2020 GeoEx Catalog

Meet the Experts

STARLA ESTRADA

THRILLING ACTIVITIES AND ACCESS TO REMOTE AREAS are key ingredients for adventure travel. They make a journey exciting and impactful— and harder to plan. After a decade of arranging far-flung forays for GeoEx travelers and myself— from helicoptering into Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression to snowboarding down a volcano in Chile—I continue to see how rewarding it is to step outside of our comfort zones and connect with others and the planet. I’ve also compiled a black book of legendary adventurers and modern-day explorers that you’ll want to meet. CREATIVITY AND A REBELLIOUS STREAK DRIVE MY TRIP DESIGN. My deep, edgy approach to travel compels me to solve logistical puzzles, opening up possibilities in places like Chad, the Central African Republic, and Papua New Guinea. I strive to arrange moments that become stories. Like floating downriver with the great-grandson of the first European crocodile hunter; spending

time with musician-caste nomads in India’s Thar Desert; and riding with llaneros (cowboys) through a Colombian delta that boasts rays, jaguars, and anacondas.

Journey to GEOEX.COM/STAFF to find out about GeoEx’s other adventure travel alchemists.

FACING  Camels loaded with blocks of salt, led by the nomadic Afar people, plod across a salt lake in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression, the hottest inhabited place on the planet. 65

ROBERTHARDING / ALAMY