--- title: Soul Stride: A Horse Retreat in the Egyptian Desert — Wanderlust Magazine url: https://wanderlust-magazine.com/soul-stride-a-horse-retreat-in-the-egyptian-desert/ date: 2026-08-04 --- # Soul Stride: A Horse Retreat in the Egyptian Desert \[vc\_row\]\[vc\_column\]\[vc\_column\_text css=”” css\_animation=”bottom-to-top”\] An unforgettable journey into Egypt’s desert, where rescued animals, remarkable people and profound stillness quietly changed the way I looked at life. ======================================================================================================================================================= \[/vc\_column\_text\] [/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”] Under the shade of the desert pergola, on the multicoloured carpet-strewn floor, I sat staring out at the hazy mountains across the sea of sand. Aware of the faint sound of a desert dog barking in the distance. The chirping sparrows flitted in and out of the pergola, seeking the cool shade along with me. It surprised me to see birds. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I just couldn’t imagine this arid environment having little sparrows happily chirping away. As soon as one arrives, you feel your whole nervous system recalibrate and calm down to the ancient rhythm of the desert. It made me realise that, for the first time in ages, I was truly present. I wasn’t thinking of the past or the future. I was just sitting, listening to the sounds of the desert around me. Feeling the warm wind against my skin, I waited for the other guests to arrive for the retreat. I couldn’t believe the stark contrast I found myself in. Arriving into the warm embrace of the desert, I felt I had been thawing out after the cold and rainy week I had just left behind in London. Coming from the busyness of London, whose sky is so often adorned with a low-hanging ceiling of grey cloud. A city where everything happens all at once. Where the spirit of hurry is upon everyone. One of the great modern epidemics. #### What are we all chasing? \[/vc\_column\_text\] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/6-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/6-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/5-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/5-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]It is hard to translate all that transpired on this retreat. For one, I have never been a horsey person, despite being a massive animal lover. So, coming into this, I was afraid of what it would be like. I worried I would get bitten by a horse or thrown off one. All valid fears, considering these are powerful creatures, many of whom have endured trauma. Secondly, I felt guarded and somewhat suspicious that any real transformation could happen within me. My only experience of horses was watching the animated film Spirit as a child, and I remember being completely obsessed with it. Bryan Adams’ soundtrack is one I still listen to all these years later. The story captures the spirit of a fighter—not in the aggressive sense, but the kind of spirit that only a few of us possess. The kind that keeps fighting for truth and freedom, always led by love rather than force. As a complete horse novice, I learnt so much on this retreat. You begin to understand the enigma they are if, like me, you have never had the privilege of knowing them before. I witnessed how their very presence calmed my nervous system and that they have this remarkable ability to regulate my heartbeat. A feeling of calm washes over you as you stand beside these mysterious creatures. Situated in the desert, with dramatic sand dunes and mountains as their backdrop, the stables are beautiful. All 143 animals are well cared for despite the challenges of life in the desert.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″] [vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1561633397638{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;border-left-color: #000000 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #000000 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #000000 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1542116862280{padding-top: 0px !important;}”] 1 [vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1783519159613{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 8px !important;padding-bottom: 14px !important;}” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]I arrived expecting a horse retreat. I left with a completely different understanding of trust, courage and myself.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1561633406173{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;border-left-color: #000000 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #000000 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #000000 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1542116862280{padding-top: 0px !important;}”] 2 [vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1783519200530{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 8px !important;padding-bottom: 14px !important;}” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]In Egypt’s desert, rescued animals, remarkable people and profound stillness quietly changed the way I looked at life.