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Home > Destinations > Mediterranean > Turkey > Travel
Guides
Our extraordinary Turkish guides have a scholarly knowledge
of history and an infectious love of their country and its
people. They are not only versed in showing you ancient sites
and sharing history, but they are your hosts into Turkish
life and culture, to show you first hand what so many ancient
civilizations left behind through the rich tapestry of today's
Turkish people.
Professional Guides
 Alper
Ertubey
Alper has been leading Wildland Adventures in Turkey since
1990 and now acts as our principal field coordinator. He guides
some trips, constantly travels through his homeland in search
of new sites, inspecting new historic hotels, as well as meeting
and training new guides. After completing an engineering degree
he was among the early graduating class of Turkey's professional
guide training program. This complimented his easy-going and
fun-loving nature and his special sense for how to make every
trip for every traveler a unique and authentic personal experience.
It was Alper's idea to get special permission to enter the
ruins of Arykanda after dark with wine, candles and a literary
work to share with each other in the Odeon.
 Deniz Kilic
Deniz Kilic receives rave reviews for his charming, easygoing character
combined with exceptional knowledge of history, archaeology and culture.
His greatest passion is to share everyday Turkish culture by meeting
local people in all walks of daily life, and by introducing our travelers
to past civilizations through regional dishes represented in Turkish
cuisine. Deniz loves guiding because it keeps him out of the office,
traveling and meeting people. He was born in 1971 on the Aegean coast
near where he now resides in Bodrum. He studied psychology at ODTU
(Middle East Technical University), obtained certification as a
professional guide at the Aegean University, and then pursued studies
in Public Management at Anadolu University. Deniz is additionally
certified as a Naturalist Guide and Gallipolli Battlefields specialist.
He is an experienced motorbike, motocross, and enduro racer and
occasionally leads rock climbing, trekking and bicycle trips.
"When I return to Turkey Deniz is the guide I will request. He is professional,
enthusiastic, and has a great personality. He arranged every day to include a
variety of different and unique activities. He took me to great restaurants of many
types with an amazing variety of dishes. Together, Deniz and I enjoyed and participated
in the daily life of Turkey." Patsy Gleason
Custom Turkey Adventure.
 Feray Kalafatoglu
Feray grew up in Nevsehir, a small town in Cappadocia, where she graduated university specializing in tourism management and guiding. Having tromped througout the region's small villages and hidden trails, she has become our specialist regional tour leader in Cappadocia sharing her personal connections with local people, familiarity with off-beat trails and roads, and her wide knowledgeable of Turkish history, geography, art and religions, archaeology, museums and mythology. She is fluent in English and enjoys guiding travelers from all over the world, catering to each traveler's specific interests and abilities. She especially enjoys taking visitors to cooking lessons and sharing Turkish cuisine, introducing our guests to local artisans, and guiding families with active young children. Like other great Wildland guides, Feray is personally engaging and fun-loving, in addition to being informative!
 Meltem Ciftci
Meltem has been guiding throughout Turkey for over two decades. She was among the first classes of nationally licensed professional guides in her native country. Since then she has led hundreds of travelers from throughout the world traveling to all corners of her country leading history and archeology tours, biblical and other special interest tours, and well as hiking, trekking and other outdoor pursuits. Meltem combines strong communication, organizational, and leadership skills with an enthusiastic and easy-going style that makes her a favorite guide for many experienced Wildland travelers. She holds an Environmental Engineering degree and has maintained strong personal interests supported by ongoing field studies in bird watching, fauna and flora identification, and overall ecological and cultural heritage preservation in Turkey. Her interests are photography, archeology, movies, music and literature. In addition to expounding on her expansive knowledge of history and archaeology, what she most enjoys as a guide is sharing the smiling faces of her country’s people, their hospitable invitations to their houses, farms, and schools.
