The ever-growing team of Guanche Treks & Expeditions is composed of several people who are truly passionate about hiking and mountaineering, and constantly discovering new exotic landscapes in various corners of the world, preferably off the beaten track. As such, we have thought of joining the activities we like so much with actual work, by offering to be your guides on selected itineraries that can be crafted so as to fit your preferences. At the present moment, the focus of our offer are the Canaries archipelago and nearby Morocco - places where we live, and which we know well. By traveling with us, you will be in the good hands of people who know these areas, and by trying various concepts have tested in practice solutions that work and make travel really enjoyable. All of the pictures on this website have been taken by ourselves, and we will be very pleased to answer any questions you may have and provide guidance, to help you plan and put into practice a very enjoyable ‘active’ holiday.
HELENA SIWINSKA-MLYNARCZYK (MANAGER)
Helena (Lena) Siwinska-Mlynarczyk is a lawyer by profession, who sought change a number of years ago and launched her own travel agency franchise in Krakow, Poland (as part of the My Travel group), prior to living in Tenerife. She is an experienced and qualified climber, mountaineer, and hiker who particularly enjoys via ferratas, with most of her past routes achieved in the Alps and the Tatra Mountains. Very fit, she always travels ultra-light (in contrast to her husband Mike - below, whose backpack is commonly loaded with rocks), and she is an unusually warm and friendly person. She is a fluent German/Polish speaker, and speaks some English as well. If required, she is also a person who knows how to deal with children on outdoorsy pursuits, having done quite a few serious hikes with her own. She is in charge of managing our activities and developing our offer, constantly seeking new routes and destinations.
MIKE MLYNARCZYK
Dr. Michael (Mike) Mlynarczyk is a geologist by profession who grew up and subsequently worked for many years in Morocco, as well as spent many years in the Canary Islands. He has extensively traveled on five continents, including 10 years spent in Canada, 3 in Ireland, as well as many travels to Peru, Ecuador, United States, Mali, Niger, Tunisia, Laos, Australia, and most of Europe, owing to which Mike is fully quadrilingual (ENG-FR-POL-SPA). In addition to being truly passionate about rocks, mineral deposits, hiking and mountaineering - as befits a field geologist - Mike is also a cactus aficionado and a book lover. He will be delighted to guide you through the volcanic landscapes of the Canaries or the Moroccan outback, and if you were interested can even set-up a geological field course for you on any chosen topic, as he used to be a course lecturer at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, while working as a researcher there.
ABDELHAKIM JILALI (Advisor)
Dr. Abdelhakim (Hakim) Jilali is a geologist by profession and Moroccan national, based in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. For many years now, Hakim has been a close friend and colleague of Mike, participating in countless fieldworks extending from the furthermost South of Morocco to the North of the country, and from its Eastern borders to the Atlantic coast in the West, among every possible landscape type. Very friendly, reliable and diligent, Hakim is a fluent French/English speaker, as well as speaks native Tamazight (Berber) language. As a course lecturer for many years in Oujda, he likes to share his knowledge of the history and geography of his home country, and is an excellent travel companion.