Meet the Team

Safari Specialist

Amelia Adamson

Our Safari Specialist Amelia Adamson, originally hailing from Portland, Oregon, has been with Extraordinary Journeys for five years and is currently based in Charlottesville. Her first encounter with Africa was through Semester at Sea—a multi-country ship-based study abroad program where she got to explore South Africa and Namibia, amongst many other countries around the world, by sea. Amelia has now visited over 35 countries, including extensive travel throughout Africa on safari. Her teammates describe her travel planning style as collaborative, adventurous, and thorough and say she’s always optimistic, fun-loving, and genuine. Amelia is an active traveler who loves to experience everything each destination offers and says, “I always feel like there’s more to see and a reason to come back!”

Safari Specialist

Anisha Barrientos

Anisha Barrientos grew up in Tanzania and brings with her a unique perspective and unparalleled passion and knowledge of safaris. After graduating from UCLA, she worked for the Africa department of a luxury tour operator, and there began her love for planning safaris. Our safari specialist Anisha has been designing safaris for the past decade. She absolutely loves being able to share the beauty and wonder of her home continent with clients. Her travels in Africa have taken her to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Rwanda, Mozambique and Namibia. Some of her favorite safari memories include trekking Gorillas in Rwanda, quad biking through dunes in Namibia, watching a lioness single-handedly take down a wildebeest in the Serengeti (while having lunch, right at camp) and canoeing on the Zambezi River in Mana Pools. Now based in Los Angeles, California, Anisha loves a good adventure, but always makes sure she has downtime pencilled in during her trips, striking that perfect balance between being on the go and R&R (highly recommend following suit when she plans your next adventure). Her teammates describe her as being enthusiastic, well-traveled, authentic and always looking for new experiences.

Co-Founder & CEO

Elizabeth Gordon

Travel is in our CEO, Elizabeth Gordon’s genes. Born in Kenya and raised in Paris, Elizabeth’s instinct for exploration was instilled by her parents, who took her to many exceptional places in Africa and around the world.

After graduating from Stanford University, Elizabeth, also a pilot, worked for Wilderness Safaris managing camps in Namibia, before starting a vacation rental business in Buenos Aires. She has visited more than 50 countries, been on more than 40 safaris, and speaks six languages. “My whole life has been about travelling and I wanted to build a business that allowed people to not just do cookie-cutter experiences,” she says. Alongside her mother, Marcia Gordon, the duo created a brand that is now a leader in the boutique travel industry.

Now based in Washington, DC, when she’s traveling you’ll find Elizabeth sleeping under the stars in a tent while eating a gourmet locally-sourced meal cooked for her by locals. “I want to be able to take you to both a neighbourhood bistro and for a five-star intimate experience. Those are the magical moments you’ll remember.” Over the last decade—together with a team of 25 women—Elizabeth has challenged the status quo, entering new and unique markets, with her finger on the pulse of the ever-changing travel industry, always delivering a truly personal and extraordinary experience to every single client. She and the team are passionate about protecting the world’s most exceptional wildlife, landscapes, and cultures by helping responsible adventurers connect and experience the wonders the planet has to offer.

Head of South America + Safari Specialist

Emily Cottingham

Emily Cottingham’s thirst for adventure began at a young age traveling abroad with her family and continued throughout her life. Africa grabbed a hold of her heart and didn’t let go. Emily eventually moved to Tanzania, where she ran a high-end Kilimanjaro outfitter, spending her free time escaping to the bush to explore world-class national parks. With over 15 years experience within Africa, and 50 countries visited, Emily is a veteran traveler.

Her most memorable travel experiences include driving across Tanzania to visit Jane Goodall’s chimps in Gombe Stream National Park, sandboarding the dunes in Namibia, trekking in Nepal, glacier trekking in Patagonia and hiking the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu. Emily also took a yearlong world expedition across the southern hemisphere, where she focused on South America extensively—our expert on the region. She now calls Colorado home and looks forward to helping fellow travelers fall in love with Africa and South America.

Sales Director

Jamie Mehrotra

Jamie Mehrotra’s wanderlust was fostered on weekend getaways during a summer at Oxford while attending the University of Virginia. During her time away from “work” creating educational programs at the Smithsonian, she explored the world until her appetite for travel led her to Extraordinary Journeys—where she’s worked for the last 11 years. She’s one of our longest-standing most experienced employees and her teammates describe her as being efficient, intelligent, and organized. Some of Jamie’s most memorable experiences in travel include being kissed by a giraffe at Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, quad biking on the Makgagkadi Salt Pans of Botswana, soaking up the sun on North Island in the Seychelles and of course her wedding in New Delhi! While Jamie, now based in Dallas, Texas, has traveled the world extensively, she loves to help travelers experience India and Chile—some of her favorite places in the world outside of Africa.

