Organizing Team - The minds behind the idea
Tarek el-Mahdy is the founder and owner of DABUKA EXPEDITIONS. He has over 30 years experience in the Libyan Desert. He plans, organizes and leads tourist expeditions in Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Jordan. He also participated in expeditions in Mauritania, Tunisia, Niger and Syria.
Besides organizing tourist tours, DABUKA EXPEDITIONS also participates in providing all logistics for deep desert filming; scientific research works, pioneering for new tourist destinations, promoting awareness through school trips, as well as working together with NGOs and National Parks. Under a German management, DABUKA EXPEDITIONS also provides Off-Road safety driving courses, organizes and plans tourist events. Being a member in several worldwide known communities, the company has good feedback for its needs in Egypt. Since 1996 DABUKA EXPEDITIONS boasts a clients return rate of about 80% each year. Only 20% of clients are annual newcomers, which shows the big trust clients have in DABUKA EXPEDITIONS.
Mahmoud el Kaissouni holds a Bachelor of Military Sciences (1965) and a Diploma in Business Administration from Ashridge College, UK (1978). Kaissouni is Currently the Chairman of the Green Unite in the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. He is a member of the Supreme Tourist Council and is an elected member of the World Committee of Tourism Ethics of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, representing Egypt and the Middle East. From 2006 – 2011 el Kaissouni served as Environmental Advisor to the Minister of Tourism and from 2003 – 2010 he was the Chairman of the Ecotourism Committee, the Tourism Division of the National Specialized Councils. Other positions include Vice Chairman (elected) - Chamber of Tourist Establishments, Scuba Diving and Marine Activities and an appointed member of the Egyptian Tourism Federation’s Ecotourism and Deep Desert Tours Committee.
Through all these positions, Dr. Kaisouny engaged in promoting ecotourism and raising awareness of Egypt’s natural heritage through the print and television media and by advising leading Tourism bodies such as the Egyptian Tourism Federation, the Chamber of Tourist Establishment, and the Ministry of Tourism. Kaisouny also represents Egypt in international conferences on Ecotourism. In 2006, he was honoured as one of Egypt’s ten foremost environmentalists.
Dr. May Shehab has been working in the field of ecotourism and development since 1999. She received her Bachelor’s Degrees in English & Comparative Literature and Sociology from the American University in Cairo. She began researching pastoral nomadism in Egypt’s deserts in 1999. Her interest in rural communities led her to pursue her Masters Degree in Human Geography, receiving her MA from King’s College, University of London in 2004. May assisted in the initiation of eco-tourism camps in the White Desert and Wadi el Gemal National Parks in Egypt since 2001. Her involvement in this field yielded both practical and personal challenges. Interested to learn how other countries deal with issues related to rural development through tourism and National Park management, she headed to South Africa and received her PhD Degree in Tourism and Development from Wits University in Johannesburg in 2011 (University of the Witwatersrand). May also worked with the regional tourism operator Wilderness Safaris in South Africa, heading their community projects in the Kruger National Park and Rocktail Bay area in KZN (Kwa-Zulu Natal) on the Indian Ocean coast. Back in Egypt since 2011, May is currently the Director of Darb 1718 Contemporary Art & Culture Centre in Old Cairo.
Steffen Kirchner is an german archaeologist (Egyptology and Sudanarchaeology), computer scientist and enthusiastic desert explorer.
As a specialist in managing and visualisation of complex data structures, he works since the mid 1990s with major car manufacturers, scientific institutions and multimedia companies. Kirchner’s profession in combining archaeology and 3D-Design was infused in the development and organisation (project leader) of Cultural Heritage Management projects such as "Virtual Troy" and "Virtual Nile Valley", a 3D-real time reconstruction of ancient sites.
Kirchner works as a freelancer and consultant in the field of software engineering and 3D-Design as well as media production since 2006. He organized and managed expeditions and flight safaris through fascinating deserts and areas of north eastern Africa (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia).
Studied romance and german language and is the centre point of the “German Management” of Dabuka. With a lot of desert experience in different countries she is a real nomad at heart. As a contact person for all questions around administration, organization and registration she turns ideas into action.
