Our guides

Jonny Bealby (Asia & Africa):
Growing up in England , Scotland and Canada , Jonny developed a passion for travel and upon finishing college journeyed extensively in Australasia and the Far East . Since then he has earned a crust in a variety of ways: singer in a band, stunt horse rider, circus roustabout, motorcycle courier and photojournalist to name but a few. He set up Wild Frontiers Adventure Travel in 1998.

Jonny has visited more than 70 countries, written three books and had articles featured in a variety of publications including the Daily Telegraph, The Observer and Traveller Magazine. He has also lectured to the Royal Geographical Society on Afghanistan & Pakistan.

Domenico and Nargiza Mocchi ( Kyrgyzstan & Morocco ):
Dom has been running horse treks in Asia for almost ten years. A great friend of Jonny's, with the same enthusiasm and love for the countries in which he works, Dom's knowledge of all things equine, plus the world through which he takes you - he studied Geology at Bergamo University - combine to guarantee a truly memorable trip.

Dom and his charming wife Nargiza lead all Wild Frontiers horse trips in Kyrgyzstan and Morocco.

Johnny Paterson (Asia & Africa):
Employed for eleven years by Encounter Overland in Asia, Africa and South America , Johnny's experience of leading and managing treks, safaris and expedition to the more quirky regions of the world is extensive.

As an explorer he has also journeyed through the remote, seldom-visited north-western corner of Tibet , lived in Nepal and most recently crossed the Sahara on camels as part of a National Geographic expedition.

Peter O'Sullivan (Indochina):
Peter first visited Cambodia in 1993 and spent 2 months travelling from Phnom Penh to Angkor Wat with a film crew recording the lives of the water-dwellers. He returned in 1994 to film the famous Water Festival, during which time he wrote articles for The Times and Cambodia Daily and reported for the BBC World Service.

He was an active member of Action Cambodia and the lobby group UK Working Group on Landmines in the 90s. His love affair with Cambodia , Vietnam and Laos is as strong as ever and he is our man in Indochina .

For several years Carol has helped the monks of this region to provide education for Tibetan children in remote areas. Now she is involved in three schools, on the high grasslands of yak-herding nomads and two in the high mountains. The local communities are involved and innovative sustainable methods are used including a passive solar architectural design.

As well as guiding all Wild Frontier trips to Tibet - most of which take in her school projects - Carol also gives lectures and slide shows and is a member of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.

Stanley Moffat (Asia, Africa):
After studying law and geography at university Stanley’s first travels were as a professional sportsman. Looking out the window on the way to rugby matches wondering more about the route than the opposition he hung up his boots and picked up a backpack.

15 years and 80 odd countries later Stanley has lead treks and Overland expeditions all over the world, made a documentary in the Middle East, worked as a jet boat driver and photographer.

Of late Stanley has been involved in running a school Aid project in Ghana and bringing all his knowledge, enthusiasm, humour and experience to trips. He is a great new asset to Wild Frontiers

Mark Chapman (Ethiopia):
Having travelled all over the world - from Bolivia to Burkina Faso and the Cameroun to Cape Verde - five years ago Mark, now 38, decided to hang up his travelling boots and settle with his wife, Cassandra, in Ethiopia. His love affair with the country, however, actually began 6 years before that when he had his clichéd preconceptions of it blown away. Visiting just after the rains, much to his surprise he found a country of green fertility, with markets full of fruits and vegetables. Not only that but having studied medieval history at Liverpool university he was delighted to find a place with as much culture, both ancient and modern, as he could have wished for.

An Amharic speaker, he now lives in Addis with Cassandra and their two children. While Cassandra works for Save the Children as their emergencies director, Mark is involved in community based tourism projects in the mountains around Lalibela and elsewhere.

Richard Dunwoody (Kyrgyzstan):
Richard Dunwoody was 12 when he started riding racehorses and had his first race ride as an amateur in 1982. He turned professional in 1984 and won his first Grand National on West Tip in 1986. He became the only jockey of his generation to win the ‘Big Three’ following wins on Charter Party (Gold Cup1988) and Kribensis (Champion Hurdle1990). He also partnered the great Desert Orchid to seven victories. He won the Grand National again on Miinnehoma in 1994 and was Champion Jockey three times (1993-95). Due to a neck injury he was forced to retire in1999, having held the record for all-time wins, 1699.

He has written 4 books including his autobiography Obsessed and was awarded the MBE in 1993. Since retiring as a jockey he has raced cars, and in 2003 competed in the first Polar Race, a 350-mile trek to the Magnetic North Pole. Richard helps Dom guide our horse treks in Kyrgyzstan.

Benedict Jenks (Afghanistan):
Benedict’s career as an accountant (specialising in investigating major fraud for KPMG) has been consistently interrupted by a lifelong obsession with travel. He has now visited over sixty countries for pleasure and exploration as well as on business. He finally left the City a year ago to pursue his travel interests full time, and
joined Matthew Leeming on the first organised group from Britain to visit
Kabul, Bamiyan, Ajar, Herat and the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan last March.

As well as Afghanistan, Benedict’s recent travels have taken him to India (to trek and climb in Ladakh and to visit Rajasthan) to Tibet (where he climbed Lhakpa Ri, a seven thousand metre peak adjacent to the North Face of Everest), Nepal and Ethiopia.

Benedict has contributed a number of photographs to Afghanistan: A Traveller's Companion & Guide, due to be published later this year, and has had his travel photography published in the UK, the US and Ireland.