Your Guide

Jeanie Matthies-Kurzrok

Jeanie began traveling as a very young girl. Her first memory of independent travel was at age 4 when her mother put her on a bus at 86th Street North Bergen, NJ with instructions to sit opposite the driver and not move … the driver was to let her off at 16th Street, Union City, NJ where she’d be met by one of her aunts. (You could do things like that back then!) While still in high school, she fell into a job with TWA … it was to be for the summer after graduation, but by then the “bug” had bitten and she’s remained in the travel industry ever since!

With over 30 years experience traveling around the globe, Jeanie brings not only her knowledge in setting up Group Travel, but her wit and charm as well. A born and bred “Jersey Girl”, she met her husband racing cars and she won! Jeanie has led several trips to Kenya and still it pulls her back again and again. Her other Treks include Europe, the Middle East, Caribbean, the USA, and beyond.

A recent traveler had this to say: “Although we have travelled to all parts of the world, heavily in Europe and the USA, the trip you led us on in Kenya was our most thrilling and most remembered, thank you again, Jeanie, for giving us a true trip of a lifetime.”

The picture of Jeanie with the lion cub, aptly named “Simba”, was from the opening of “The Lion King” movie. Almost immediately after returning from her first trip to Kenya, her company (a Special Events firm) was engaged by The Walt Disney Company to create a unique adventure for their guests at the opening of their now famous “The Lion King” movie. Disney invited 1,700 VIPs and their families to the preview of the movie at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Jeanie and her crew turned a portion of New York’s Central Park into a jungle complete with the sights and sounds of Africa. In addition to this creation, Jeanie got to “wrangle” the 5½-week-old lion cub. (While we will see lions in Africa, you can NOT hold them!) “Simba” went on to grow to over 400 pounds but remained a little cutie!

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Natumai kukuona hivi karibuni = Hope to see YOU soon! In Swahili