Here at Shaka Guide we are dedicated to creating the perfect self-guided audio driving tour. At every step in the process, we put our best foot forward to ensure our listeners have the ultimate tour experience. This is no small feat considering how many steps there are. Research, writing, editing, recording, producing, quality assurance, development – the list goes on and on. 

But the Shaka Guide team wouldn’t want it any other way.

My name is Rayne Warne. I’m the Tour Script Editor at Shaka Guide (pictured below). It’s my job to work with our tour writers as they research and write the tours before they’re handed off to the audio production team. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. 

Rayne Warne: tour editor extraordinaire

Research - Becoming Subject Matter Experts

It’s difficult to say which part of the process is the most important. Take away any one of them, and you take away the tour completely. That said, I can’t downplay the importance of good, thorough research to get the process going. 

Research begins long before the writers even get involved. Choosing which destinations to write tours for, and in what order, requires careful thought and planning. We have to consider things like drivability, annual visitors, public interest, distance to existing or potential Shaka Guide tours, and a whole lot more. Eventually, a decision is made and tours are assigned to our team of excellent writers. 

The best tour guides are experts in their areas so we ask our writers to become just that – experts. They perform a deep dive into their destinations, learning everything there is to know. 

They research the geology, ecology, geography, natural history, and human history of each location. Our sources include National Park websites, history books, newspapers, encyclopedias, historical societies, scientific journals, and so much more. Every source is recorded and every fact checked. If it can be known, we want to know it. Stories about Indigenous Peoples long before European explorers arrived? Yes, please! Stories about efforts to conserve or restore endangered species? Sign me up! Stories about why we visit these special and preserved places, as if the visuals didn’t speak for themselves? That’s our bread and butter. 

Arches National Park: one of the many places our writers have fallen in love with

From there, the writers begin the deceptively complex task of designing the tour itself. Choosing what the tour stops will be and in what order to visit them isn’t so easy as it seems. It’s important, though, because this is where the tour finally starts to take shape. 

Writing - Writing is Rewriting

After the writers have finished their initial research and designed a driving tour route, they’re chomping at the bit to start writing. And, in order to avoid a stampede, we let ‘em! Depending on the size of the tour, it could take 1 to 3 weeks just to write the first draft. They’ve compiled a mountain of research and now it’s time to start chipping away at the mountain to find the diamond at its heart. We include only the best, most interesting, and most entertaining content on the tour. 

At some point in the writing process, usually after the first draft, the writers travel to their tour destinations. Why wait until now? Why not visit at the very beginning of the research phase? Great question! Remember, we want our writers to be subject matter experts. This means learning everything they possibly can before arriving at their destinations. A delayed site visit allows them to confirm their research and frees them up to explore in greater detail because they won’t be caught unaware.

With first drafts turned over, it’s my turn to begin the editing process. In truth, I’ve been involved from the beginning, doing my own research into their tours and guiding them through the process. Company founders Andrew and Rita, too, are very hands on throughout every phase of tour creation. Draft after draft, we review the writers’ progress, offer suggestions, and make changes. Editing can last up to a month or more. It’s critically important as each tour script is held to a high standard.

Our co-founders Andrew & Rita are involved in the editing process

At every step in this tour creation process, we have safeguards in place to ensure what we’re learning in research and including in the final product is correct. During research, writing, and editing, this means rounds of review by peers and editors to ensure accuracy.

Content Mapping - GPS Coordinates and You

A self-guided driving tour wouldn’t be too effective, or fun for that matter, if it really were entirely self-guided. It would be frustrating getting lost between tour stops because you didn’t know where you were going! When you take a Shaka Guide tour, we do our best to guide you along a predetermined route of curated tour stops. Where the self-guided part enters is that you’re free to follow our directions or forge your own path.

