I remember a visit to a small unmarked pagoda about 40' by 40' by 15' with no electricity. I bought a candle to take inside. There was no noise ... just half a dozen of us jaw-slacked and in awe of the hundreds of images painted 700 years ago on the walls and ceiling. I stumbled back out into the sunshine, jumped onto the back of my donkey cart, closed my eyes, and concentrated on the clop clop of the donkey's hooves ... We call them ìadventuresî but your exploits may be physical; they may be emotional escapades; you might be intellectually challenged; or you may share some belly-aching good times!

In my diary from Sudan I wrote "the very moment you touch down at the airport you must set your clock back 30 years". I think you have to suspend your expectations. Accept the 'time' warp for 2 weeks and let all your senses absorb the strangeness. The rewards are immeasurable and, if you are lucky, you will experience true revealing moments and not just about others, possibly yourself as well. So come along now.

*** Wildlife Experiences: I love watching wildlife and spending time in nature. I have travelled to Antarctica, the Arctic, several private game reserves in South Africa, Chobe and the Okavango in Botswana, the Ngorongoro, Samburu, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara in East Africa, the lemurs in Madagascar, the gorillas in Zaire, visited the orang-utans of Indonesia, the rain forests of Costa Rica and Venezuela, the Galapagos Islands and snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef, in Belize, the Red Sea and in South East Asia.

*** Trekking, Hiking and Cycling: I hiked the Annapurna Region in Nepal, the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, the Tuscan hill country in Italy, the Alps in Austria and Switzerland, the Alpujarras in southern Spain, in Morocco, Ethiopia, South Africa and Patagonia, on Greenland's west coast, Iceland and in Tasmania and Queensland in Australia as well as New Zealand. At home I hiked the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island and I spend much of my time volunteering and hiking on the Bruce Trail. I cycled extensively in Europe and try to throw in a day or two of cycling on most of my trips.

*** Off the beaten track: I love discovering places few others have been to: Mongolia, Laos, Oman, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Namibia, Mozambique, Maria Island off Tasmania, Antarctica and the Canadian and Greenlandic Arctic.

*** Historical & cultural destinations: I have explored Machu Picchu in Peru, Tikal in Guatemala, the Canadian & Greenlandic Arctic, Great Zimbabwe, the pyramids in Egypt, Petra in Jordan, Morocco, Madrid and AndalucÌa in Spain, Provence and Tuscany, Rome, Istanbul, Israel, Angkor in Cambodia, the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Warriors in China, Varanasi and the fortress cities of Rajasthan in India, Mongolia, South India and the ancient sites of Ethiopia.

*** Adventure Cruising: besides Antarctica, the Arctic and the Galapagos, I have cruised along the Croatian coast and the Musandam Peninsula in Oman, on the Nile in Egypt and the Yangtze River in China.

*** The Good Life: besides adventure, I enjoy a good meal with a glass of wine and browsing through little towns. A few days on the beach do not go amiss either. I gained a few pounds in Provence and Tuscany and enjoyed lazing in the sun on the islands of Southern Thailand, Tahiti, Moorea and the Cook Islands in the South Pacific and the beaches of France, Australia and South India as well as Belize and Costa Rica.

He has traveled many times to Central & South America traveling with Explore Worldwide and Dragoman Holidays; Middle East with Imaginative Traveller and Southeast Asia with Peregrine Adventures. He has also traveled extensively throughout Africa on an Africa Overland trip with Dragoman Holidays. Rick has also traveled East Africa, visiting Kruger National Park in South Africa, enjoyed two golfing trips along the Cape with Africa in Style. He traveled to Sri Lanka with Explore Worldwide; India with Imaginative Traveller; Canadian Arctic on the Akademik Ioffe expedition ship with Peregrine. Rick has also visited Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, many Caribbean Islands and the Cook Islands.

Ricks favorite destinations are the Galapagos Islands, Southern India, Machu Picchu and of course visiting the big five in Africa. Rick has been the Manager of the Calgary office for 14 years. When he is not at the office, he enjoys spending time with his wife and 2 young daughters.

