Meet Our Team
The Founder
Big Planet Adventures director, John Ahrens has been living, studying, traveling and
adventuring in Latin America since 1990, and has been guiding and developing
tourism programs in Latin America since 1997.
He speaks both Spanish and Portuguese fluently and through his extensive experience in the region he has developed an understanding and empathy for the huge diversity of societies and cultures that live there. His passion is to share this with others and provide an authentic experience for those who are willing.
In 1996, John graduated from the University of New South Wales, Australia, with first class honours in Environmental Engineering. However his promising professional career in engineering was cut short by his lust for adventure and travel, and it was not long before he was back in the wilds of Latin America. John first became passionate about Latin America when, as a 17 year old he spent a year living and studying in Bolivia in the remote mountain city of Oruro. He started his career in the adventure travel industry in 1997, and since then has been guiding trips in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, and Cuba.
Through his years of experience, John has developed a professional network of contacts. Later, he sought to create a unique company that offered exciting special interest trips to the areas he is most passionate about, while securing a first class experience for the traveler, supporting his local friends, and sustaining his interest in exploration and travel.
Under John's leadership, Big Planet Adventures endeavours to excel as an organization with a focus on world class customer service, authentic travel experiences, unique and specialized travel itineraries, socially and environmentally responsible tourism, and adventure with safety and quality. John continues to travel to Latin America every year in order to strengthen his contacts, guide special interest groups and to explore new destinations.