Ian Kiwelu
Northern Guide
Ian was born in the highlands of Kilimanjaro, looking at the towering mountain every day on his way to school. He always wanted to become a field guide, following in his brother's footsteps. After finishing his schooling, first in Tanzania and later in Kenya, he went on to spend time in tourism college.
With his impressive language skills, he's fluent in Italian and Spanish as well as English and his native languages, Ian landed himself his first role as an interpreter on Kilimanjaro climbs. This didn't just put his brain to work, but also his legs; all in all he has climbed 'Kili' more than 40 times.
With itchy feet and looking for a new challenge, he headed south and began working in the Selous as a field guide. There, he bumped into Nomad's specialist guide, Richard Knocker. He then started his career with Nomad and quickly moved into our Northern guiding team, where he has been ever since.