Shantanu Chand
Founder · Traveller · Photographer · Writer
Oloi Shorua
The Blessed One
Based in Dubai. Travelling Africa and Arabia since 1998.
Founder of Oloi Shorua, Arabia by Oloi Shorua, Baobab Rituals
and Oloi Shorua Coffee. Author of books on travel, landscape
and the unhurried observation of places that reveal themselves
slowly — from Africa to Arabia, Latin America and beyond.
The Journey
On Distance, Patience and the Art of Return
Shantanu Chand has been travelling East and Southern Africa since 1998 —
returning often to the same landscapes, the same camps, the same guides,
finding more each time rather than less. The Maasai gave him the name
Oloi Shorua, meaning the Blessed One. It became the name of his first
company and remains the thread that connects everything he has built since.
His writing reflects an interest in the rituals of travel rather than
its spectacle — in arrival and departure, in terrains that resist
explanation and landscapes that reveal themselves slowly.
Books on Africa, Arabia and the world beyond.
The Work
Four Brands. One Philosophy.
Africa
A luxury African safari and expedition company built on direct knowledge, deep regional relationships and a philosophy of slow, considered travel.
Arabia
An Arabian Peninsula travel platform covering desert expeditions, heritage journeys and conservation-aware travel from the Red Sea to Musandam.
Coffee
A coffee experience rooted in the same philosophy that guides the travel brands — sourced with care, served with intention and connected to the landscapes that produce it.
Skin Care
A luxury skincare and wellness collection drawing from Africa’s most treasured botanical traditions. Founded in Dubai. Rooted in Africa.
The Writing
Books on Africa, Arabia and the Art of Travelling the World
Written across decades of journeys through Africa, Arabia, Dubai,
Costa Rica and beyond. Quiet books. Unhurried, unadorned and attentive
to landscapes that reveal themselves slowly.
For readers who travel the same way.
Photography and Film
Memories
Landscapes observed. Light recorded. Moments that resist
being summarised in words alone.
The Oloi Shorua YouTube channel carries photographs and film
from Africa, Arabia and the journeys in between —
an archive of places encountered slowly and returned to often.
“I didn’t write these books to explain Africa. I wrote them because distance teaches things that speed never will.”
Shantanu Chand