Episode #31: Dalia Gibu
Vice President, DMC Sales & Marketing – The Americas
Abercrombie & Kent Latin America
Guest Bio
Dalia Gibu is the Vice President of DMC Sales & Marketing for The Americas at Abercrombie & Kent (A&K), a leading luxury travel company. With extensive experience in the travel industry, Dalia has been recognized multiple times as a Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist for her expertise in Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. Her passion for showcasing Latin America’s rich cultural and natural heritage has made her a prominent figure in the luxury travel sector.
Show Summary
In this episode, Dalia Gibu shares her journey in the travel industry, from her early days in tourism to her current role at A&K. She discusses the evolving landscape of luxury travel in Latin America, the importance of sustainable tourism practices, and her commitment to providing authentic and immersive experiences for travelers. Dalia also reflects on the challenges and rewards of promoting destinations like Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil to a global audience.
Key Takeaways
- ✓ Leadership in Luxury Travel: Navigating the complexities of the luxury travel market requires innovation and a deep understanding of client expectations.
- ✓ Sustainable Tourism: Implementing eco-friendly and community-focused practices ensures the preservation of destinations and enriches traveler experiences.
- ✓ Cultural Immersion: Curating experiences that connect travelers with local cultures fosters mutual respect and deeper understanding.
- ✓ Recognition and Excellence: Achieving accolades like the Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist underscores a commitment to quality and expertise.
- ✓ Adaptability: Staying responsive to industry trends and traveler preferences is crucial for sustained success in the travel sector.
What You’ll Find on Abercrombie & Kent’s Platform
- ✓ Tailor-Made Journeys: Customized itineraries that cater to individual interests and preferences, offering unique experiences in diverse destinations.
- ✓ Luxury Accommodations: Stays in carefully selected hotels, lodges, and camps that provide comfort and authenticity.
- ✓ Expert Local Guides: Knowledgeable guides who offer in-depth insights into the history, culture, and natural beauty of each destination.
- ✓ Sustainable Practices: Commitment to responsible tourism that supports conservation efforts and local communities.
- ✓ Exclusive Access: Opportunities to experience destinations in unique ways, such as private tours and special events.
👉 Visit Abercrombie & Kent’s Official Website to explore their offerings and learn more about Dalia Gibu’s contributions to luxury travel in Latin America.
Learn more about Abercrombie & Kent Latin America and connect with Dalia at:
https://www.akdmc.com/
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Podcast Transcript
This transcript is auto-generated on recording, and has not been edited by a human. It may contain lots of mistakes, crazy words, and stuff that makes no sense. The host and the guest are not responsible for the accuracy of the transcript.
Jason Elkins (00:00.161)
Welcome back everybody to another episode of the Big World Made Small podcast for the adventure traveler. Great episode coming up today. We’ve got Dalia Gibu. She is the regional sales and marketing director for Abercrombie and Kent, Latin America. Dalia, so happy to have you here. Welcome, welcome to the show. Yeah.
Dalia Gibu (00:05.822)
you
Dalia Gibu (00:15.692)
you
Hello, Jason. So great to be here. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Jason Elkins (00:24.417)
Yeah, it’ll be a lot of fun. You and I have spoken in the past and I was just really kind of intrigued by kind of your career path and how you got from where you were to where you are now. You know, and obviously I’ve seen your bio. I’m sure some of our listeners have seen that as well. I really want to dig into that. I want to go a little bit, maybe a little bit further back. Well, I think your bio started with pretty far back, but let’s dig into that a little bit. Let’s go as far back. Yeah, well, no, when I say far back, it’s all relative.
Dalia Gibu (00:47.403)
I’m not that old, but…
Jason Elkins (00:54.725)
Yeah, that’s a good point. So what was it like working in the tourism business back before we had telephones? No, just kidding. You would not know. Anybody that doesn’t have the opportunity to see you here on my screen, you’re much younger than I am and you’ve accomplished a lot of really cool stuff since then. So let’s go back as far as you feel like we need to go back.
