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EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Dr. Toby Musgrave, Naturalist
A leading British authority on garden history and design, Dr. Musgrave lectures far and wide to students of garden history and design at Oxford University, the Royal Horticultural Society, aboard expedition cruises and throughout the United States.
With a degree in horticulture and a doctorate in garden history, Dr. Musgrave has worked as a freelance television and radio presenter, consultant, author, journalist, photographer, designer, and lecturer for the past 13 years. He has served as a horticultural consultant for the award-winning BBC landmark series, How to be a Gardener. He also wrote the horticultural web content for that series, which was later nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) educational award. Other credentials include: working as an on-screen presenter for numerous British television shows; creating and contributing to a six-part radio series, The British Garden; and hosting a DVD series, Your First Garden Made Easy.
Dr. Musgrave regularly contributes to a number of popular Danish and British periodicals, including a weekly syndicated gardening column. He has also penned six gardening books in English, and his first Danish book was just published last year. His worldwide horticultural design projects range from a spiritual retreat in upstate New York, to pioneering town garden in London, to a seaside garden in Denmark, and to a roof garden in Bombay.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Juan Carlos Restrepo, Geologist/Naturalist
Spending half of the year in Antarctic and the other in the Arctic might make Mr. Restrepo seem a little “bi-polar”, but only in the most literal sense. With a geology degree from the Universidad de Caldas in Columbia, and a thesis relating to coastal geomorphology (the study of land and rock characteristics, configurations and their evolution), it is no wonder he is an avid traveller.
As a matter of fact, traversing the globe is pretty much a lifestyle for this Columbian native. Once he left the coffee-growing town of Manizales in the Columbian Andes, he was initiated into the boating world and never looked back. In addition to his polar expeditions, his travels via sailing vessels and motorcycle have transported him to the West Indies, the Mayan Caribbean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Jarda Versloot, Assistant Expedition Leader
A zealous spirit has driven Ms. Versloot to the remote corners of the world. At age 18, this Amsterdam native, who now resides in South Africa, used her small Holland home as a jumping off point for an ever-growing adventure packed career.
She began with a degree in International Tourism Consultancy. However, it was her love of the ocean and hunger for learning about the wide, wide world around her that brought her to working aboard expedition ships. To date, she has explored all seven continents, including Antarctica, the South Pacific, Papua New Guinea, the Northern Marianas, Japan, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the British Isles and Australia. She is also a certified PADI rescue diver; qualified in first aid; and can drive a Zodiac.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Robin West, Dive Master/Expedition Leader
Being in nature and on the water are two of Mr. West’s dreams. He has spent the last five years realizing this dream. After obtaining his human movement science degree, he realized his passion for the outdoors and the world’s oceans could not be suppressed. Today, the South African native and German national lives in Holland, but spends the majority of his time aboard expedition ships.
He began making a living doing what he loved by opening two PADI dive centres, both of which work in conjunction with outdoor adventure companies along South Africa’s Garden Route. This enterprise was a fabulous venture, but it proved to not be enough to fill the hunger for adventure that coursed through Mr. West’s veins. As he gained experience, he began working on expedition ships as a Zodiac driver, snorkel & dive master, staff assistant and expedition leader. He now works full-time aboard cruise ships, voyaging to the far reaches of the earth. So far, he has trekked across Antarctica, the South Pacific, Indonesia, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the British Isles and Japan.
EXPEDITION VOYAGE: Hosted by Rob Suisted, Marine Biologist
Passionate about all the wild places he visits, Mr. Suisted enjoys sharing his extensive nature knowledge of both the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic with fellow sojourners. As a professional nature photographer and conservation manager this Kiwi has served as National Marine Mammal Advisor for the New Zealand government, resulting in a role as lead author of the New Zealand Marine Mammal (10-year) Action Plan. He was a recovery group leader for the endangered New Zealand sea lion and has lectured on a variety of subjects from marine mammal and conservation management, to the New Zealand sub-Antarctic, photography, and international adventure travel.
Also an accomplished author, Mr. Suisted has published six top selling pictorial books on New Zealand. For the past 10 years, he has simultaneously run a successful nature photography library business that focuses on New Zealand’s natural history and landscapes. His work is widely used for tourism marketing efforts and his work has been featured on postage stamps, in books, calendars, art installations and several corporate projects around the globe.
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