In Athens, tour guide Constantin Kalafakakos decodes an array
of native herbs and their traditional uses.
© Joyce McGreevy

It’s All About Cultural Context

Who needs a tour guide?  Today 48-59% of U.S., European, and Asian smartphone users research and plan their entire trip to a new destination using only a mobile device. “I get all the travel tips I need online for free” is standard operating procedure.

Trouble is, the top research sites comprise brief impressions by first-time, short-term visitors—folks who arrived a few weeks before you.

So, who needs a tour guide? Travelers who value cultural context, accuracy, and certified training. Today’s tour guide typically has a degree in a specialized field, ranging from culinary or visual arts and history to environmental science.

You know where you’re going; a great local guide knows why it matters.
© Keven A. Seaver

Oh, I see: A private local tour guide can make the world of difference.

Beyond the Scenic

In Bruges, Belgium, tour guides Filip Bil and Annemieke Demuynck gave me insights into language, economic history, culinary traditions, and artistic innovation—all conveyed with humor and depth. They revealed a city that has vastly more to offer than pretty backdrops for selfies.

They also shared insights only locals know: What time a popular (read “overcrowded”) footbridge turns back into an oasis of contemplation.  Why the history of Bruges’ canals and lace-making are far more dramatic than their charm suggests. How to pay less for mussels than the average visitor does—for mussels that aren’t merely average.

At a neighborhood gem I’d never have found on my own, local guides Filip Bil and
Annemieke Demuynck swap travel stories with my family.
© Joyce McGreevy

“As a person who actually lives there,” says Demuynck, “you have the opportunity to show what is really important and interesting.  [Guides] can make it personal, showing you their favorite places that locals visit. Those are mostly far away from the tourist traps.”

By contrast, when we deprive ourselves of opportunities to learn from knowledgeable local guides, we’re left with the “glance-and-go” effect: We see places, but we don’t see into them.

“I Don’t Want to Seem Like a Tourist.”

One misconception about hiring tour guides is that it reduces one’s credibility as an “authentic” traveler. Tell that to travel experts like Rick Steves or National Geographic Explorers, who all depend on local guides.

Another reason travelers hesitate: Low expectations. They imagine trudging through towns en masse, herded by someone with a big flag. Or they’ve encountered a cynical operator: The bargain that wasn’t. The “cheesy” commentary. The “tour” designed to propel them toward the gift shop.

Julie Cason offers an important clarification. A former publisher and intrepid traveler, Cason has photographed all 50 states and many points abroad, from St. Petersburg to Sao Paolo and Samarkand to Salzburg.

“A personally hired guide,” says Cason, “is distinctly different than the guide one gets with [for example,] a commercial bus tour, where the guide gives canned commentary and makes bad jokes. On a trip of a lifetime—one that is not likely to be repeated—it’s invaluable to have a personal guide at least occasionally to show and tell about the most relevant aspects of what you’ve come to see.”

In a commemorative travel book, Cason paid tribute to the
important work of  local guides.
© Julie Cason

Life-Changing Experiences

In 2010,  Cason, her wife, and three friends, including photographer Keven A. Seaver, traveled through southern Africa. The five women made a point of hiring local tour guides, rangers for safaris and cultural guides for other sites.  They wanted to make the most of their time, stay safe, and gain insight into each country’s history and cultures.

“Everyone—books, people, websites—warned us away from touring Joberg,” recalls Cason. Have I mentioned that she is an avid scholar of history and a dedicated advocate for human rights? And that the sprawling Soweto township of Johannesburg was once home to human rights heroes  President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu?

“We felt as if we needed a guide, since we thought it important to visit the capital city.”

There they met historian and tour guide Robin Binckes. As a Boer who had come of age during Apartheid, he quickly become committed to ending it. Binckes guided Cason’s group through the apartheid sites in Johannesburg.

“[Meeting] Binckes was the highlight of my trip,” says Keven Seaver, who
documented the Soweto and Alexandra townships in her book Streets of Hope.
© Keven A. Seaver

“We not only got first-hand stories,” Cason recalls, “but also well-researched historical background as we visited the incredible Supreme Court building, the Apartheid Museum—still one of the best museums I’ve been to anywhere in the world—and the township of Soweto, including meeting children who attended Robin’s own preschool.”