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1561633412733{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;border-left-color: #000000 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #000000 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #000000 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #000000 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column_inner css=”.vc_custom_1542116862280{padding-top: 0px !important;}”] 3 [vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1783519225556{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 8px !important;padding-bottom: 14px !important;}” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]Sometimes the most meaningful journeys begin with the experiences we are least certain we are ready for.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner] [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”] It is not only horses, but donkeys, dogs and cats, all of whom are survivors, some with three legs or even two. Most of the animals, particularly the horses and donkeys at the stables, have been rescued from the most horrific animal cruelty. Many were rescued from lab testing, circuses, dancing horse acts, road accidents and severe neglect. Others had been beaten and made to work around the clock in poor conditions for tourist traps, such as the pyramids. \[/vc\_column\_text\] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/4-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/4-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/1-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]It has taken years of dedication, hard work and many injuries suffered by their caretakers, attempting the behemoth task of undoing the traumas they have all experienced at the hands of inhuman people. What was most special for me to see was how these horses had come to love again, and to learn that not all humans wish to harm them, and that life can begin again. It is often the ones who have endured the most pain that seem to have the gentlest spirits. Most of these animals, you would never know their past if it were not for the scars they carry. Take Oscar, for example, a beautiful white horse whose character is as gentle as they come. He was rescued from being a dancing horse, tied to the side of a wall and repeatedly hit until he was taught how to “dance”, lifting his legs up and down on one spot. The only thing left for him to do was bear the pain. He is blind in one eye, after it was smashed in from the beatings. When Guenda showed us his tongue, it was so severely severed that it appeared to be dangling by one third of its width. My heart broke hearing what he had been through and watching his sweet demeanour. I felt anger, and such shame at what we humans are capable of doing. Another incredible little character is Hero, the donkey. He was rescued from animal testing, and despite his failing kidneys and gaunt look, he is quite content with his new life at the stables. He loves a cuddle and is the most vocal of them all when it comes to snack time, braying from his paddock, demanding carrots and cucumbers until someone comes to his aid.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″] [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”] The retreat itself, I found, was a deep working of the soul. It is raw and authentic. The work done here is real; it is not a flowery, namaste-style yoga retreat. The work Nicole and the horses do reaches somewhere much deeper. It is work carried out by souls that know what it is to be broken by life, yet choose to get back up again, always gently and always with love. I found that both inspiring and deeply humbling. Meeting people like Nicole and Guenda, who are living their vocation, was a privilege. Their gifts beautifully complement one another, bound by a deep respect for each other’s work. It felt like the same quiet understanding they share with the horses. There is an unspoken language at work here. It is deeply moving, and I feel incredibly grateful to have met these remarkable animals and the people who care for them. Nicole has a gentle manner that makes it easy to feel safe enough to open up. She is deeply attuned, not only to the horses and the environment, but also to the emotions people carry. I felt her way of working gently untangle knots I did not even realise I had been carrying. I found that when I arrived open, willing to be present and willing to connect, something long closed within me quietly began to open again. The retreat encouraged me to slow down, disconnect from the constant noise of everyday life, and reconnect with nature, myself and the people around me. It reminded me what it feels like to move at a gentler rhythm and to journal with pen and paper instead of reaching for my phone. I felt it changed the way I was thinking. It encouraged me to look honestly at the thoughts that occupied my mind. And on the days my mind felt lighter, the horses and the desert seemed to invite a different kind of creativity. Just as a horse may be broken, life has a way of breaking us too. Looking at both the people and the animals at these stables, I could not help feeling that life had marked each of us in one way or another. Yet love, patience and hard work can slowly become part of the healing, giving us the courage to keep moving forward. \[/vc\_column\_text\] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1981&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1981&ssl=1) [/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/3-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/3-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]Every day I looked forward to returning to the retreat and the stables. I would stare out of the window on the drive