Eesh Safari
Eesh Safari (Live Safari) is a TV reality show produced by the Middle East Broadcasting Center for the channel MBC 3. The show's main idea is starring a variety of children from around the Arab world to camp around with an organized team (by MBC 3) which is filled with coaches, travelling planners and more. The show is exclusively aired on the channel it was designed for: MBC 3. The show received huge success from Arab children, so did its sequel, which was filmed in a different area located in Thailand.
| Eesh Safari | |
|---|---|
| Created by | MBC 3 |
| Starring | Jalal Shahda in (season 1), Hassan Al-Mula (season 2 - season 6), Asala Kamel |
| Country of origin |  |
| Original language(s) | Arabic |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 90 (incl. sequels) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Middle East Broadcasting Center |
| Running time | 30 minutes (incl. commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | MBC Group |
| Original release | 9 May 2005 – present |
Information and parts
Eesh Safari mainly consists of 2 teams, which are named after the most 2 popular animals in the region they're travelling to, using the region's language. E.g. South Africa's giraffe and rhinoceros translated to Edubè and Umkumbè.
First season
Filming location and cultures
The first part of Eesh Safari was filmed in a natural sanctuary in South Africa. The culture was a South African tribe, called the Zulu. One of the main tasks in the Eesh Safari competition was completing the traditional Zulu house, which becomes a main task (but for Thai houses) in the sequel.
Teams
Edubè: This team is named after the Zulu name for the giraffe, and is the team that lost the competition. It is the orange team in Eesh Safari 1, and was led by the participant Yasmin from Lebanon.
Umkumbè: This team is named after the Zulu name for the rhino, and is the team that won the competition. It is the green team in Eesh Safari 1, and was led by the participant Ammar from Jordan.
Second season
Filming location and cultures
The second part of Eesh Safari was filmed in another natural sanctuary, but in Thailand. The culture was that of the typical Thai people living in an area near the sanctuary. One of the main tasks in the Eesh Safari competition was to build a traditional Thai house, which was similar to the first season, and is recognized as an Eesh Safari tradition. The participants of the Eesh Safari show also shared in learning kickboxing, which is a popular Thai type of martial arts.
Teams
Rachasi: This team is named after the Thai name for the tiger (which is one of the most popular animals in Thailand) and is the team that won the competition. It is the orange team in Eesh Safari 2, and was led by the participant Al-Khansa'a from Morocco.
Kochasan: This team is named after the Thai naming for the elephant (which is less popular than the tiger in Thailand), and is the team that lost the competition, although most fans and even the presenter Hassan Al-Mula and coaches think they did the most effort, and they're best known for their "team anthem" called "Ya Laleh", which is composed by the team's leader Mu'ayyad from Saudi Arabia.
Third season
The third part of Eesh Safari was filmed in Australia. The culture was that of the aboriginal Australians. It was the most unsuccessful season between the three, due to lack of active personalities and so-called "very strict" coaches. The main teams were the Kangaroo Team and the Koala Team.
Fourth season
The fourth season is now in production. Participants in the fourth season were called and confirmed on air at June 27, 2008.
Eesh Safari's social, cultural and physical help
Eesh Safari is a helping method to the native parts of the regions that the show uses for the contests. Participants of Eesh Safari usually clean up their left-overs, and help themselves in problems that occur to their habitats or own property, such as a flood which occurred in the second part of the show. Other than teaching the children to help themselves, and teaching them teamwork, the show also helps the native parts of the region by "punishments" to teams who lose, which, most of the time, bring fun to the punished team's hearts. The punishments are always dealing with helping the native people in the region, such as cleaning animal feces, collecting unnecessary weeds on the coast and in gardens, washing up farm animals and many more. Also, participating in quizzes, visiting cultures, building traditional homes, going to scientific places and a lot of other activities teach participants and also the watchers of the show physical, scientific, cultural and social help.