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Our
Staff |
Rick
Whiteford
Managing
Director |
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For over three decades Rick has lived, worked and travelled
internationally,
often in some of the world's most out-of-the-way spots. He spent almost five years in the Arabian
Peninsula visiting hundreds of towns and villages from the
Jordanian and Iraqi borders to Yemen and the empty quarter. He has worked in Alaska,
the continental US, the Caribbean, South America and Asia
and has been an avid visitor to more than 75 countries
world-wide. In the past few years alone, he's
travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Zealand,
England, Wales, Norway, Svalbard, Germany, Turkey, Egypt,
Morocco, India, Borneo, Western Malaysia, Singapore, Chile, Argentina,
Egypt and Jordan - many of these several times. As well, he visited
Mali and Timbuktu
three times and during July 2010 a
short summer inspection trip took him to Singapore, West Malaysia, Borneo, Thailand, Laos and
Vietnam and then in the fall he spent another seven weeks in
Turkey, Jordan and Egypt. In January and February 2011 he
was back in Southeast Asia with our clients and also spent a
week exploring a hidden part of south Laos at Si Pan Don to
see the amazing temple of Wat Phou and Khon Pha Peng falls,
the Niagara of SE Asia. In late September 2011 he was off to
South India, Bali, Lombok, the Gili Islands, Singapore, Bangkok and Sri Lanka on
inspections for the new upcoming TrailFinders Private
Journey in South Asia in February 2013. Rick will lead
our Private Journey in Southeast Asia in January 2012 and
will be assistant Tour Leader in Chile, Argentina and
Uruguay in February & March 2012.
To send him e-mail click
Rick. |
Checking out the ambulance
in Timbuktu |
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Miral
Mousa
Operations Manager |
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Miral was born in Amman
and grew up in Jordan and Egypt, frequently visiting the
West Bank. Her sense of adventure began at an early age
as she travelled to neighbouring countries in the Middle
East such as Turkey and Israel, then built up a solid base of travel experience in Mexico,
the US, various Caribbean Islands and England before joining our Private
Journey teams in Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, the Middle
East, Africa and South America. She has a
wealth of hands-on experience in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Chile, Argentina, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Borneo, Singapore, Northern India
and
the Canadian and Danish Arctic. In the fall of 2009 she
stopped in Cairo for a short visit on her way to Amman where
she began her Tour Leader duties for the TrailFinders
Private Journey through Jordan with our guests and shortly
afterwards made another Middle Eastern jaunt in Dubai and Abu
Dhabi with a few "vacation days" in Germany on the way back.
She led our Jordan and Egypt tours in October 2010 and returned to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in February
2011. In October she spent a few weeks doing inspections in
Bali, Lombok, the Gili Islands and Sri Lanka. Miral will
also lead our Private Journey in Chile, Argentina and
Uruguay in February 2012.
To send her e-mail
click
Miral. |
At the
famous
temples of
Khajuraho
in Northern India |
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Lenore
Nilson
Special Travel Advisor |
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Lenore grew
up in Saskatchewan and lived in London, England and Montreal
before settling in Ottawa. She joined us in 1993 and has
travelled the world ever since. She's cycled in Australia,
New Zealand, China, Peru, Holland, Austria and Scandinavia;
rafted in the Yukon; canoed in Brazil; backpacked in
Thailand, Morocco, Malta, Syria and Jordan; trekked in
Nepal; camped and visited in the UK, Europe and North
America. She's also travelled extensively in the Caribbean,
Mexico, Costa Rica and Belize. Lenore has also led our
groups through Indochina as well as Ecuador and the
Galapagos Islands in the past few years. She has also found
time to make several visits to Southern Africa including
Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland prior to
leading our Private Journeys through that area. She returned
a few months back from Mali via Southern Africa, Tanzania and
exotic Zanzibar.
She also found time to visit Brazil for a short stay before
travelling up the east coast of Canada from Newfoundland to
the Arctic. In April and May she led another one of our
Private Journeys through South Africa and Namibia then spent
a week or so in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe afterwards.
