Pelin Asfuroglu

Pelin was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. Growing up in a very big city, she was amazed by the stories she read about the adventures of early explorers and mountain climbers who traveled to the most remote places in the world.

She discovered her real passion for the great outdoors at age 17 when she first started paragliding. Thanks to the great extracurricular student activities offered in her university, she ended up spending most of her time paragliding, mountain climbing, caving and sailing. During the long summer holidays, she worked as a trekking/mountain guide in diverse locations throughout Turkey.

Her love of outdoors has taken her so many wonderful places in the world; from the Himalayan Mountains to the Patagonian steppes. Pelin finally settled in Chilean Patagonia in 2013 where she has been working as an outdoor guide leading multi-day hiking and wildlife trips.

Her interest in Polar Regions was kindled when she first traveled to Antarctica in 2019. In other words, she caught “Polar Fever”.  Since 2021, she has been working most of the year on board expedition vessels both in Antarctica and the Arctic.

Pelin holds a master’s degree in History from the University of Leiden. She specially is interested in Polar Exploration history and loves to share her knowledge with the guests.