Safari Specialist

Jenny Salentine

Jenny Salentine is a true veteran in the travel industry—with more than 20 years of experience exploring the far corners of the world, and eight years working with Extraordinary Journeys. She has been to more than 80 countries but from her first lion sighting in South Africa, Jenny was taken by the beauty of Africa. Since then, Jenny has flown over Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, been scuba-diving in Mozambique, walked through South Luangwa in Zambia and the Loita Hills of Kenya​, ​come face to face with gorillas in Uganda, trekked to see the lowland gorillas and forest elephants in the Congo,​ and played with lemurs in Madagascar​. She is also based in Denver, and is the proud completer of all 58 fourteen thousand foot peaks in her home state of Colorado. She’s a hiker, a diver, and loves to travel with her family. Her teammates describe her as being driven, passionate, collaborative, and honest—what else could you ask for in a seasoned safari specialist?

Safari + Colombia Specialist

Kim Green

Kim Green has set foot on all seven continents, but she says that while languages, cuisine, landscapes, and wildlife are diverse around the globe, it really is a small world. Based in Denver Colorado, she’s our long-time safari specialist. She’s also a mother of two girls and can’t wait to continue exploring the world with her family. Kim turned her passion for travel into a career and led small groups around the world as an international travel director. In her seven years at Extraordinary Journeys, some of her favorite journeys have included mokoro rides in the Okavango Delta, shark cage diving in Cape Town, a balloon ride over the red dunes in Namibia, standing atop the ‘Roof of Africa’ on Mt. Kilimanjaro, snorkelling the azure waters of the Seychelles, and coming face to face with mountain gorillas in both Rwanda and Uganda. Our team describes her as knowledgeable, friendly and a perfectionist—what more could you want in a travel specialist?

Safari Specialist

Lara Ray

Since her first safari in 1997, Lara Ray has traveled throughout East and Southern Africa. From horseback riding in the Serengeti, tiger fishing in the Okavango Delta, to rhino tracking in South Africa and bonefishing in the Seychelles, Lara has had some incredible safari experiences. Lara is someone we’d describe as our true Africa expert, through and through. Lara is one of our longest-standing employees—we’ve been privileged to have her work with Extraordinary Journeys for 12 years.

Based in Southborough Massachusetts, Lara is a total expert in family travel and has explored Africa and the world extensively with her son, daughter and husband. She has seen firsthand what a life-changing experience travel can be for children of any age. She loves finding the unique experiences that make a trip special for adults and children.

Her teammates describe her as being knowledgable, personable, thoughtful and caring—which is also reflected in how she works with her clients on a day-to-day basis. If you’re wondering where the best destinations in Africa are in and around water—diving, fishing, boating—Lara’s your girl!

Safari Coordinator

Lisa Newby-Fraser

Lisa Newby-Fraser was born in South Africa and raised by a very adventurous family—from the age of eight to 13, Lisa sailed around the world with her family. Following that, she was educated in Europe and South Africa. She has lived in France, Spain, Seychelles, South Africa and the United States. She’s now once again based in Cape Town and has been working with Extraordinary Journeys for five years.

Lisa loves archery, hiking, photography, and learning about medicinal plants—all of which you’ll find her doing on all her active, adventurous travels. Her ambitious bucket list is to see all corners of the globe. Her teammates and clients describe her as being detail-oriented, meticulous, and knowledgeable—so if you’re looking for a highly-organized trip with every last detail in order, then Lisa’s your girl!

Safari and Australia/New Zealand Specialist

Pearl Jurist-Schoen

Pearl Jurist-Schoen first caught the Africa travel bug in Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara. Then, in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, she became interested in wildlife conservation efforts. In South Africa’s Kruger National Park she was blown away by the incredible game concentrations and she had a meditative experience in the remote walking zones of the Serengeti. She is passionate about travel both inside and outside of Africa. She’s a long-time Extraordinary Journeys employee, who has been with us for eight years.

Pearl is a Boston, Massachusetts native who studied Anthropology and completed fieldwork in Tasmania and Barbados. She returned to Tasmania to play Gaelic football, run a half-marathon on Mt. Wellington and work at the University of Tasmania. Our team and clients describe Pearl as being intelligent, detail-oriented, and genuine—some of the most perfect traits needed to be an expert travel advisor!

