Our Founder - Jim Heck
At a 2016 surprise sunset ceremony along the Mara River, Maasai elders associated with the legendary Governor’s Camp pronounced Jim an “honorary elder.”
While not a singular honor it’s quite rare and affirmed how grateful the local Maasai are for Jim’s contribution to Kenyan development and tourism.
Few people know East Africa as well as Jim Heck. For nearly a half century he has worked, lived, and guided in sub-Saharan Africa. His popular blog, Africa-Answerman, includes investigative journalism of some of Africa’s most critical news stories as well as anecdotes and features of daily African life. His award-winning novel, Chasm Gorge, will soon be followed by a second one, The World by Ole Sarut.
Jim was the first westerner allowed to leave Addis after the Red Terror; had canoes overturned among crocs and hippos on the Zambezi; been charged by an elephant that he hit with a plate of waldorf salad; lost in the jungles of Cameroun; marooned in the Ituri Forest and rescued by Rhodesian sanction busters; and was among the few outsiders to travel through Uganda during the rule of Idi Amin. Jim has never lost a client or fired a gun.
Our Head of Asia - Rick Lunt
Based in New York, Rick has been designing trips to Asia and beyond for over 10 years.
Whilst early visits to the continent involved a backpack and not much else, recent trips have have included meals with Geisha in Japan and being adopted by the Asaro Mudmen in Papua New Guinea.
Rick is always looking for the road less traveled, and encourages everyone to step out of their comfort zone when it comes to travel. This has led to adventures such as being invited to an Indian wedding in Udaipur, riding motorbikes through the Vietnamese countryside, and attending a parliamentary session in Myanmar (no longer allowed!).
He also loves to champion destinations that are often overlooked such as Laos & South Korea. Indeed, Rick was fortunate enough to be one of the first people invited back to South Korea post-pandemic, as they geared up to reopen in 2021. It reaffirmed his love for the continent, and there are plenty more trips back to Asia in the pipeline.