John Cummings
John’s love of desert travel started when he served with the British Army in the Oman on attachment to the Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces in 1996. Living in Oman for 3 years, he spent his free time driving, walking, diving and exploring the far reaches of that singularly beautiful and unspoilt country.
He has been there many times since and is working with Omanis to establish remote lodges, camps and camel expeditions (NB We use slightly more comfortable and reliable 4 wheel drive ‘camels’ on our trips!)
His many Omani friends now act as co-leaders and guides on Explorers World expeditions to that country. Whilst English is widely understood in the more developed parts of Oman, John speaks enough Arabic to get by in the ‘off-the-beaten-track’ areas we frequent.
Aside from his expertise in desert travel, John qualified as an Expedition Leader whilst serving in the Light Infantry. This gave him the chance to lead military expeditions and adventure training trips; he spent 3 months guiding and training teams climbing Mount Kenya, he trekked and canoed in the Rockies, and lead many alpine ski trips in Europe.
When John is not leading our desert expeditions he runs his own business ‘Safetrek’ which promotes travel awareness and safety training for the corporate and gap year markets. This, together with his varied military career appointments, has given him considerable experience of team leadership. Clients invariably enjoy his relaxed and ‘easy-going’ but also extremely thorough and well-organised style of leadership.