Co-Founder & President

Marcia Gordon

Marcia Gordon is our co-founder, and you could, in fact, say her entire life has been an extraordinary journey. She has over 40 years of experience in African travel. After working in the Peace Corps in Uganda, she spent 12 years living in Kenya building Park East Tours, raising three daughters, designing a home overlooking Nairobi National Park, earning her pilot’s license, studying traditional medicine and expanding her vast knowledge of properties in Africa. She has worked with leading Conservation and Educational organizations such as WWF, NWF and top alumni.

After a lifetime in the safari world, Marcia Gordon started Extraordinary Journeys with her daughter, Elizabeth Gordon—which became one of the first companies to create bespoke itineraries in Africa. She is now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Marcia always encourages travelers to gently push outside their comfort zone, because that is where the transformational moments of travel take place—the real magic. She loves an adventurous night under the stars just as much as time spent in a safari camp. She was named a “Guide to the Super Guides” in Departures Magazine and is a grandmother of five. Her team describes her as curious, welcoming, warm, and authentic.

Head of Content

Alicia-Rae Light

Our head of content Alicia-Rae Light was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and grew up spending her winters in a small, coastal Mexican village with her family. Thanks to her parents for giving her those sun-drenched, salty days in Puerto Marques, a love for travel was entrenched in her soul—and a passion for meeting local people, and exploring new cultures has since never waivered.

She’s a seasoned travel journalist, copywriter, content strategist, and photographer with over 15 years in the industry. From local newsrooms, music and fashion magazines, a long stint at lululemon where she became the managing editor at the helm of content focused on health, wellness, and active adventures. That led to her following her dream of becoming a freelance travel writer, and her work has taken her to all seven continents—from north to south.

She came to Extraordinary Journeys by happenstance—sharing an immersive adventure to Uganda’s remote Kidepo Valley National Park during the pandemic with a member of EJ, and the stars aligned for her to join the team in 2021.

Alicia-Rae is passionate about sustainable adventure travel, conservation, wildlife, food and wine, and authentic, immersive cultural experiences. An adventurer at heart, she loves seeking out wildlife in their natural habitat on expeditions, hiking long-distance trails with a focus on cultural immersion, kayaking, and traveling to off-the-beaten-path destinations. She’s trekked to hang out with the mountain gorillas all over East Africa, camped amongst penguins and fur seals in Antarctica, dove with sharks and rays in Fiji, hiked her way through Palestine, and tracked wild wolves in the Canadian Arctic.

Trip Coordinator

Amber Blanchard

Amber is a Wisconsin native who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in Photography and Film. Amber’s summers during college were spent in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains at Camp Wayne where she found her passion in adventure, leadership, and operations. After graduation, she moved to New York City and eventually back to the Midwest and is now based in Illinois.

Amber has a strong background in operations management, which means she enjoys coordinating all the tiny trip details to make each Extraordinary Journey trip unique and unforgettable.

She loves learning about all different cultures, is a foodie, and is always in search of adventure. She has many places to travel on her bucket list, and as a new team member of Extraordinary Journeys, Amber especially can’t wait to travel to Africa (especially trekking to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda). She has a strong interest in animal and environmental conservation and what we as humans can do to help. She feels strongly that we can all learn so much from the world around us and it is important to preserve that.

South America Coordinator

Belen Tovar

Belen Tovar was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. Her passion for travel was seeded by her mother—an enthusiastic traveler who didn’t mind the discomfort that is traveling with three kids. She and showed Belen and her siblings wonderful places, first in Ecuador and then all around South America. Naturally, with this intrinsic love for travel engrained in her from a young age, Belen started working in the tourism industry when she was just 17 for a large Ecuadorian tour operator.

While working in the tourism industry in Ecuador, she learned to appreciate the wonders of her homeland, meeting hard-working, passionate people along the way. This also grew her desire to travel further abroad and learn about other countries and cultures. She decided to move to Canada—not only to study a post-degree diploma in Sustainable Business, but also to travel and get to know the Great White North. She found her love in Canada and started a family. She settled down and nested in a small alpine town in British Columbia, which has given her a new perspective on life, and she looks forward to planting the seed of travel and adventure in her little one. Talk about full circle!

