Staff Profiles | The Exploration Company

The Exploration Company. Delivering Experience. For Unforgettable Adventures Call: +44 (0)1749 685 169

Nigel Gifford OBE Frgs Managing Director Nigel is the company founder and head of expeditions worldwide. He is also one of Britain's most seasoned mountaineers. Amongst his Himalayan climbs are expeditions to Mt Everest, Nuptse South Face, Himal Chuli and an alpine style ascent of Hanuman Tibba. Nigel is also an accomplished skydiver with over 1,000 freefall descents. In 2005 he took a team to raft the Great Gorge of the Brahmaputra River in the Tribal Areas of NE India, making the third ever descent of this part of the "Everest amongst rivers".
A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, where he has lectured on expedition and adventure topics, his recently published book The Adventurous Traveller, co-written with Richard Madden, Travel Editor of the Daily Telegraph, is the undisputed bible of adventure travel planning. Nigel doesn't have a favorite place, as long as its adventure then Nigel will be there!

David Harbour General Manager Dave heads up The Exploration Co team and gets involved in all aspects of the company from sales to operations and even leading the occasional trip. Having travelled through Australia, New Zealand and Canada, Dave moved on to work with Raleigh International in Namibia and it was during this time that he decided that youth development and overseas expeditions were the place to be.
Since his first expedition he has worked for other Gap year companies living in Africa for extended periods setting up and managing numerous development projects and leading overland trips to exotic locations such as Timbuktu and Ougadougo! He enjoys working along side UK students and locals and helping both to get the most from the experience. If he wasn't working in the office he'd be driving a Landy through Africa.

Joe Armstrong Operations and logistics Joe is our operations and logistics guru and gained his experience working in the French Alps for an adventure holiday company. He has travelled through Central and South America, Asia and Australia and worked as a mountain bike and walking guide in the Chamonix Valley.
A keen cyclist, Joe has competed for Great Britain in the under 23 cycling team, as well as nationally and internationally in several European Championships and World Cup events. If Joe wasn't in the office he would be standing on top of a mountain in Patagonia.

Sarah Halls Accounts Manager Sarah keeps us all in order from her accounts office. Having experienced the exhilaration of white water rafting down the mighty Zambezi, being chased by hippos in Chobe National Park and trekking through the Thai jungle on the back of an elephant, Sarah has truly become part of the The Exploration Co team!
Sarah epitomises our office philosophy of combining professionalism with enthusiasm and a great sense of fun. When not in the office she can be found caving or hiking on the Mendips, or playing hockey for Cheddar but given the choice would rather be island hopping around Hong Kong.