Founded 2015
Not your Instagram feed — though that may be a side effect. We mean genuinely, permanently alter the way you understand the world.
Our story
ODYSSEY began in 2015 when founders Eleanor Marsh and Daniel Osei returned from Bhutan and couldn't find the words to explain what had happened to them. They had gone as tourists and come back as something else. The guide, the pace, the permission to stop and look — it was a different kind of journey.
They set out to build a travel company around that experience: small groups, genuine local expertise, and itineraries written with enough margin that the unexpected could happen. The first journey — a seven-person trip to Tanzania — departed in March 2016. It rained on the Mara crossing day. Everyone agreed it was better for it.
Ten years later, ODYSSEY has seven itineraries across six world regions, a team of ten specialist guides, and a tailor-made programme that has taken guests from Kyrgyzstani yurt camps to Antarctic research vessels. The conviction hasn't changed: the best travel is slow, small, and local.
The people who know
Every ODYSSEY guide is a specialist in their region — not a generalist who moves between destinations, but a person who has spent years building knowledge in one place. That depth is the product.
Lead Naturalist — East Africa
FGASA Level 3 certified naturalist with 16 years tracking the Serengeti's predator circuits. Amara grew up in Arusha and holds a degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Dar es Salaam. He has been leading ODYSSEY's East Africa programmes since 2017.
Speciality
Predator ecology, Maasai culture, avian identification
Cultural Guide — Bhutan & Himalaya
A licensed Bhutanese guide and former lecturer at the Royal Thimphu College. Karma can read dzong inscriptions that most guides cannot explain, and he knows every family in the Haa Valley. He speaks Dzongkha, Tibetan, Hindi, and fluent English.
Speciality
Tibetan Buddhism, Bhutanese history, high-altitude culture
Expedition Leader — South America
A certified mountain guide (UIAGM) with ascents of Aconcagua and Fitz Roy, Valentina has led ODYSSEY's Patagonia programme since its first season in 2018. She was born in Punta Arenas and is as comfortable on pack ice as in a Chilote restaurant.
Speciality
Patagonian flora, glaciology, Andean trekking
Historian — Central Asia & Silk Road
A historian of Islamic art and architecture who completed her doctorate at SOAS, University of London. Nasrin's ancestors were Bukharan merchants; she returns to Uzbekistan each season with new archival discoveries about the Timurid period.
Speciality
Islamic architecture, Silk Road trade history, calligraphy
Responsible travel
We don't use the word sustainability lightly. Here is what we actually do.
We calculate the carbon footprint of every ODYSSEY itinerary — ground transport, domestic flights, accommodation — and offset 110% through verified reforestation and cookstove projects in-destination.
3% of every booking goes directly to a community fund in the destination: a school roof in the Haa Valley, a ranger salary in the Serengeti, a weaving cooperative in Samarkand. Published annually.
We follow IUCN distance guidelines for all wildlife viewing and work only with operators who share our protocols. No riding, no baiting, no handling. Our Svalbard polar bear safety protocols are co-designed with the Norwegian Polar Institute.
Groups of 12 or fewer reduce social impact at every stop — a quieter dzong, a more authentic market stall exchange, a campsite that disappears. Not just a business model: an environmental choice.