Marketing Assistant

Beth Faulkner

Beth—our enthusiastic marketing coordinator and team administrator—is based in Atlanta, Georgia with their fiancée and two pets. Beth keeps Extraordinary Journeys’ virtual office in order as the administrator behind the sales and marketing team (and moonlights as a social media coordinator, and photo-sourcer, among many other things—they wear many hats and have the patience of a saint). When Beth is not hard at work organizing the day-to-day at Extraordinary Journeys, they’re organizing their extensive plant collection and are known to pick a new travel destination based on its interesting and vibrant flora and fauna. They took their first trip to Africa this past year—exploring South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—and now fully understand why everyone on the team is so passionately in love with the continent.

Accounts Manager

Catherine Kennedy

While living and working in New York, Catherine’s sales and manufacturing position took her frequently to Indonesia, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Singapore, and other parts of Asia. It was her sister’s many trips to Africa, and work with Extraordinary Journeys that ultimately brought Catherine Kennedy to the team. Her teammates describe her as being adaptable, selfless, kind, and a total accounting connoisseur. She currently lives with her family in the Southeast where she handles accounts payable and other business finances—she’s truly indispensable to us and has been for the last eight years.

Trip Coordinator

Charlotte Pope

From a young age, Charlotte has always loved to travel. It started while she spent her summers flying as an ‘unaccompanied minor’ from Boston to North Carolina to spend time with her grandparents. Exploring new places has always excited her. In college, she spent a semester abroad on Semester at Sea through Asia and Africa where her love for the world grew even more. After graduation she taught English abroad for a year in Thailand to elementary students (with her friend and EJ co-worker Amelia)!

Her wanderlust continued with three years of leading trips with an active travel company. She spent her summers guiding biking and hiking trips in Jackson, WY, and Kenai, AK, and spent her falls in Stowe, VT. After many years in the travel industry, Charlotte was eager to find a job behind the scenes planning trips for others. Extraordinary Journeys was the perfect fit. Her teammates describe her as gracious, warm, resourceful, and spontaneous.

To this day, she has visited 40 countries, with a few of her favorite places being New Zealand, Vietnam, South Africa, Colombia, and Germany! On her off time, some of her favorite things to do are hiking in the mountains, playing pickleball with friends, visiting family in the Pacific Northwest, cooking for friends, trying new hoppy brews, and skiing the many epic mountains of the world!

Itinerary Designer

Esther Ndirangu

Esther Ndirangu, Born and raised in Kenya, Esther is based in Nairobi and designs our itineraries. She holds a diploma in Tourism Management from the Kenya Utalii College and has had the privilege of traveling extensively within East Africa as a group leader as well as to parts of Asia on familiarization trips.

Esther Ndirangu’s favorite park in Kenya is Amboseli for the elephants. She is looking forward to visiting Cape Town and Victoria Falls after reading about them while building itineraries and to the U.S. to meet her EJ family! Apart from traveling, she loves cooking, spending time with her daughter Imaani and Zumba dancing to keep fit!

Trip Coordinator

Gena Tweed

Gena Tweed has possessed a love of Africa for as long as she can remember. She’s had the opportunity to visit the amazing continent many times and continues to look forward to exploring it further. Each visit has not only reinforced her passion for wildlife and conservation but has also inspired a love for the land and its incredible people. Based in New Mexico, Gena has worked with Extraordinary Journeys for four years. Her teammates describe her as being loyal, calm, considerate, and detailed—what more could you look in the person who’s planning all the tiny important details of your great adventure?

Gena has hiked Mount Kenya, and enjoyed safaris on horseback, foot, and camelback. She has experienced the Great Migration in the Maasai Mara and Serengeti, took a microlight flight over Victoria Falls, and had dinner on a pontoon in the Zambezi river. Gena’s favorite animal is the cheetah. Each trip is unique in this land of adventure and she can’t wait to share her passion for the African continent with you.

Head of Marketing

Rita Pires

Originally from Portugal, Rita Pires started her career in Lisbon after graduating as a graphic designer and marketer. Her experience as a graphic designer taught her how to marry logic and magic. It honed her skills and gave her the ability to see both the big picture and small details. Later, Rita worked as a marketer for Fujitsu, a leading IT multinational. This role took her to the non-stop frenzy that is Baker Street in London where she was exposed to the fast-paced corporate world. From there, Rita spread her wings and flew to new territory; She moved to the middle of one of the most pristine national parks in Africa, South Luangwa in Zambia. Here, Rita fell in love with Africa as she lived alongside the breathtaking Luangwa River, one of the world’s most pristine, untouched rivers. Rita is fueled by nature, and this was her happy place for a long time. Rita’s love affair with Africa never ended, and a decade later, she is still there. She’s now living on the tip of Africa, in the beautiful city known as the Mother City: Cape Town, working as head of marketing for Extraordinary Journeys. Rita’s teammates describe her as thoughtful, calming, and compassionate—just like the heartbeat of our brand.

