Meet the 'Clipper Odyssey' Experts

Accompanying you on your voyage to Japan are A&K's top-notch expedition staff, natural experts and cultural specialists.

Jannie Cloete

Cruise Director
Jannie Cloete has been working on cruise ships in the capacity of cruise director and expedition leader for over 28 years, travelling around the globe from the Antarctic to the tropics and the remotest hidden gems in between. With his amiable and approachable, nothing-is-too-much attitude, Jannie has settled into full time work on smaller vessels that visit lesser-known spots, and where he has become a specialist of the unbeaten track.

Suzana Machado D'Oliviera

Tour Director/Field Naturalist
Suzana was born in Brazil, where she studied history at the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro. Her main interest is the cultures and peoples that she encounters during her travels. She is an accomplished adventurer and has explored such exotic locales as the Amazon River, Antarctica, the Arctic, Greece, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Pacific Islands and more. She has worked as expedition leader, cruise director, naturalist, lecturer and Tour Director since 1988.

Richard Harker

Photography Enrichment
Richard Harker has been a professional photographer for over 20 years, specializing in wildlife and landscape photography; he also heads up Abercrombie & Kent's Expedition Cruise photo enrichment program. Richard will provide hands-on instruction and lectures on a wide range of photo techniques and strategies, whether you favor a simple point-and-shoot or a state-of-the-art digital SLR.

Rich Pagen

Field Naturalist
Rich first became enthralled by the wonders of the natural world around the tide pools and forests of his native New York. Since then, he has embarked on a career in conservation biology that has brought him from Alaska's North Slope to the Peruvian Amazon. He has also conducted shipboard surveys for marine mammals and seabirds, as well as tagging studies of sea turtles and sharks and is a frequent field naturalist on A&K expeditions.

Chieko Sakihana

Cultural Expert
Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Chieko Sakihana jumped at the opportunity to enter a graduate program in linguistics at the University of Washington in Seattle. After teaching high school and college, Chieko decided to become a tour guide. During her 25-year career she has had the privilege of escorting European royalty, heads of state and leaders of business communities.