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Home > About
Us > USA Staff
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| Kurt Kutay |
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Kurt Kutay is the founding
President and CEO of Wildland Adventures and the director
of the non-profit Travelers Conservation Trust.
He has traveled and guided throughout the world
since 1975. Kurt completed an M.S. degree in Natural
Resources from the University of Michigan after
conducting research in the National Parks of Costa
Rica. He has also worked on international programs
for the U.S. National Park Service. Kurt has authored
a chapter on adventure travel for Fodor's guide
books and published numerous articles on ecotourism.
As a recognized industry pioneer in adventure travel
and ecotourism, he has served on numerous professional
boards and conservation organizations including
The International Ecotourism Society, the International Galapagos
Tour Operators Association, the Maasai Environmental
Resource Coalition of East Africa, and the Adventure
Travel Trade Association.
Email to:
Read the Seattle Times profile on Kurt Kutay
and Wildland Adventures Word | PDF
Click here for text of a speech on "Authenticity
in Travel"
by Kurt Kutay. |
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Anne Kutay |
Anne Kutay is Vice-President of
Wildland Adventures. She leads and designs family
trips and women’s adventure and rejuvenation
retreats. Prior to her Wildland Adventures in Costa
Rica, Turkey, Panama, Belize and East Africa, Anne
worked summers in Yellowstone National Park and
spent winters exploring and guiding groups throughout
Mexico for 8 years. Anne and Kurt have an adult
daughter, a grandchild, and a teenage son, Tarek,
who joins them to co-lead many family adventures. |
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| Rachael Garrett |
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Rachael Garrett is a member of
our Executive Management Team as Director of Operations.
She developed an excitement for travel to exotic
places as a child on family vacations to Costa
Rica and the ancient ruins in the jungles of Mexico.
Fascinated by the interactions between plants and
animals in tropical ecosystems, she studied biology
and French at university, spending a semester abroad
in France. Rachael served for three years in the
Peace Corps as an agro forestry volunteer in the
Gambia, West Africa where she gained a love and
understanding of African cultures and learned two
local languages. Rachael led her own family on
safari in Tanzania and has explored many countries
in West Africa, Europe, Central America, as well
as Mexico, Alaska, and Morocco. After joining Wildland
Adventures she directed our Costa Rica program
and then expanded to Panama, Guatemala, and Belize.
Rachael frequently travels to Africa as our East
Africa Program Director to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda
and Uganda, while continuing to manage our Wildland
Adventures to Panama and Guatemala.
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Grettel Calderon |
Grettel Calderon is a native “Tica” from Costa Rica who began her career as an executive secretary then translated her penchant for details and organization to become one of Costa Rica’s most knowledgeable and proficient nature travel tour planners. She now has over 12 years experience organizing itineraries in Costa Rica including 5 years as Wildland Adventures’ in-country expert. She lived in the U.S. for four years where she learned about American culture and travel preferences. She returned to Costa Rica from where she assists our guests by direct line email and telephone communication from the Wildland Adventures’ field office there. Grettel is introspective and a conscientious listener of each traveler’s personal interests and style. She enjoys cooking with fresh herbs from her garden and loves yoga, cycling, and volunteers for a local dog rescue organization.
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| Lyndsay Harshman |
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Lyndsay Harshman is a member of our Executive Management Team as the V.P. of Communications and our East Africa Program Director. Lyndsay brings a passion for adventure with in-depth travel industry experience in regions around the world from South America to Africa. Her keen interest in travel and world cultures developed during college while studying environmental biology and cultural anthropology in Kenya. Subsequently, she worked as a water systems coordinator for LifeWater Kenya bringing clean drinking water to rural villages and volunteering at a home for street children in Nakuru. Her adventures extend around the world-having explored Latin America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. "My goal while traveling is to connect with the people and culture by having a good laugh, sharing a meal or supporting a conservation or community service project," she affirms. From Ethiopia to Tanzania, East Africa is one of her favorite adventure destinations because of its diverse wildlife, unique cultures and breathtaking scenery. Lyndsay holds a degree in journalism and public relations from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, and several professional certificates in travel marketing and destination management. She enjoys photography, writing and world literature-especially India's post-colonial authors. Lyndsay and her husband like to perfect exotic recipes they've collected on their adventures.
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Adrian Chalker |
Adrian Chalker applies decades of worldwide travel, guiding, and specialty travel planning to his position as Director of Group Sales and Wildland Family Travel. An Englishman, Adrian has an eight year old daughter and takes her overseas as often as he can. Brought up in the UK and Zimbabwe, Adrian has hitch-hiked from the UK to Morocco, across North Africa, and to India via Tehran, where he witnessed the Ayatollah Khomeini's arrival; an experience which awakened a life-long passion to better understand how the world works. He worked for ten years as an adventure guide in the Middle East, Far East, Africa and Europe, during which he spent eight summers in India leading treks through the high Himalayas, guided in Egypt for two years, and has led many groups in Jordan, Syria, Israel, Morocco, Iran, Thailand, Malaysia and much of Europe. Adrian holds a double degree in journalism and political science from the University of Washington where he also developed his interest in cinematography. Adrian has written travel related articles for magazines in Europe and the US, and made several documentary films, including a short critical piece on the U.S. Patriot Act, a historical documentary following the route of the Magi through Iran, Syria, Syria and Israel, and his most recent endeavor entitled, 'Hope', a 40 minute piece on the construction of an orphanage in Kashmir, India. "Travel is an educational experience," he believes. Adrian brings to Wildlands a deep love for sharing the world based on more than two decades of professional field and travel management experience.