Dalia Gibu (00:57.931)
But I’m getting old.
Dalia Gibu (01:03.837)
Oh my god, no!
Jason Elkins (01:21.057)
to help our listeners kind of understand who you are and how did you end up working in adventure travel?
Dalia Gibu (01:29.13)
Well, I guess the first thing I heard was from my dad traveling and doing some road trips when I was young. I was very curious about what he was doing. He was going to Argentina. He was going around Peru. And to me, that was like, that’s another world. What is he talking about? Why is he going to these places for fun and not just for work? So I was always intrigued by that.
He’s a real adventurous. So, and then when I was in school, I was always very good at math. So everybody wanted me to be an engineer because my family is full of engineers. And, but then I was always like, you know, very curious in geography class and history class. So those subjects were always very, you know, appealing to me. And I actually.
into the university when I was very young, I didn’t know what to do. So I applied to accounting. So you can imagine, that’s like a very different thing from what I’m doing. And I only lasted one year. I was like, after a year, I said, no, this is not for me. I got to study something that has to do with travel and hospitality, because I love, you know, like hosting people at home. And my mom was a great example of that. She was always.
welcoming people in the house. So I love that part of service. And that’s how I started studying traveling hospitality in Lima for five years in the university. And before that, just studying English as a hobby when I was younger because I love rock music. So my dad also was a big influence in that. So to…
Jason Elkins (03:13.427)
you
Dalia Gibu (03:20.228)
learn how to sing the songs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, I wanted to learn English. So it all came together, like, okay, languages, and I love geography, and I was curious about traveling, but I never thought I would get this far, to be honest. It was always a dream to me, just thinking about going to Europe or seeing the Eiffel Tower or going on safari and…
And just now I think about it and I say, oh my God, I’ve been so blessed. Because I was born a working class family that probably my parents couldn’t finish university. So it’s my generation, my cousins, that we started having real careers. So yeah, that was like a, it’s a big thing for the family to have.
people that could achieve those dreams. So feel very happy about that. And then I can pass it to my brothers, to my nephews, to my nieces. And this is how it all started with studying travel and hospitality in Lima. And then I got the opportunity to do my practice, my internship in Mexico. So I said, okay, I was 22 years old. I was already working.
in a casino. So I was a blackjack roulette croupier. Yeah. So and then I was like into HR and for that casino. And then I said, okay, you know what, I got to go into the hotel business. I got to put this into practice. So I moved to Mexico for five months, supposedly. And then that ended up being three years of an amazing
you know, learning path with great mentors. I had, it was tough because I was 22. I was a foreign, a girl who wanted to be in the kitchen. And, you know, it was like, no, you’re not strong enough. And I was like stubborn enough to stay in the kitchen. And I learned a lot. Mexico was a great, great school. I still have friends and mentors from that time that I, you know, I’m still in contact with.
Dalia Gibu (05:40.549)
And that was the beginning. So I did, I began being a, so I sat in the kitchen at the bar. So I did all food and beverage. And then the food and beverage manager said, I need a coordinator. Do you want to stay? And I said, yes, mom, I’m not coming back home. I’m staying in Mexico. And that’s how it started.
Jason Elkins (06:06.123)
Very cool. I have a few questions for you. Thank you for all of that. The first question is a little off topic, but since you brought it up, and I’ve been wondering about this, because I’m in Columbia right now, and you just walk the streets here, and you’ll see people on the street corners singing songs in English, and it’s spot on. You would think that they were born and raised in New York City or Chicago or something. And I…
Dalia Gibu (06:08.545)
Ha ha ha!
Jason Elkins (06:35.681)
haven’t had a lot of conversations with these people. So I don’t know, I guess where I’m going with this is when you were listening to songs when you were young, it helped you learn English. But I’m curious, like, did you just kind of learn the words by rote, just by listening to them, and you could sing along, you like knew the words, but did you actually start like, did you understand the words? Or was it just kind of?
