Trusted Experts
Our guides are passionate about travel.
If you sat with any of our guides over dinner, the conversation would eventually turn to travel, and if you’d indulge them, they would query you about your travel dreams. Seems everyone has travel dreams. If you ended up at their homes, they would pull out the atlas, and you'd likely learn about places you may not ever have known existed. Needless to say, all our guides’ atlases are ragged and well-used. Our guides simply love what they do and follow naturally the mission of Explorers’ Corner — to experience unique destinations and make travel dreams come true.
Our seasoned guides have more than 35 years of guiding experience among them and have collectively been to more than 150 countries, safely leading hundreds of travelers to the world's most remarkable destinations via kayaking, hiking, boating, and biking. At Explorer's Corner, you meet your guide before you leave home. You'll talk personally about where you want to go, you'll have continual contact with him or her as you book your trip and prepare to depart, then of course you'll share a fabulous adventure together, and your guide will be in touch as you return home, following up for a final appraisal (and perhaps a lifelong friendship!). We think it's important, given the kind of intimate travel that we do at Explorer's Corner, that you should both get to know each other well, and that starts from the moment you begin planning your trip.
Meet the experts...
 |
Olaf Malver
CEO: Chief Exploratory Officer
Areas of Expertise: The Polar Regions, Europe and Indonesia You don't find modern-day adventurers more avid or authentic than Olaf. The founder of Explorers' Corner, Olaf has an unsurpassed enthusiasm for rare and remote locations that possess unique natural beauty and/or authentic indigenous cultures. His passion for the historical legacy of the world's great explorers is what drives him, and it's infectious! |
 |
Jane Whitney
Senior Lead Guide
Areas of Expertise: Arctic, Patagonia and British Columbia's West Coast Jane Whitney is the resourceful co-founder of Whitney & Smith Legendary Expeditions, which joined forces with Explorers' Corner in 2010. A naturalist and seasoned wilderness guide, Jane has spent 15 years guiding sea kayaking expeditions in the Canadian Arctic, B.C. West Coast and Patagonia. |
 |
Pierre Bester
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Madagascar, Africa and Greenland Born and raised in South Africa, Pierre became hooked on the “bush” from an early age. He added the sea to his outdoor addiction while studying law at the University of Cape Town, and became adept at surf-ski kayaking on the wild... |
 |
Gary Bolton
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Asia, Alaska, and Latin America Gary has had two parallel career paths of adventure-travel guiding and academia. He has led treks for more than 20 years in the Himalayas, primarily in Nepal but also in India, Pakistan, Bhutan, and the Chinese Karakoram. He has guided... |
 |
Hutch Brown
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Galapagos, Laos and Cambodia Hutch Brown hails from Maine USA and first cut his teeth in the wide world of adventure by through-hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was just 18, way back in 1986. Hutch graduated from Marlboro College in Vermont with a BA in... |
 |
Cindi Cowie
Senior Guide
Area of Expertise: West Coast B.C. Cindi grew up on Vancouver Island. She always wanted to be outside exploring something – anything. She followed a dream to live in a small community and live simply as a kayak guide in Clayoquot Sound. The sea kayaking bug hit hard... |
 |
Mike Farris
Senior Lead Guide
Areas of Expertise: Arctic and West Coast B.C.
Mike Farris is a professional expedition guide with a degree in political science and outdoor education. Over the past decade, Mike has been guiding on the Canadian west coast. Mike joined us in 2005 guiding trips...
|
 |
Myles Farnbank
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Norway, Sweden and Madagascar
Myles is an experienced wilderness guide with many years of sea kayaking, canoeing, sailing and mountaineering in many of the worlds wildest places. A Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society and a Master Educator of Leave No...
|
 |
Baldvin Kristjansson
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Greenland, Spitzbergen and Kamchatka
Our beloved “Baldy” has always wanted to travel the world. He left his native Iceland to study environmental tourism in Australia. With this foundation, he returned to Iceland and for 10 years ran his own nature-focused travel...
|
 |
Dave Mention
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Portugal, Galapagos and the Himalayas Dave’s love affair with the outdoors began when he discovered the Three Sisters Wilderness in his native Oregon at the age of 12. In the ensuing 33 years, his adventurous spirit has spread from hiking to climbing, cross country skiing... |
 |
Jock Montgomery
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Asia, Greenland and Galapagos As a skinny eleven year old, Jock Montgomery went on a five-day canoe trip that became one of those life changing events. He discovered the magnificence of remote wilderness and the grace and splendor of paddling over water. He... |
 |
Nancy Moore
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Portugal, Galapagos, Panama and Chile Nancy’s appetite for adventure was fed at a very young age by her grandmother who would orchestrate weekend drives into the New England countryside and announce, much to Nancy’s delight, “we’re lost!” She’s enjoyed getting... |
 |
Xander Oldaker
Senior Lead Guide
Areas of Expertise: Arctic and West Coast B.C.
Xander grew up on the banks of the Winnipeg river in Manitoba, where he built a series of boats starting with a raft of questionable construction. Luckily his parents had invested early...
|
 |
Bob Powell
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Antarctica, Fiji and South Georgia Bob is currently pursuing a PHD in forestry and environmental studies at prestigious Yale University focusing on biodiversity conservation, sustainable nature-based tourism, and protected area management... |
 |
Eileen Powell
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Galapagos, Costa Rica and Greece With her start in guiding whitewater 23 years ago, Eileen has amassed a wealth of experience. She has led whitewater and sea kayak trips around the world including Galapagos, Costa Rica, Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, the... |
 |
Dave Quinn
Senior Lead Guide
Areas of Expertise: Arctic, Patagonia, and West Coast B.C. Dave Quinn is a wildlife biologist with a degree in Animal Science and Wildlife Ecology. He has spent several years working with endangered and threatened... |
 |
Sandra Schonbachler
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique A daughter of Switzerland who learned to ski almost before she could walk, it’s not surprising that Sandra developed an early love for nature. Snowboarding became her passion, but Sandra also made room for team sports, music... |
 |
Roger Schumann
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Belize, Baja, Galapagos and Alaska Roger's fascination with exploring the sea, especially islands, began with family camping vacations at the beach. Surfing, kayaking, diving, hopping from tide pool to tide pool; he learned to love the sea from many angles. As a young man... |
 |
Chris Starbird
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Belize, Baja, Costa Rica and Alaska Chris grew up on his grandmother’s ranch in the hills above San Francisco. It was there that his fascination for the outdoors grew to the level that propelled him through biological studies in graduate school. Sea turtles became his focus... |
 |
Dave Weir
Senior Guide
Areas of Expertise: Arctic
Dave was born in Switzerland, on the way to Zaire (now the Congo) where his parents were missionaries. He rode the Dempster Highway on his mountain bike at age 16 and climbed Mt. McKinley at age 18...
|
 |
Jamie Whiteside
Arctic Guide
Areas of Expertise: Arctic, Paddling, Mountaineering Jamie got his exposure to wilderness adventures as a youth in the Canadian Rockies. His dad, an Alberta rancher with a pesky habit of escaping to the mountains... |
|
Expert Guides