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| Jeff Stivers |
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Jeff Stivers shares his passion for venturing out to explore new places and distant cultures both past and present. He holds a BA in Anthropology from Colorado College and has participated in archaeological field work on Easter Island, and in Tanzania, Niger, Sudan, and southwest Colorado. Along his journeys Jeff has developed language skills in French, Spanish, and Swahili. He believes that the past can light the way for a better future. As Program Director for Belize, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Jeff is intrigued by how both indigenous peoples and modern cultures cope with the new stresses and opportunities of globalization. Aside from travel, Jeff enjoys mountain biking, hiking, fishing, soccer, photography and cooking. Based on his extensive travel to remote regions of the world, he understands that the secret to having a rich and meaningful life-changing trip is to make honest, personal connections with local people. "Fundamentally we are all the same; only in this realization can barriers and stereotypes be broken."
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Breanne Stovall |
Breanne Stovall Growing up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the high deserts of Santa Fe, Breanne is passionate about exploring the outdoors. While attending the University of Colorado, she spent weekends and summer vacations around Rocky Mountain National Park and venturing throughout the southwest U.S. She enjoys skiing, hiking, climbing, sailing and is always seeking opportunities to develop a new skill or master the old. Breanne's extensive travels throughout Latin America have ignited a strong passion for adventure travel and learning about new cultures. Working at Wildland Adventures affords her a chance to continue discovering the world and helping others to experience more authentic travel.
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| Nilu Jenks |
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Nilu Jenks Being of Iranian descent, Nilu is very familiar with how important it is to understand other cultures. She fostered an early passion for travel, as she visited family members in London over summer vacations, traveled to Spain and Italy while in high school, and attended the Universidad Naciónal de Costa Rica in Heredía, with the goal of fluency in Spanish. She fell in love with Latin American culture and traveled throughout the rest of Central America in Guatemala, Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua. She majored in Economics and Spanish at Wellesley College, after which she departed for an enlightening (though brief) career at Enron Corp. in Houston. Having decided to work at a place where she could contribute to the betterment of the planet, Nilu came to Wildland Adventures as a Program Director specializing in Chile and Argentina, Antarctica, India, the Middle East, and in group specialty travel. Prior to Wildland, she worked for five years as a senior tour consultant organizing worldwide student group tours, and she traveled to many Canadian provinces, Mexico, Argentina, France, Luxembourg, Holland, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey, Egypt, India and Japan. She enjoys reading (and starts a book club wherever she goes!), cooking and fine dining, and spending time at home watching the Red Sox with her husband and feline friend.
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Julia Nesbitt |
Julia Nesbitt spent every summer of her childhood exploring her grandparent's farm in Zimbabwe. Crossing continents all her life, she was born and raised in the U.S. by relocated third generation residents of South Africa and Zimbabwe, and she has been traveling to Africa ever since. Julia has driven from one end of South Africa to another visiting family and on safari in the premier parks and private concessions throughout South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Tanzania inspecting lodges and designing itineraries for a family safari business. She also worked as manager at a small camp in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. Julia has a degree from the Evergreen State College and lived in Paris while studying abroad. She has also visited Peru, the Bahamas, Mexico and Jamaica and is always looking for the next opportunity to explore exotic locales. In the meantime, Julia is an avid reader and food enthusiast who collects recipes and cook books from all over the world and particularly from the American Deep South.
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| Ileana Koons |
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Ileana Koons was born and raised in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. Ileana brings her native destination knowledge , years of organizational skills, travel planning experience and attention to detail to her role as Wildland’s Costa Rica Operations Manager. Ileana is passionate about her country. Having traveled extensively throughout Costa Rica’s lowland rain forests cool mountain cloud forests and laid-back tropical beaches she is proud to assist in the organization of travel to her country. Ileana earned a BA in Tourism with emphasis in hospitality management and for 8 years worked in the travel industry in Costa Rica prior to moving to the USA. Ileana now lives in Edmonds, WA with her husband, John. She enjoys learning about North American cultures, traditions and the beautiful landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.
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Tim Hocking |
Tim Hocking is the quintessential adventure-travel IT and Web Manager. He works all hours developing Wildland's website and keeping the computer systems in working order so that he can maximize his time on the slopes in the Cascades during ski season. He even has a ski helmet with cell phone mic and ear piece in case anyone needs tech support when he's skiing-now that's dedication! With a little research and lots of ingenuity Tim always manages to come up with a solution to any IT challenge. He enjoys camping, hiking, and all about the gear associated with the outdoors as he was a manager of North Face stores in Chicago and Seattle. Tim lives with his wife in a log cabin in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
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| Elizabeth Pelham |
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Elizabeth Pelham. Her whole life
wrapped up in theatre, Elizabeth has been a producer,
director and an actress under the direction of
Alfred Hitchcock and the Barrymores. She is currently
the editor of the Seattle Repertory
Organization "Backstage News." Bookkeeping is her
day job, acting by night. Although
she couldn't tote her 5 children around the world,
she brought a diversity of cultures into her home
by hosting over 200 students from Japan, Russia,
China, Poland, France and England-who now know
her as their "American mom." Now handling
the books at Wildland she has managed to bring
the world back into her career.
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