Trufflepig

Here’s a couple who really love to wine. And dine. A charmed blend of Canadian and Chinese varietals, Jay & Mandy originally met in Toronto many moons ago. But the call of adventure was too much to resist, so a few years ago they packed up, picked up their family, and moved to Hong Kong where they’ve since set up a top flight wine business. When they’re not nose deep in a bottle of Burgundy they’re out sniffing around, checking out new restaurants, exploring quirky bookshops, and generally finding all that’s cool and hot in HK.

Hector behaves as though he’s just chugged three Red Bulls at all times—and we mean this in the best way possible. Always full of energy and excitement, he loves life almost as much as he loves food. Born and raised in Guatemala City, he’s been based in Antigua for sixteen years. After training in the US for eighteen months and cooking for the British Ambassador in Guatemala for a year, he now runs a tiny hole in the wall where well-fed locals eat more often than their own kitchens. He has helped us with rooftop BBQs, market visits, and cooking classes in his home. We’d import him to Toronto if we had our way, but he certainly does make for another brilliant reason to visit Guatemala.

Perhaps you’ve been to a cooking class before, maybe even while on vacation, creating the specialties of the region you’re in. But have you ever gone out on a hike with the chef to forage for your ingredients? Used food exclusively sourced from the farm and property around you? This is the specialty of Susan McKenna Grant, our chef without comparison at a gorgeous agriturismo in the heart of Tuscany. After restoring her Italian farm (along with her husband) from the ground up, she published a cookbook, and now allows a select few into her home to cook straight from the earth.

Leonard is the kind of guide you meet on your trip and hope to form a long term friendship with. Raised on the Cape Flats, he took a school hike as a kid that years later led him to be selected for the Hoerikwaggo guiding program. He’s grown up knowing South Africa (and specifically Cape Town) like the back of his hand—a hand that will literally help support you as you climb Table Mountain. Kind, friendly, and the type of person who can put a stranger at ease in mere minutes, we trust our travellers with Leonard because he’s the ultimate local insider with a contagious grin.

None of our pigs are more unique or charismatic than Lemarti—a traditional Samburu warrior and ambassador of the bush who will take you under his wing and into his world. Walk with him amongst the wildlife with nothing more than traditional weapons and generations of knowledge, or sit in his village partaking in local ceremonies. Lemarti will help show you why the game viewing in Africa is only part of the story.