About Matt Phillips 

Matt Phillips has been a professional Outdoor Guide and Expedition Leader since 2012. Leading adventures across some of the most remote and beautiful corners of our planet.

 

Growing up in the South West of England he was surrounded by the wilds of Dartmoor, the rugged cliffs of Exmoor and the surfing beaches of the North coast. A great environment for a kid with an adventurous spirit. Matt started gaining outdoor instructor qualifications as a teenager, with a view to teaching others these skills. 

 

A simple trip to Iceland led to his curiosity of the wider world, a week long tour in his early 20’s, climbing glaciers, riding snowmobiles and visiting volcanoes. This was quickly followed by exploring Vietnam and the Alps.  

 

Once he started travelling and exploring his goals became more ambitious and he looked for the unnavigated, remote and unknown areas of different countries. Including: Solo SUP down the Mahawelli River in Sri Lanka, immersing himself in the wildlife. Diving the Red Sea in Egypt. Paragliding over the Andes Mountains. SUP expedition, a 6 day descent through the Amazon rainforest, staying with indigenous tribes, navigating around crocodiles and waking up to a jaguar outside his tent. 

 

Working as an Outdoor Guide Matt has been granted access to some amazing places. He has worked in New Zealand, guiding 5 day wild water canoe expeditions through a temperate rainforest. The complex weather in this part of the country causes the river to be challenging. Sudden changes had to be made to the itinerary to suit the river's surges. Over various years Matt has worked in Panama as a Jungle river guide. Frequently he has gone solo into the unknown, exploring the dark mangrove maze with a paddleboard and machete, discovering more routes to take clients deeper into the mangrove. He encountered his first wild cat in the jungle, a mother Jaguarundi carrying her cub by the scruff.  

 

Matt’s adventures span a wide range of environments from New Zealand's snow covered volcanoes to Central America's humid jungles. He has a variety of qualifications, including climbing instructor, mountain guide, paddling; various disciplines, as well as mountain biking, survival skills and archery coach. 

 

Matt has worked as an Education Officer with the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority. Guiding groups from the glacial cut valleys, to the ancient red sandstone peaks of South Wales, teaching the geology and land forms. He has also worked for the Education and Training Board in Ireland as a field studies teacher. Instructing youth groups in kayaking and coasteering along the Copper Coast and Hook Peninsula. These excursions were not just about developing skills but also studying the layers of history hidden in the rock formations.