in, enamoured by the vastness of the desert. Sand, then more sand, until suddenly a lone acacia or palm stood tall and green, and it baffled me. How could anything grow out here? There was not so much as a blade of grass beneath its shade, yet from the barrenness of dry sand a seed had chosen to take root. I could only imagine that the desert itself was somehow urging it to live. It was the same feeling I had about the stables and the animals. Looking at what had been built there, and how it continued against all odds, I found myself asking the same question. How do these people do it? It felt as though something unseen was urging this place onwards too. The horses, all so different in their personalities, each teach you something. Gita is a natural matriarchal leader. Rosa is the old sage who introduces you to the herd and quietly dissolves your fear of horses. Maracaibo is mischievous, forever waiting for you to turn your back so he can get up to something. Then there is Nadia, whose presence feels almost ethereal, as though she has stepped straight out of a children’s book, the kind where unicorns still exist. Her albino-white coat and crystal-blue eyes seem to look straight through you. They reminded me of giant dogs, simply because that was the only point of reference I had. Before horses became a hobby and a sport reserved for the upper echelons of society, I like to think they were one of humanity’s first companions, alongside dogs, offering not only companionship but partnership. It is something you witness throughout the retreat. Years of patient work and gentle teaching have created a relationship in which the caretakers guide the horses with little more than breath, soft whistles and trust. Watching a horse stop, change direction, canter or gallop in response was something I never stopped marvelling at. It quite literally blew my mind.\[/vc\_column\_text\]\[/vc\_column\]\[/vc\_row\]\[vc\_row\]\[vc\_column width=”1/2″\] [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”] My favourite part of each day was late afternoon. As the sun disappeared behind the desert mountains and the sky softened into shades of orange and pink, a stillness settled over the stables. It felt as though we all, together, breathed a quiet sigh of relief after the day’s heat. Then, almost like clockwork, our peace would be broken by something small and impossibly fast flashing past. It was the newest member of the herd, a little foal who never missed an opportunity to break free and cause havoc. Every evening, as the keepers led his mother and him into the stable for his own safety, he would make a run for it, shooting past us like a bat out of hell. It was almost as though he delighted in showing the older horses a freedom they could only watch, while the keepers, rather comically, tried to coax him back. Everything about this evening ritual made me happy. I would stand to one side, giggling as the young men did their best to catch him. During the retreat, I was based in the more affluent region of Al Gouna, with its palms and turquoise lagoons winding through the town, giving it the feeling of a carefully imagined resort. It could not have been more different from life at the stables, out in the desert, where comfort gave way to purpose. Every day, I left the resort behind and returned to the desert. Strangely, it was there in the harshness of the desert rather than Al Gouna’s luxury that I found the greater beauty. **[Where My 4-Day Soul Stride Journey Began](https://soul-stride.com/activities/egypt-4-day/)**\[/vc\_column\_text\] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/7-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/7-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″] [![](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/8-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/wanderlust-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/8-Soul-Stride-A-Horse-Retreat-in-the-Egyptian-Desert.jpg?fit=1320%2C1980&ssl=1) [vc_column_text css=”” css_animation=”bottom-to-top”] I felt genuinely sad at the thought of leaving, having grown so attached to the animals, the people and the place. They had quietly become part of my everyday life. The work Nicole, Guenda, Miso and the rest of the team are doing felt, to me, like God’s work. They do it not for money, but out of love and a deep sense of calling. It is work that never stops, demanding constant dedication, long after visitors like me have gone home. Even as my retreat came to an end, theirs continued. When it was time to say goodbye, I found Guenda tending to Dream, who was desperately ill after eating sand. Her arms were occupied with the enema tube, yet she still leaned forward to kiss me on both cheeks in her warm Italian way. There are people who spend their lives chasing admiration, and then there are people like these, quietly giving themselves to something far greater than themselves. They left a lasting impression on me. Without sounding cliché, this experience changed me. I still cannot fully explain how. But just like that lone acacia seed taking root in barren desert sand, something within me quietly began to grow. I returned home looking at life differently; more humbled, more hopeful, and more determined to become part of the change I wish to see in the world. **Ready for Your Own 7-Day Soul Stride Journey?** [Read More](https://soul-stride.com/activities/egypt-7-day/) *Do you think your friends will be interested? 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