Since joining Trek Escapes Heather has traveled with Imaginative Traveler to see the Jewels of Egypt and they also showed her Essential Vietnam. She recently returned from three weeks in East Africa where she experienced Exodus's Classic Kenya Safari and Zanzibar and The Best of Uganda from Treks Africa in Style program.

Heathers favorite travel experiences include, trekking the Habinyanja group of Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi, experiencing a forest walk with the juvenile Chimpanzees on Ngamba Island, sea kayaking in Halong Bay Vietnam, holding a Koala Bear and snorkeling off Green Island in Australia, visiting a spice plantation on Zanzibar and seeing the Wildebeest cross the river during the migration in the Masai Mara. Her next adventure is just around the corner, there are many more special moments yet to be experienced.

Sheri has been working with Trek Escapes for 12 years and has excellent knowledge on worldwide destinations & airfares. Her travels have taken her to all of the seven continents- travelling extensively throughout the world; South East Asia, North Asia, India & Nepal, Central & South America, Eastern /Northern/Western & Southern Africa, Middle East , Europe, Caribbean, Australia/New Zealand & the South Pacific.

Challenging Treks also appeal to Sheri and she has been successful at tackling the Inca trail and Lares trek in Peru, Everest region of Nepal and the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Lindsay is one of our senior land reservation specialists. She been with Trek basically since birth and she has followed in the footsteps of the family and discovered her passion for travel. Having the adventure "roots" Lindsay has been fortunate to have travelled extensively.

Some of her favorite trip highlights would be going to the Arctic sailing around the archipelago of Svalbard on the Vavillov and getting to see polar bears in their natural environment, visiting the infamous Cape Town wine lands and getting lost in the maze of alleyways in Damascus' souq. She has also travelled to Malaysia, Netherlands, Egypt, Cuba, Mexico, India, South Africa and most recently came back from Syria and Jordan. Next on the list are the Gorillas in Rwanda or the Yaks in Mongolia, which ever it is will sure to be a fantastic and educational experience!

His travels started when he spent a year of high school studying in Germany. After high school and university he volunteered with Canada World Youth and spent time living with families in both BC and in the Darjeeling region of northern India. The experience in India truly awoke a passion for travel in him; there is no better place to learn about yourself and learn an appreciation of other people and cultures than India. It opened the world up to him.

Since then he's been able to visit India a second time, travelling there independently before heading to South-East Asia. In several trips to Asia he's traveled through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia & Borneo, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. The trips have been a combination of independent travel as well as with some of Trek's great adventure operators. Also in Asia he's had the opportunity to travel in China, Taiwan and Japan.

When pressed he would call Asia and the Middle East his favorite destinations. The Middle East is likely the most inspiring place to travel for Geordie. He also has been to Israel, Lebanon as well as Syria and Jordan which he says are absolutely amazing. The current popularity for travel to the Middle East is well earned and is a true testament to the incredible sights, scenery and wonderfully friendly people. In Africa he's travelled to Morocco, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia. His next trip is to Kenya and Tanzania on Trek's very popular Kiboko Safari with a Zanzibar stopover afterwards!

Geordie travelled, lived and worked in the South Pacific on two trips to New Zealand. New Zealand is a must see with such a great variety of things to see and do for all types of adventures. He has been to Fiji and Hawaii going back and forth to New Zealand.

In Central America his experiences include visits to Belize, Guatemala as well as Cuba. Cuba is a must see destination and the sooner you go the better. His advise is - get away from the beaches and see the country!

A few of his more recent trips have been to the Canadian Arctic & Greenland on one of Trek's expedition ships, Bali & Lombok with a backpack on his back and Turkey with Imaginative Traveller. This past year he's been able to get to Japan in April for the cherry blossoms and South Africa and Namibia in September for a great accommodated safari. Check out his travel stories about these trips at trekescapes.com.

If you are looking for inspiration for your next trip, a few of our most popular trips are: Expedition cruising in Antarctica, cultural journeys in India and wildlife safaris in Africa.