Dalia Gibu (06:58.687)
No, I had to go to take lessons. So every day after school, Monday to Friday, I would go to like a institute, the American Institute to study for two hours every day. So that would be like grammar and phonetics and all of that. So that helped. But I guess, you know, you also need to practice a lot. So what it really…
Jason Elkins (07:16.577)
Okay. Okay.
Dalia Gibu (07:27.122)
made me get out of my shell and practice was singing those songs and also I wanted to know what I was singing about.
Jason Elkins (07:35.393)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I get that, because you’re absolutely right. Without the practice, I’ve learned it’s really, really hard to learn a language. I started traveling, well, I started traveling full -time about two and a half years ago, and that started in South America, and I knew no Spanish. I had nothing, nada. And all of a sudden, I was really, you know,
I guess incentivized to learn, because I’m pretty outgoing. So I would start learning and then I was practicing constantly because when you live in a country that they speak a different language, you know, it’s really, really easy to practice. It’s not so easy to practice. You can go to school and learn English, but if you don’t practice it somehow, I don’t know how, I don’t even know how you could do it. So yeah, the music’s a good way to practice, right? As far as listening.
Dalia Gibu (08:24.828)
Yeah, the music was a great way to practice. I had a lot of friends in that institute that love music. So we did jamming and it was like, OK, Dolly, you sing. I play the guitar. And then we just all gathered together. We were like, what, 14, 15 years old. So just having fun and watching MTV. And it was just great. And it was like the beginning of the 90s. So.
Jason Elkins (08:52.961)
Yeah!
Dalia Gibu (08:53.914)
Yeah, it was a great way to learn, but then when I got my first job in this casino, so the owners were from all around. So one was from Scotland, the other one from Manchester, from Canada. So all these different accents and they will always correct me because they said, why are you speaking American English? You should be speaking the real English. And I was like, I learned 20 and they’re like, no, that’s not how you pronounce it. So.
It was a good exercise for my ears to just understand and listen to different accents. And yeah, I guess that was, you know, everything that happened in my life has been just a learning curve for, you know, and yeah, it was great.
Jason Elkins (09:37.697)
Yeah, that’s so cool. I suspect so based on what you were just saying, you know, yes, there’s different accents that we all say we speak English. There’s sometimes we argue about that. But I can imagine that that would be very challenging if you learn American English and then especially like Scottish or Irish or Australians. Sometimes I would imagine can be a challenge because frankly, they’re a challenge for me sometimes to understand what they’re saying.
Dalia Gibu (09:55.083)
I’m sorry.
Dalia Gibu (10:04.343)
And you can imagine that during that time we didn’t have like the cell phones where you can record someone and just ask Google Translate to translate. No, I just had to like listen very carefully and you know try to follow instructions because they were also telling me what to do for my job. So I had to really listen.
Jason Elkins (10:14.441)
I’m
Jason Elkins (10:26.369)
Yeah, yeah, I can, it’s Google Translate. I mean, there’s other translation options, but Google Translate is something that’s come up, obviously, in my lifetime. It’s a big game changer. I dated a woman from Japan when I was in college, and I don’t know how she passed the English test to come to the US, but anyway, but every conversation, she had the little…
Dalia Gibu (10:49.143)
You
Jason Elkins (10:53.729)
little dictionary in her hands. And every every two or three sentences, she had to pause, flip the pages, find a specific word and try and and it was, you know, we’d have a five minute conversation that would last. Yeah, yeah, it was it was it was pretty cool. I just remember sitting there for hours and I know we had a five minute conversation that lasted three hours. But it was it was good quality time and and it was it was fun. And now,
Dalia Gibu (11:06.134)
Jason, that was love. That was love.
Jason Elkins (11:23.617)
You know, you can go on a date or have a business meeting. Yeah.
Dalia Gibu (11:25.429)
everything is so much easier. So much easier. I remember having like my dictionary and thesaurus. They were my best friends last years of high school. And you know, it’s like just trying to figure out and learn more words and you know, get my vocabulary a little bit better. But now I well during the pandemic, I studied Portuguese and French. So
Jason Elkins (11:35.809)
Mm -hmm.
