About Us

Darren (Crusty) Humphrys trained as a photographer before joining the Aussie backpacker pilgrimage to London back in 1987, and has been wandering around the globe ever since. His early journeys included numerous explorations of Britain, Europe and Asia plus a two-year meander around Australia, before enjoying a stint as a travel consultant for a major Australian travel wholesaler, based in Perth.

In 1997 Darren travelled on an overland tour through eastern and southern Africa. A "life-changing" experience, he loved it so much that by the end of the tour he already had a job as a guide. Since then he has been leading tours through Africa and the Middle East for various overland companies as well as Compass Odyssey. In addition to regular brochured tours, Darren has researched, constructed, and led inaugural expeditions to Morocco; from Cairo to Tunis via Libya; and from Laos to Singapore. Combining perfectly with his guiding is his other profession as a photo-journalist.

Darren's photographic images have appeared in numerous international travel publications, such as Frommer's Cape Town "day by day", Bradt Nigeria, Footprint Cape Town, Rough Guide Morocco, the Royal Geographical Society’s Geographical magazine, Time Out magazine, and the highly regarded Africa Geographic. Darren is also the very proud author of Frommer's Morocco - Frommer's is North America's leading guidebook publisher. Somewhere in amongst all of this activity Darren also found time to settle in South Africa where he managed a successful adventure travel centre.

Kate Hassall grew up in country New South Wales, where her passion for connecting people with the natural environment led to university studies in ecotourism and environmental management. In 1996 Kate headed west to work for Western Australia’s leading government agency responsible for managing the state’s national parks and other conservation areas. For ten years she was specifically involved with the tourism industry in the management of these areas, where she encouraged sustainable nature-based tourism opportunities, attractions and activities.

Kate’s overseas adventures have included a two year stint in the UK and Europe, along with extensive travel within Africa and the Americas. One of her most recent journeys took her to Canada and South Africa after being awarded the Australian Government’s prestigious Churchill Fellowship.

Darren joined Kate in South Africa for her Churchill research, where she assessed successful examples of high quality responsible tourism ventures in natural areas that specifically involved local and indigenous communities. During this time, their vision for Compass Odyssey was born.