Like many local guides at Robben Island, Ntando Mbatha had
formerly been a prisoner there with Nelson Mandela.
© Keven A. Seaver

“Experiencing a township with a local who knows, and is loved by, so many residents was something that we’d never have experienced on our own.” Eight years later, says Cason, “We still talk about the personal and moving stories he told us.”

“Shouldn’t We Wait Until the Kids Grow Up?”

No! Josephine was 7, her brother Adji was 10 when they, their mother, Honor Teoudoussia, and 21 other relatives traveled to the Okavango Delta of Botswana.

“Unlike most rivers, it doesn’t reach the sea,” says Teoudoussia. “It spills into the sands of the Kalahari Basin and creates an incredible mosaic of channels, islands, lagoons, and forests that are full of inter-related animal and plant life.”

Emma  Ward and her cousin Adji Teoudoussia were fascinated by the
the world’s largest inland delta.
© Honor Teoudoussia

As experts on this complex ecosystem, the guides were also attuned to the way children learn. Josephine and Adji’s favorite guide was Tumeletso Setlabosha, better known as Water. His mother had reportedly given birth to him in a lagoon.

For kids, the opportunities to explore a vast outdoor classroom proved riveting. Water shared spellbinding lessons, many from his childhood or about animals they saw. These were no Disney tales.

Like the story of two antelope who fought so fiercely their horns locked. One fell prey to a lion, while the “survivor” succumbed to the stress of dragging around the remains of a rival. If that isn’t the most memorable argument for working with, instead of against, one another, I don’t know what is.

“The delta is complex and intricate,” says Teoudoussia. “Every animal, insect, grass blade,
and dust swirl has its own story, and the Botswana bush camp guides know them all.”
© Honor Teoudoussia

Working with, and teaching about, the ecosystem has made Water one of the most respected guides in Botswana. Years later, Teoudoussia who is a National Geographic Learning executive, saw Water in a National Geographic documentary about efforts to save the delta. It did not surprise her to learn that he had managed logistics and navigation for the expedition.

Josephine (back left), Adji (right), and cousins loved attending “safari school”
with Tumeletso “Water” Setlabosha (center).
© Honor Teoudoussia

Says Josephine, “Guides know a lot of stuff because they’ve been doing it a long time. You meet this new person, someone you will remember.” Adji agrees. “You get information you would [otherwise] never have known.”

“Isn’t Hiring a Personal Tour Guide Expensive?”

Yes and no. Some organizations make it possible to spend a few hours to all day with a licensed guide starting at $35-$100 per person. These guides may have other careers but are passionate about local culture.

Other organizations charge significantly more, as the scope and challenges ramp up, particularly when the local guide is an internationally recognized expert. But “expensive”?  A better question might be: Which will contribute more to your travel experience, upgrading your hotel room, or gaining insights you’ll always remember?

Travel Tip: Costs vary, but certification and training are essential criteria.

“At home with Annemieke and Filip.” With local guides, you’re not among strangers,
but neighbors and new friends.
© Joyce McGreevy

 “You Get to Meet Inspiring People”

When I ask Demuynck what is one of the best things about conducting tours, her response applies equally to guide and traveler: “You get a very interesting view of the world and different cultures. It broadens your view . . . and you get to meet very inspiring people. You only have a short time together, but sometimes you end up being friends at the end of the tour . . . and that is really great.”

Next time you travel, remember: Souvenirs end up at thrift stores. Fancy hotels wreak havoc on your credit. But the cultural context you gain by meeting local tour guides can change your whole life for the better.

Heartfelt thanks to our contributors: award-winning, internationally acclaimed photographer /author Keven A. Seaver; global citizen Julie Cason; the Teoudoussia family; Filip Bil and Annemieke Demuynck. In the interests of full disclosure, Cason and Teoudoussia are my former colleagues. Click the links to learn more.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.