatize, go off to sightsee, return, go …"
- 17 Aug 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed EcoAmazonia Jungle Lodge in Peru
Since most people visit Peru to see Machu Picchu, they learn that the great mystery of Machu Picchu is where did all the Incas go? According to many historians, they disappeared into the Amazon forest in the eastern part of the country after the Spanish …"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Horse riding in Kiskunság National Park in Hungary
"Riding the great plains, or puszta, of Hungary may call to mind horse racing on the steppes of Mongolia, and for good reason. After all, Mongolians invaded Hungary in the 13th century and brought their prowess as horsemen with them. Both countries ha…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Horse riding out of Jembisa Lodge in South Africa
If you are like the idea of a horse safari in Africa but you have: * a non-riding companion * small children * an aversion to roughing it a riding vacation at Jembisa, South Africa, is the perfect solution. Jembisa is a private, family-owned lodge l…"
- 16 Jul 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed Brujas De Cachiche in Lima, Peru
"Most Northern Hemisphere visitors to Peru waste little time in the teeming capital city of Lima. They head to Cuzco (jumping-off point for Machu Picchu) as soon as they can. South American visitors, on the other hand, see Lima as a des…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Count Kálnoky’s Transylvanian Equestrian Centre in Romania
"To ride like the devil takes on a new meaning in wild, wooded Romania. Forests are thick, castles are forbidding, and farmland may be unfenced, promising long gallops through game-rich countryside. Count Kálnoky’s Transylvanian E…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Clark Home Ranch in Colorado, United States
"Say “dude ranch” and most horsemen think of stop-and-go, nose-to-tail riding on hack horses with no character. The scenery of the American West may be breathtaking but the riding usually isn’t. The Home Ranch of Clark, …"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Celestial Mountains Horse Riding in Kyrgyzstan
The Tien-Shan (or “celestial mountains”) of Kyrgyzstan represent one of the longest and highest mountain ranges in Central Asia, and one of the most challenging regions for a horse trek. Following an ancient Silk Roads trail from Son Ku…"
- 16 Apr 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed Riding with giants in Botswana in Central Botswana, Botswana
When you are riding in the “Land of the Giants”, in Southern Botswana’s Tuli Block, you learn to be as respectful of the elephants as of lions. Both are potentially dangerous, so you have to be alert all the time. Our outriders were armed with elephant…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Cotopaxi on horseback in Ecuador
Herds of wild horses dot the paramo, the high-altitude mountain region of Ecuador, also home to llamas, feral pigs, bulls, and wolves. Above you in the Cotopaxi National Park are condors and the 6,000-metre cone of Cotopaxi itself: the highest snow-capp…"
- 09 Mar 2009
Claudia Flisi reviewed Western Ireland by Horse in Sligo, Ireland
If you don’t have your own horse but ride as if you did, you can save money by taking a self-guided eight-day riding holiday on Ireland’s Western coast. “Self-guided” means just that: you and at least one other person show up at Horse Holiday Farm, you a…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Riding in Rajasthan in Jodhpur, India
India’s Pushkar Camel Fair is world-famous, and various riding holidays are based on that destination. But horse lovers should find the Balotra Horse Fair, held every March in Rajasthan, even more compelling, since it is less touristy and more focused on…"
Claudia Flisi reviewed Machu Picchu on horseback in Sacred Valley, Peru
Lots of riding vacations promise you breath-taking scenery, but few deliver as fully as the rides to Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes. The horse treks organized by Mountain Lodges of Peru, begin in Cusco, 3,400 meters high, and give riders a couple of…"
- 11 Jun 2007
Claudia Flisi reviewed Naadam in Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Many horse lovers go to Mongolia to see the famed Naadam Festival in early July. The event - featuring the three “manly arts” of horse racing, archery, and wrestling - is spectacular, and stadium seats are hard to come by. But for a unique thrill, try…"