Miyako has always had an interest in tourism and specifically, adventure travel. Since she graduated from the Canadian Toursim college she has accumulated ten years of experience in the industry. She has recently returned from five months of backpacking through Jordan, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Japan, London, Germany and Czech. Her favorite experiences of this particular trip were riding on top of the bus along the Karakoram highway, glacier hiking in Pakistan and trekking for a month in Nepal.

Miyako always meets a number of great people on her trips and makes freindships that last a lifetime. This last trip she met one of her 'little brothers' that she had met nine years ago on a trek in Annapurna. It was a great surprise as she had lost contact with him years ago. Miyako has traveled to Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands, Peru (and of course, the Inca trail!!), Kenya, Tanzania including Zanzibar Island, most of Western Europe, Finland and the United States.

Miyako enjoys adventure travel because it isn't always easy, she loves mingling with locals and other travelers and she enjoys observing other cultures. Depending on how you want to classify her favorite places, Miyako's list reads:

Nepal and Jordan for the people // Nepal and Pakistan for the beautiful mountains // All Latino countries and Africa for music // Peru and Egypt for ancient ruins // India and Thailand for best food // Zanzibar Island for favorite beach // Japan for their temples and Vancouver for sunsets

Next destinations on Miyako's "adventure list" will be Patagonia, trekking in Baltistan, Pakistan to see K2, Mt. Kailash-Tibet, Central Asia, Ethiopia, and Australia.

Miyako likes to talk about the countries she has visited and the trips she has experienced. She is very excited to be part of Trek Escapes and to meet people who love adventure as much as she does... and to help make their dreams come true!

Outside of her childhood experiences overseas, Laura also spent three months improving her German in Hamburg on a German Exchange program in high school. The spring of 2007 saw her return to Europe for a 4 month backpacking trip which was a long term dream realized for her! Besides visiting family in Germany and getting to know her own roots, she went skiing in the Austrian Alps, explored the historic cities of Italy, visited the eastern countries of Poland and Czech Republic, hiked the magnificent Norwegian fjords, went canyoning and parasailing in the Julian Alps of Slovenia and after all that relaxed on the clear blue Adriatic coast of Croatia!

Laura's first adventure as a member of the Trek team took her to the diverse country of Peru in Sept/Oct 2009. While spending three weeks in this popular South American nation, Laura experienced life at high altitude in La Paz, spent the night with Quechua speaking locals on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca, hiked the challenging Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, tasted guinea pig in Cuzco, went sand boarding on the dunes at Huacachina and visited the many fascinating sites and places in between!

Jill's first solo trip was to Scotland when she was 16. She explored the country from coast to boarder. She was 18 when she decided to pack her bags and head off to the Middle East for a 7 week camping trip, but first stopping in France to live with a family for 5 weeks living on the coast of Brittany. She left France and headed to Istanbul where her camping journey began. From there she headed south from Istanbul, and traveled through the rest of Turkey then through Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt where she finished her trip in the wonderful city of Cairo. When she was 19 she toured Europe covering England and France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

Since then Jill has travelled to Tanzania, Kenya, Thailand, Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands. Jill has now been in the travel industry for 6 years. She started out as a Cruise Specialist and was able to travel around to most of east and western Caribbean. She decided to leave the travel industry to go into her other passion: horses. But she has now returned to the travel industry where she has learned that Adventure Travel is her true passion, and showing people the world the way it was mean to be seen.

After her travels through Australia and Fiji she decided to backpack around Europe for 3 months. She first joined Trek back in 2003 when she worked for Trek Escapes Edmonton. She had the opportunity to travel to Peru and South East Asia when working for Trek. Itchy feet got her again and she moved to the UK for 2 years to continue in travel working for an African tour operator. From the UK she found herself moving to Cape Town for a couple of years where she has just recently moved back from. She has travelled throughout Egypt, Tunisia, Eastern and Southern Africa.

Andy has taken over the Marketing for Trek Escapes in June of 2007 and his current responsibilities include looking after all marketing efforts for the Trek Escapes offices throughout Canada.