In order to guide you, we rely on your phone’s GPS data. Shaka Guide tours operate entirely offline, meaning you don’t need wifi or even cell service to take our tours. Our writers, apart from designing the tour route and writing the tour scripts, also plot out the GPS data. It’s a complicated technology but essentially, whenever you drive over one of our GPS markers, that will trigger the app in your phone to begin a new audio track. This content mapping requires high precision and perfect timing in order to create a seamless experience for our listeners.

The GPS map is how the tour gets to you

Audio Production - Make it Sing

Once the tour scripts have gone through rigorous editing, often resulting in four or more drafts, it’s finally time to move into audio production. Believe you me, as much as the writers fall in love with their tours, they are absolutely ready to move on by this point. After reviewing the scripts, the production team does two things: they prepare the scripts to be read by one of our Shaka Guide voice actors, and they go on the hunt for the perfect music to accompany the tour experience. 

The Shaka Guide tour narrator, or the Voice as we call it around here, is an incredibly important ingredient in our tour recipe. Aside from the app itself, the Voice is the number one way listeners engage with the tour. Many reviewers comment to say how much they enjoy the narrator, and some even go so far as to give them a name, like Uncle Shaka.

Getting the right performance from the Voice is crucial to a successful tour experience. Next, our production team does their magic, cleaning up the audio and (somehow) making it sound even better. From there, it’s music time.

Music is one of the many ways Shaka Guide sets itself apart from its competitors. We use music not just to fill space between narration, but to enhance the tour experience. The right song at just the right time can make all the difference. Our production team spends weeks listening and searching for dozens of “right songs” per tour. And they don’t stop at music. They also incorporate sound effects to create an entire, immersive soundscape. We think the end results speak for themselves:

Data Team - It’s in the Details

This process just keeps going, doesn’t it! 

While all the research, writing, editing, and audio production is going on, something else is happening behind the scenes. In order for the tour to work properly in the app, the data team must assemble and enter thousands of pieces of data into the app. This includes the GPS information determined earlier, as well as pictures, supplementary articles, highlights, and of course, the tour content itself. 

Quality Assurance - Where the Rubber Meets the Road

The tour is written. It’s been edited, recorded, and music has been added. The data team has done their work and it’s been added to our dedicated testing app. All that’s left to do is tour testing. This requires a second site visit, usually by Andrew and a member of the audio production team, like producer Adam Kampe. 

Adam Kampe and Andrew Shults on a testing trip

They have the difficult task of driving these tours through beautiful and awe-inspiring locations. I’m sorry, did I say difficult? I meant enviable! Still, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There’s real work to do, making sure each and every track plays at the precise right time, and that no tracks are too long or too short. 

When the tours are dialed into the “Goldilocks Zone” and they’re working just right, it’s time to set them loose on the world. 

Everything Else

What I’ve just explained relates solely to creating a tour but this ignores everything else we do to bring the tour to you. We have a talented team of developers dedicated to making sure the app works perfectly every time you open it up to start a new tour. We update the app regularly to keep up with iOS and Android updates. We are also constantly looking for ways to improve the app and tour experience. 

Aside from the tours, our writers also put together supplementary articles to enhance your trip. These topics range from “Trip Itineraries” to “Hiking Trails,” from “When to Visit” to “Know Before You Go,” and so much more. Every tour includes a list of highlights, which are places and stories of interest that can be found on the tour or in the surrounding area. 

Our marketing team works tirelessly to make sure the world knows that Shaka Guide is the place for premiere self-guided driving tours. We know you have a choice in tour apps and we aim to be the best: the best in content, the best in quality. 

Filming promotional videos for our Utah tours

Now, You Take the Wheel

Once the tours are released to the world, it’s your turn. We appreciate each and every customer who has taken a tour, left a review, and given us much-needed feedback to continue to make the tour experience even better. Without you, Shaka Guide would cease to exist. 

And, as we continue to grow with a goal of launching hundreds of tours across the United States - and world - we want to hear from you! Send us an email, message us on social media or give us a call. Share your feedback, your ideas, and even your tour wish list and we’ll be here to listen. 

So what do you say? Let’s explore together.