Trip Coordinator

Lauren Sullivan

Lauren Sullivan—our adventurous trip coordinator who is originally from New York—followed her desire to immerse herself in a remote wilderness and moved to Southeast Alaska where she spent many summers working as a rafting and hiking guide (after studying Fine Art in college) Between seasons, she spent months cross-country road tripping throughout the US, primarily exploring the vast west.

She currently calls Montana home, but travels often—she lives in her RV and seeks out new rock climbing spots along the way—her favorite passion. Alongside climbing, environmental conservation, animal protection, and awareness are important to Lauren.

In the future, she’s interested in getting involved with community outreach for the most vulnerable communities in African society and focusing on sustainable tourism that could benefit these communities—which makes her a perfect fit for our team at Extraordinary Journeys. Her teammates describe her as intelligent, open-minded, and spirited.

She’s passionate about exploring the remote wilderness areas that Africa has to offer and more “lesser known” areas. She has big travel plans in the future to explore climbing in South Africa at the Waterval Boven, Blyde River Canyon, Rocklands, and Cederberg Mountains. ANd She wants to go rafting the Zambezi River, hike Kilimanjaro, and go gorilla trekking in Uganda.

Head of Operations

Rachel Cappucci

Rachel Cappucci is a Massachusetts native with a passion for adventure and spontaneity. She moved to New York to finish her degree in journalism while immersing herself in the city’s vibrant cultural scene. On her first trip to Africa, she fell in love with with the rich wildlife of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and to date it remains her favorite. In Tanzania, she drove the northern circuit, admiring the diverse landscapes. In Johannesburg, South Africa, she became particularly fond of the city’s street art. Exploring off-the-beaten-track wineries in Stellenbosch tops her list of memories. And, of course, one of her most unforgettable experiences is bungee jumping at Victoria Falls. The opportunity to exchange with local people and build friendships around the world is very meaningful for her.

She’s been working for Extraordinary Journeys for eight years and her teammates describe her as supportive, thoughtful, and a problem-solver—sounds about right for our head of operations.

Senior Designer

Tegan Wille

Tegan Wille is a talented creative and a lover of the natural world—so it’s well-suited that she ended up as a graphic designer in Africa-based travel. She grew up in the hustle and bustle of Johannesburg and later moved to South Africa’s mother city, Cape Town, which immediately resonated with her heart and soul. A self-proclaimed dendrophile, there’s nowhere she’d rather be than in nature.

Cape Town is where she studied branding and visuals and has since built her career as a designer in the travel industry, working for some of the best including Wilderness Safaris, and The Royal Portfolio where she managed the group’s design for seven years. Through divine intervention, Tegan found herself in a meeting with the delightful faces of the Extraordinary Journeys marketing team and is now our head of design, helping us create life-changing experiences through sharing the beauty of breathtaking destinations around the globe with her authentic, soulful designs.

Trip Coordinator

Samantha Lambert

​Samantha is an Ohio native who graduated from Bowling Green State University with a BA in Film & Telecommunications. She spent a semester abroad in Wales—where she truly found her passion for adventure and travel. While exploring Europe she learned so much about travel operations.

Samantha has a strong background in operations and has coordinated all her own adventures. She enjoys coordinating all the tiny trip details to make each Extraordinary Journey trip unique and unforgettable. She loves learning about different cultures and seeing beautiful new sights, as well as trying delicious desserts from new places.

Her travel bucket list is long, and as a new team member of Extraordinary Journeys, Samantha especially can’t wait to travel to Africa. She will most definitely cry the first time she sees an elephant!

Head of Client Liaison

Sumendri Govender

Sumendri Govender has 12+ years of experience working in Southern Africa travel. She started her career in travel just out of high school and is now passionately dedicated to facilitating once-in-a-lifetime experiences for any traveler.

Born in Durban, South Africa, she now lives in Johannesburg where she has resided for the last six years with her husband and two children. Sumendri is the link between the Extraordinary Journeys team and our travelers while they are on the ground in Africa. She’s indispensable—our eyes and ears on the ground and the person behind the scenes who truly makes the magic happen. She has been working with Extraordinary Journeys for 10 years, and over that time she has formed amazing working relationships from afar—an essential part of the EJ family who she called the most knowledgeable, amazing, and wonderful people she’s had the privilege to cross paths with. Her teammates describe her as innovative, easygoing, warm, and organized—just the kind of person we need to represent our team in Africa, our first love.