 Ozlem Ozgoren, Trip Leader
Ozlem Ozgoren has been a professional guide throughout Turkey since 1989 specializing
in Wildland Adventures family groups, as well as leading trips to remote sites for the
Smithsonian, National Geographic and lecturing for Elder Hostel, Swan Hellenic and other
specialty historic institutions. Her interest in cross-cultural exchange and guiding
originates from her AFS scholarship experience as a graduating senior from Boonville
High School in Missouri. Ozlem and her teenage son have pursued their studies in Florida
while her husband conducts medical work at the University of Miami.
Ozlem holds a law degree and practiced jurisprudence for several years but shifted her career and educational
pursuits. She is completing advanced Master Degree studies and archaeological field work in art history and
classical archaeology, sharing this knowledge and field experience as a professional guide. "What I find so
interesting are the common features of ancient 'travelers' with those in today?s world. The landscape and
history of Turkey are so immense I always seek out hidden treasures of the past like a culinary detail,
village artifact, or an ancient musical tone as an entree to discover our living history."
 Salih
Orgun
Salih is one-of-a-kind. His eyes are always on the look out
for something new to discover and surprise travelers, and
he enjoys going out of his way to fulfill wishes and special
requests of his guests. His worldly knowledge is overwhelming,
having graduated from Istanbul University in Italian Theological
Literature (BA) and Social Science Institute obtaining a Masters
degree in "Divine Comedy". He is currently working on a doctorate
in Byzantine History. He is learning Latin and Karamanid (a
forgotten language among the Christian Turks in the Medieval
Ages). Salih is a scuba diver and an amateur skipper. He plays
the "kaval", a typical flute for shepherds. Salih is an expert
on eating, cooking and is a good bartender!
 Ahmet
Senol Ozbek
Ahmet is a leading Wildland Adventures' guide in Turkey, well
loved for his deeply intellectual, dynamic and friendly personality
with an infectious zest for life! He attended Military Academy
specializing in electronics telecommunications and trained
as a parachute jumper and free fall master. He attended law
school and participated in gymnastics, tower diving, pentathlon,
orienteering and parachuting teams until he was injured in
a fall and changed his career to tourism seven years ago.
Wildland travelers appreciate his command of Turkish and world
politics, religion (particularly Islam), and his knowledge
of state structure and law of the Roman Empire. Ahmet has
a beautiful voice and a rich repertoire of song.
 Sevim
Karabiyik
Sevim has been described by our travelers as the most honest,
caring and helpful guide they have ever met. Her warm, friendly
mannerisms, combined with a sense of humor and adventure,
are appreciated by people of all ages. Sevim completed her
education in Ankara and Cambridge and subsequently taught
English in a private language school, eventually becoming
the Director of Studies. In 1993 she visited Cappadocia for
the first time and fell in love with its unique landscape,
breathtaking views and fascinating history. She decided to
become a certified professional tour guide and in 1996 moved
to Urgup to devote herself to full time guiding. During the
quiet winter months, she frequently participates as a translator
on projects such as local guide books, informational CDs,
and Turkish art books.
 Ersin
Ozdemir
Ersin has extensive experience as a guide and manager in the
travel business since 1984 after obtaining specialist degrees
in Business Management and Classical Archaeology from Selcuk
University. His academic studies included fieldwork on several
archaeological excavations. Ersin imparts a wide breadth of
knowledge upon Wildland Adventures travelers based on experience
leading specialty group tours of students, religious groups
tracing Christian or Jewish heritage in Turkey, special archaeological
interest groups, and outdoor interests. He was a professional
basketball and soccer player, and lived in England for 2 years.
Travelers appreciate Ersin for his mild-mannered personality
and capable leadership skills. He loves stimulating conversations
about Turkish issues and world affairs in which everybody
can join in. He also entertains with beautiful song.
 Ergul
Guvenc
Ergul grew up in France and graduated with a university degree
in English Language and Literature. She speaks perfect French,
German and English. She shares her artistic talents and knowledge
including calligraphy, classical painting and restoration
work on fine Ottoman pieces. Although she has highly detailed
knowledge on antiquities throughout Turkey, her specialty
is archaeology along the Lycian coast where she has assisted
on numerous digs and is called upon to lead specialty groups
arranged by a French professor of archaeology.
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