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Meet Our Team

Our tours involve a dedicated team of local guides, porters, cooks, and all the people whom make our being there possible. This rapport has been forged over the years through mutual respect given and received. Meet our team below:

Silvana Gottini

Silvana Gottini

Owner, sales & marketing

Originally from Canterbury, Silvana studied zoology and marine biology in Christchurch, before heading overseas and living in Switzerland, the US and Latin America. As owner of SET, she manages sales, reservations and marketing in New Zealand. Fluent in Spanish and German (her parents are from Switzerland and Austria), she loves getting out and leading trips. Especially to Patagonia, Costa Rica and the European Alps.

Steph Chrisoffersen

Steph Christoffersen

Admin, Travel Specialist

Steph is from Motueka and has been in the travel industry for over 20 year. Starting out working for Ansett New Zealand, before becoming a Travel Agent in Motueka and working alongside Silvana. Travel is one thing she is passionate about, and she will do her best to make everything as seamless as possible for your trip of a lifetime.

Pumamarca, Argentina

Lenin Ampudia Iturralde

Tour leader – South America

Lenin was born in Quito – Ecuador, where he began as a local guide, working at different archaeological projects. Then he became a tour leader at the age of 23, all over South America and Cuba and always travelling with his guitar. Ancient knowledge and music are his big passions. He’s always curious about local cultures, so he’s the right person to ask about any of the places you visit. His local experience and relaxed style of travel will put you in true holiday mode.

Guide standing on a glacier in Patagonia

Cahit Inal

Tour leader – Greece and South America

Born in Turkey, Cahit is incredibly passionate about the regions where he’s guiding.  He has guided outdoor tours throughout his career and in 2004, moved to Chilean Patagonia where he worked as a tour leader, hiking, seakayak and icehike guide for many years. After moving back to Turkey he obtained his second degree in guiding and also as a licensed cultural guide. Currently based in Turkey, you may find Cahit on our South  America and Greek tours. He speaks English, Spanish and Turkish fluently and is always keen for a chat about the areas you’re visiting.

Sophia Padilla Villacres

Sophia Padilla Villacres

Tour leader

Sophia was born in Quito-Ecuador and right after having graduated from Tourism business administration, she made her biggest dream come true: traveling the world! She backpacked extensively on her own, gathering new experiences and knowledge about different cultures. The wonderful world of tour leading was introduced to her in Peru. She has now led tours all over South America and Africa, hiking being her main passion. We are lucky to have her freelancing for SET

Janet Ellis

Janet Ellis

Tour leader – Central America

Janet was born in Canada, moved to the UK when she was 8. Later she moved to Japan, traveling through Asia, and other parts of the world. Settling in the beautiful mountain town of Monteverde Costa Rica, 17 years ago. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in Costa Rican tourism. Running Horse Trek Monteverde riding stables and with her husband and guiding the 8 day horse tour. We are lucky to have her in Costa Rica, as she’s committed to creating authentic local experiences.

Dave Maloney, meet our team

Dave Moloney

Social media marketing

Dave Moloney, originally from Christchurch, manages our social media presence and email marketing campaigns. He supports Silvana and Steph with any creative for ad campaigns and ensures all automated emails are sent efficiently.

Having completed his bucket list trip to the UK and Ireland, Dave loves to travel and is looking forward to planning his next trip away.
Mike Graham, meet our team

Mike Graham

Digital Marketing

Mike has a career background in Sales and Marketing, and has been working specifically in Digital Marketing, specialising in Google Ads, over the past few years.  Mike has owned businesses in both NZ and Australia, so he has affinity with the strategic planning and implementation needs of business owners.  Mike is a father to two girls, and lives in Stoke, Nelson.

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