Leader of the Year 2017

KE Leaders are really important to us and are crucial to the success of each trip. Each year we like to recognise our leaders for their efforts as we ... Read more

29 Dec 2017 9 minute read

Filed under Adventure Travel Blog

By KE Adventure Travel

KE Leaders are really important to us and are crucial to the success of each trip. Each year we like to recognise our leaders for their efforts as we simply could not run 5 star holidays without them. We ask you to vote for your favourite leader when you submit your holiday feedback and from the 1000's of votes which we received in 2017, we have created a shortlist and selected our winner who is ...

Winner – Roberto Filipe, Madeira

Roberto was born in Lisbon, Portugal to parents originally from Madeira. In 1999 Roberto moved to Madeira and began working in adventure tourism. He got to know the mountain trails and ‘levadas’ of Madeira intimately and in 2013 gained his Madeiran mountain guide qualification. Since 2014 Roberto has led every KE group to visit Madeira doing the Levada Trails and Peaks of Madeira Holiday, where he has been able to share his love and in depth knowledge of this beautiful Atlantic island. As well as working as a mountain guide, Roberto is a keen surfer, which he has taught, coached and also judged surf competitions. Roberto’s feedback has been consistently excellent and he received an overwhelming number of nominations for the 2017 Leader of the Year award. A well-deserved winner! In recognition of Roberto's great work this year, Roberto will be receiving a pair of KE trekking poles and £150 to spend at Cotswold Outdoor, our recommended outdoor retailer. Here’s what people had to say:

“Roberto was a sensational guide - definitely one of the best I've had on any KE holiday. His briefings each evening told us everything we needed to know about the walk the following day, and he was particularly good with any parts of the walk that might need a bit of extra care, making sure we could all walk safely at all times. His English was probably better than mine, he was also great fun, and kept us well fed with extra cake and biscuits at all times. He could identify just about all of the 8 million-ish different flowers and plants we saw along the way, and his enthusiasm at explaining all about Madeiran life and history was wonderful.” Louise, UK

“Roberto was one of the best guides/trip leaders I've met - experienced, knowledgeable and always ready to entertain, sort out problems.” Alice, UK

“He was passionate about his island home, knowledgeable about both natural and human history, dealt well with the group, handled an injury to one participant well, and was a good dinner conversation companion. His kindness and enthusiasm were a great combination.” Marianne, USA

“Roberto was brilliant from beginning to end. He looked after us, informed us, fed us off the country (various berries and fruits as we walked the pathways), always had a ready smile and was happy to chat along as we walked or were in the hotels.” Raymond, UK

2017 Shortlist

Murad Arslan, Jordan

Hiking and nature are Murad’s passions and he has been leading KE trips since 2012 when he gained his official tour guides license. Over the years he has led our Jordan Family Adventure, The Ultimate Jordan Adventure, Wadi Rum and Petra, but Murad’s speciality is our best-selling Dana to Petra trek. In 2017 Murad led all of our Dana to Petra departures and received loads of nominations for leader of the year. A worthy runner up for this year’s award!

“Murad should definitely be nominated the Leader of the Year as he went beyond what I think any leader would have done. He never stopped working....always making sure everyone was ok and well and always there if anyone needed any help. He was so caring and kind. He never missed a chance to give any historical information or any other information that he knew. He was so enthusiastic and full of fun and always smiling.” Morfudd, UK

“Murad was one of the best guides we have ever had, he was brilliant, his enthusiasm and history knowledge was superb. When I go back to Jordan I will be requesting Murad as the guide.” Kevin, UK

“Murad is a font of knowledge about Jordanian culture, history and the landscape. He’s able to guage the differing needs in a group very well and is funny and kind. He absolutely made the holiday.” Nicola, UK

Rickesh ‘Ricky’ Yonzon, Nepal

Ricky has led KE groups in Nepal since 2011 following in the footsteps of his father who was also a KE leader in Nepal. Ricky leads both mountain biking and trekking trips and is a consummate professional consistently receiving excellent feedback from his groups. He’s led a variety of trips in Nepal including this year the classic ‘Manaslu Circuit’ and the new, very popular ‘Ganesh Himal Panorama Trek’. When not leading KE groups, Ricky runs a café in Kathmandu and is a singer in a rock band! Here are some of the nominations that Ricky has received from our clients:

“I can't say enough complimentary things about "Ricky" he raised the bar on the adventure being passionate about sharing his beloved Nepal with others and looking after every single person along the way. A round of applause to him on every level!!!” Sandra, USA

“Ricky really cared for the whole team, from client to porter and he worked extremely hard to make sure that everyone was happy. Ricky provided a fascinating insight into the culture and people of Nepal during his evening "Ricky Time" briefings, with many funny stories and information that you would never find in any guide book. An absolutely superb guide and to top it off, a great singer too!” Catherine, UK

“Ricky was very approachable, very attentive and personally ensured that us trekkers were happy as well as the members of his team (porters and sherpas). If we were all happy, he was happy. His knowledge of the area and the locations meant he was able to make small adjustments to the itinerary which benefited us all. He was a leader that could clearly make decisions and work through potential problems. It is clear that he is passionate about his country, his culture and the people and was keen to share this passion for his beautiful country with everyone on the trek. I really didn't want the trek to end and still have post holiday blues, some two weeks later! Thank you Ricky and your team for a trek to remember.” Darren, UK

Cao Sanchez & Aaron Barreto, Tenerife

Tenerife is a relatively new destination for KE, but has become an instant best seller since we started sending groups there in January 2016. Cao & Aaron have led every KE group to visit Tenerife and have been one of the key reasons the ‘Undiscovered Tenerife and Pico Teide’ and ‘Mount Teide Weekend’ trips have been such a runaway success. They have a huge amount of enthusiasm and knowledge about the culture, history and environment of their home island of Tenerife. Cao and Aaron received so many nominations from our clients for the leader of the year award, that both of them have made it onto this year’s short list. Well done Cao and Aaron!

“Cao and Aaron's enthusiasm for the Island, the environment, the history, culture and scenery was very evident. They seemed to love what they were doing and never tired of being with us and looking after us” Tobin, UK

“Enthusiastic trip leaders and guides, with humor and passion for their own island. Going the extra mile by taking us to lovely restaurants and preparing lunch boxes for us. And just very friendly as well.” Roy, Netherlands

“Incredible. Passionate about guiding and their country, which made the trip fun, exciting and informative. You really didn't feel like a tourist, more like a friend visiting. They set the pace really well, and nothing was do much trouble. A* guides!” Fenella, UK