EAT YOUR HEART OUT TOURS
Our Team
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Shila Desai, owner and founder
It began on a dark and stormy night . . .
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" Well, not exactly.
E.Y.H.O. had no intention of being a travel organisation. Using familial connections, I arranged a trip to India for friends. They connected with every facet of Indian life - from gritty train journeys to playing 'Holi' with maharajas and travelling with a Bollywood great. Because it was a culinary trip, my friends cheesily tagged it "Eat Your Heart Out", and E.Y.H.O Tours was born.
I was struck by how that adventure resonated with my friends. Sure, we ticked off the major sights. But the destination was only a canvas. It was interactions with local people and insider experiences that put the colour and richness in our trip.
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Travelling with a theme in mind helps trains a lens . Themes can be sublime or bizarre, but ultimately, humans connect over the essentials of food, clothing, and architecture. For me, a passion for handmade textiles allows a deep exploration of a country's history, culture and traditions. Yup. #crazyabouttextiles."
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Shila was born and raised in Kenya in a 23-member extended Indian family (they make reluctant appearances on her award-winning memoir: The House on Ravi Crescent ). Shila's earliest memories are of travel: every year, her family voyaged back to India via a 14-day steamship journey. Shila developed roots in both East Africa and India, and later the U.K before settling in Canada. Her passion for the places of her origins infuses E.Y.H.O. trips. She is fluent in Kiswahili, Gujarati, and Hindi, in addition to English and French.
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Nirav Panchal - Gujarat, India
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Our textile travellers love Nirav's compassion, his concern for the welfare of rural artisans, and his dashing sense of style comprised of his own handmade clothes from natural dyed hand-loom. A textile tour leader extraordinaire, Nirav grew up in Ahmedabad, the textile capital and first UNESCO city in India. At age 14, Nirav started working as a porter to support his family. Eventually working his way up to master pattern-maker, he travelled throughout India to meet with designers. After a U.K. NGO hired him as a guide, Nirav began guiding. He helped develop Ahmedabad's Heritage Walk, and was awarded Gujarat's highest travel guide accolade in 2016. Together with his wife Urvashi, a fellow Heritage Walk guide, Urvashi, they have a lovely daughter, Nishtha . . . born on World Heritage Day!
Danna Davies - Uzbekistan
“The heart wants what it wants” and apparently Dana Davies’ heart, unbeknownst to her, wanted Uzbekistan. A life long fascination with fabrics was amplified on a trip with her daughter to Turkey and the discovery of suzani embroidery that led to a textile-focused trip to Central Asia in 2011. It has grown into a full-fledged obsession with its people, culture, landscape, and legends. Dana is passionate about sharing this extraordinary experience with others and, after a spectacular tour with Shila in Northwest India, is thrilled to collaborate with E.Y.H.O. on Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan tours.
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Shreekesh Desai - Wildlife and Africa
Shreekesh knows Africa as only a few can. He has not only travelled practically all the countries of the continent, but walked through its wilderness and jungles. Born in Kenya, he is never happier than whacking his way through the African bush on the trail of a tusker or stalking a lion. He has been involved in wildlife conservation since he was a boy and has encyclopaedic knowledge of Africa's fauna and flora. Shreekesh brings his abiding passion for all things African to E.Y.H.O. safaris.
In his words: "I have seen a lot of Africa and I wonder if I will ever tire of the beauty of the Dark Continent. If you are at a crossroads, come, and your heart will be calmed by the wilderness and beauty of Africa."
Chloë Sayer - Mexico
Chloë Sayer is an independent scholar and curator, specializing in Mexican art and culture. Author of numerous books about textiles and craft skills, she has guest-curated exhibitions at the Royal Ontario Museum, and now a Research Associate. She lectures widely and has made ethnographic collections for the British Museum. She is a celebrated television documentarian for the BBC and Channel 4. In 2016, the Mexican government bestowed Chloë the prestigious Ohtli award in recognition of her enduring commitment to Mexican culture. Chloë leads E.Y.H.O.'s Mexico tours to ancient archaeological sites and colonial cities, combined with trips to small villages where craft and festive traditions endure.
Geeta Maini - Culinary
Geeta Maini was born in Kenya and lived in Kisumu and Nairobi as a child. She learned to cook at her mother's side, with her sister and brothers often sharing the lessons. In Canada as a busy young mother, Geeta continued to explore the culinary arts. She became a superb hostess, a student of many ethnic cuisines and eventually a teacher offering lessons of her own. Geeta is the author of the much-loved and thumbed An Affair with Indian Cooking. Today she travels all over the world, continuing to enhance her repertoire, explore and infuse her recipes with the flavours and colours she loves. Geeta has led E.Y.H.O.'s culinary tours to north India and Myanmar. Upcoming tours include Morocco and India.
Tim Hubbard - Gardens of Cornwall
Tim Hubbard attracted a huge green-fingered audience on BBC Radio Cornwall’s Gardenline, and as author of The Great Gardens of Cornwall: The People and Their Plants about the diversity of Cornish gardens with microclimates within a microclimate. When BBC Radio Cornwall went on air in 1983, Tim presented or produced virtually every programme in the station's output including feature series and documentaries for which he won specialist awards. Specialising in Cornish subjects earned Tim the Times' radio critic's accolade: 'He knows Cornwall like the back of his hand’. At home he's a keen gardener; grows a huge number of exotic tropical plants and is often seen walking the Cornish coastal footpath.
Anvi Shah - India
Anvi Shah is a fiber artist and maker from Pune, India who specializes in the design and creation of beaded structures as well as embellished and embroidered surfaces. Armed with a BFA Fibers from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a keen interest in craft and textiles, Anvi headed a research and revival project to preserve the dwindling craft of beadwork in Kutch, Gujarat. Anvi has dedicated her efforts to uplifting craftswomen and establishing new projects within existing traditions. A wanderer at heart, she draws inspiration from her travels and cultures all over the world to allow her artistic practice to flourish both in India and abroad.
Interested in joining the E.Y.H.O. team? Perhaps lead a tour and share your passion for a country's particular cultural treasures?
We're all ears! Write us today.