After leading our "Best of Peru" tour in September she then
decided to finish off the year with a gruelling hike through
the back country of Cuba! Her next trip is to the Marquesas
Islands aboard the Aranui in the South Pacific in Feb 2012.
To send her e-mail click
Lenore. |
Hiking in the sand dunes of Namibia from the
Desert Express (in the background) |
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Lauchlin MacLean
Travel Consultant |
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Lauchlin's
love of travel started at a very early age as an army
brat as he moved from place to place throughout Canada.
After
entering the corporate world soon afterward, he expanded
his horizons to include the United States and Europe.
Most
recently Lauchlin served as tour leader for several
travelling cruise groups in places such as Hawaii and
the Southern Caribbean and for land journeys including
the Canadian Battlefields in Europe.
To send him e-mail click
Lauchlin.
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On board Celebrity in San Juan PR |
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Adam and Darlene Whiteford
Tour Leaders |
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It would be
difficult to find two people who have more interest,
more passion and more love for the travel experience in
Asia than Adam and Dee.
Since Adam's first international trip to the Middle East
at the early age of two and a half he has been hooked on
travelling to the world's most interesting places and
has served as assistant tour leader for several of our
Southeast Asia journeys in the past. Both he and Dee
continue to make time for travel in their busy schedules
and aim for Asia at every opportunity.
They led
our "Best of Southeast Asia" Private Journeys in
2010 and again in 2011. They are now preparing to act as Tour Leaders for
our next
Private Journey in Peru in April 2012.
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At Kuang Xi Falls,
Luang Prabang, Laos |
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Sandhya Patel
Tour Leader |
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"Sandy" was born in Kampala, Uganda and grew up in
Africa, England and eventually Canada. Travelling is a
passion that started at an early age. She joined her
parents on their visits throughout Europe and Asia and
managed her very first trip to Egypt while heading to
England to attend school. Sandhya has been covering the
globe ever since with visits throughout much of Canada
as well as the US, Estonia, Holland, Finland, Austria,
Switzerland, India, Italy, Mexico, Cuba, China, Hong
Kong, Macau, Singapore, Bali, Komodo Island, Alaska,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Yukon, and
Japan. Whew! Sandhya puts all this travel
experience to work in her duties as tour leader
for some of our Private Journeys.
For her, the most important aspects of any trip involve
experiencing the culture, interacting with the
people, enjoying the unique cuisine and taking in the
incredible sights at her fingertips. Sandy led our
Private Journey in Southeast Asia a few years ago and
our Turkey journey in September 2011.
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Feeling "at home" in China |
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Alex Bissett
Tour Leader |
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Alex is a passionate traveller who for many years
has sought out fascinating and off-the-beaten-path
destinations around the world. He is a keen
photographer and offers courses in adventure travel
and photography through the Ottawa Board of
Education. Alex has travelled throughout India, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, most of Southeast Asia,
along the Silk Road in Central Asia from Uzbekistan
to Pakistan, on the Trans-Mongolian Railway through
China , Mongolia and Russia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mali,
Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and
most European countries. Central and South America
hold a special interest for him where he's visited
Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galapagos
Islands, Peru, Argentina and Chile including Easter
Island. Scenery, architecture, archaeology and
nature all interest him, but it is the living people
and their diverse cultures throughout the world that
hold his greatest fascination. Alex joined us as tour leader
for our Private Journey to Ecuador,
Galapagos and Peru and looks forward to his next
sojourn with TrailFinders in some far-flung corner
of the planet!
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Relaxing "off the beaten track"
in rural Cuba |
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Samith Waidyatilake
Admin and Accounting |
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Sam quietly works away in the background making sure
that all of us don't spend too much money!
Thank
goodness someone can keep
track of all the daily transactions, invoices,
cheques, deposits, bills, international wire
transfers and all the other things that are so
important. We'd be lost without him!
To send him e-mail click
Sam.
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Our Independent Agents
We also have other fine
folks who work closely with TrailFinders in Ottawa and Toronto as independent agents.
They have a very loyal
following of personal clients.
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