For 28 years we have been using our local insights and personal experience to create custom tours to Turkey, Africa,Galapagos and beyond. We are proud that our business has been founded on personal referrals from our past guests. ​Perry and Jale live in Marin County, California. They have two sons, Clavey Ali and Jordan Cem.

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Perry was born in Geneva, Switzerland.  He  graduated from University of California Santa Cruz with an honors degree in language studies.  He spent a year abroad in Grenoble, France and then traveled around the world solo before starting his first job guiding students on summer abroad mountaineering trips in Europe.​​ Perry then spent 6 months traveling in Africa before taking a job with Mountain Travel, a major adventure travel company, as the safari specialist.  He was promoted to Sales manager and later put in charge of the International Rafting program for Sobek Expeditions where he oversaw expeditions and first descents in remote parts of the globe including Pakistan, Ethiopia and Chile. ​Perry has managed and operated adventure trips around the globe for the past thirty years. He has been to more than sixty countries and all seven continents.

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He fell in love with Jale who was his guide in Turkey in 1995.  Together they founded Blue Odyssey in 1997 and have been sharing their passion for travel and organizational expertise with guests ever since.  Perry handles all of our African safaris, Peru and Galapagos trips. He speaks Turkish, Spanish and French. ​You can contact him at robertson@blueodyssey.com

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Jale (Jaa-le) was born and raised in Adana, Turkey. In 1992 she obtained her guiding licence through the Turkish Ministry of Tourism. She has been guiding and outfitting custom tours trips in Turkey ever since, together with Perry, and split her time between Turkey and the United States.

Her 33 year’s experience affords her incredible direct contact with her suppliers in Turkey, many of whom have become close friends and treat her as family.  This allows her to secure the best guides, hotel rooms, yachts, and other services for her guests without any middle-man price mark ups. What sets her trips apart is the ability to provide authentic local experiences beyond the traditional tourist sites – from lunch with a local family to meeting the lead archeologist on a dig, her guests enjoy special privileges not commonly available.

For her more adventurous travelers, she designs trips that include hiking to hidden ancient sites high in the cedar forests of the mountains, kayaking over sunken cities on the Turquoise Coast, and parasailing off one of Turkey’s most iconic bays in Ölüdeniz.  For anyone that loves the sea, she operates Mediterranean gulet yacht charters which are perfect for families and small groups of friends.  Imagine sailing across turquoise waters, anchoring in a peaceful bay in the shade of pine forest and taking a swim in the inviting warm waters while your onboard chef prepares a sumptuous feast to be enjoyed al fresco., while nights are spent under the stars in tranquil bays.

One of her passions is food and she has guided specialty food tours for some of the top culinary schools and food magazines in America.  One of her favorite tours in Istanbul is sampling street food while exploring the Galata and Pera districts and some of the best meals on her trips are in small village homes where she often arranges a private cooking class.

All our trips are customized for my guests based on their specific interests, budget, time, and energy levels and whether hiking to ancient sites right out of Greco Roman history, heading into a local village to shop for textiles and soak up the local vibes or visiting our favorite Turkish barber and local hammam, you’ll come away having experienced Turkey from a perspective rarely found.

​Jale is in charge of Turkey, Croatia, Morocco and South East Asia operations: ​jale@blueodyssey.com

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