Mark formerly spent over five years living in New Zealand, a country that he holds close to his heart, spending his time eating his way around the Auckland food scene and tripping to the South Island to embark on multi-day walks.
Mark specialises in planning tailor-made journeys to Africa, Asia and Oceania. From his early-twenties, travel has been the main passion in his life. Nothing excites and engages him more than hearing travel stories, sharing ideas and trying the local delicacies, thus a career in the travel industry was the perfect fit. With more than a decade of industry experience and having personally visited more than 65 countries across the world, he draws on that extensive knowledge to curate incredible itineraries for his guests.
My favourite holidays…
My favourite experiences…
Favourite food from a destination I love
I’m a lover of seafood, so it’s a tough call with the local Kingklip fish in South Africa and a Prawn Curry in Galle, Sri Lanka coming close. However, I simply can’t forget the incredible green-lipped mussels, scallops and Blue Cod that I enjoyed overlooking Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island, just off the South Island of New Zealand.
Favourite wildlife encounter
I’ve been fortunate enough to see many wild animals on safari in Africa, however, it was hiking half way up a peak through dense forest (behind a machete-wielding group of trackers, hacking their way through) to observe the M-Group chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains NP, Tanzania, that I’ll simply never forget.
Favourite culture trip
Staying with a local family on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, and taking myself out of my comfort zone by interacting with them and their children in my best broken Spanish. I loved my time there, and still have a massive, colourful painting that I picked up from a local artist adorning my bedroom wall to remind me of that experience.
I'll always remember when…
Standing atop Mauna Kea in Hawai’i, taking a moment to myself to watch the sunset before gazing endlessly at the clearest night sky I’ve ever seen in my life. It was also very nice to enjoy the cool air at 4,200m after a visit to the nearby Pu’u ‘Ō’ō vent earlier in the day, where I came very close to flowing molten lava!
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