Dalia Gibu (11:54.58)
because I didn’t have the time, I was running so much and during the pandemic, the good thing, they brought all these virtual lessons and online lessons. And so then I got into it, but then I had the internet. So it was easier just to type the words and find them and practice online. And the kids now, they have all these amazing tools, even now with artificial intelligence.
to learn faster. I mean, I had to go, we had to go to the library with all these dusty books and you know, like the travel guides and all that we had to read and make notes. Now these guys, they can just make a voice note and even ask their WhatsApp for advice or watch on TikTok for advice. So it’s a different era.
Jason Elkins (12:47.041)
You know though, it’s interesting because it’s easier to communicate. We’ve got all these tools. We can sit across a table from someone that speaks a different language, just pass the phone back and forth, push the little button or whatever. But then I also wonder if, because it’s easy, sometimes when things are easy, we don’t have a lot of incentive to learn them.
So, you know, I’m in Colombia right now and you go to a restaurant and I’m in Medellin. So there’s a lot of expats here, foreigners, and it’s not uncommon to go into a restaurant and see a couple that clearly didn’t grow up in the same culture passing the phone back and forth doing that. And I’m like, and I wonder if like, if we haven’t made it so easy that we don’t really need to learn a language, number one. Number two,
Dalia Gibu (13:20.977)
Oh nice, I love it.
Dalia Gibu (13:32.529)
You
Jason Elkins (13:40.609)
If you have to look through a dictionary or a thesaurus and you have to learn that way, you have a lot of incentive to actually remember the words that you just learned.
because I don’t want to have to do that every time. It’s such a pain in the ass to carry around a thesaurus or the Euro dictionary that I wonder if your brain doesn’t just like, you know what, I’m just going to go ahead and actually file this away somewhere where it’s a little bit more accessible. I’ll remember it more because I can’t just pull out my phone and almost cheat in a way. So I don’t know. It’s, yeah.
Dalia Gibu (14:13.136)
It is a little bit like handwriting, right? Now I try to write and I’m like a doctor. It’s awful. And I used to have like this beautiful handwriting and now because I don’t write, it just become awful. So, and I guess also, you know, having all these tools for communication makes people a little bit lazy as well. And I think like meeting in person is just, you know, something so valuable and, you know, getting to, to,
break the ice and talk to people on the street and you know like make friends in real life face to face that’s something that you know it’s kind of lost I see you know the kids and my nieces and nephews they are just online playing and and talking to people but I’m like get out I used to be like out all the time when I was younger and my mom would be like Dalia come back home it’s too late and I just wanted to talk to people and that’s one of the things that
made our generation so great that we had to talk to people and we wanted to do it.
Jason Elkins (15:18.241)
Okay, so that leads me to, yeah, you’re outgoing, obviously. You’re outgoing, you are curious, you want to culturally, there’s no big surprise to me that you’re doing what you’re doing now. And you know, I mean, it seems like a pretty good fit. And you said you worked in human relations as well as you have over the course of your career worked in human relations. So I…
I mean, do you feel like there’s a certain type of personality? I don’t know how far we want to go in this direction, but do you feel like there’s a certain type of personality you’re looking for when you’re looking to expand your team or move people around within the organization? Or what do you think?
Dalia Gibu (15:58.282)
No, I think, you know, it’s kind of a puzzle. I think I always need people in my team that can kind of, you know, like Dalia is dreaming and she’s lying. And then these guys are like, OK, Dalia, land, emergency landing. You have to land all these ideas, all these crazy ideas. So I always need different people in my team. And they are so valuable and people that, you know, they can sit down and think about it and think about the process. And.
and make it happen. I mean, it’s like without my operations teams around Latin America, I don’t know what I would do because they are the ones that make the magic happen and I just talk about it or I just think about it or create things.
Jason Elkins (16:41.153)
You know.
Jason Elkins (16:44.673)
Yeah, it’s, I mean, you bring up a good point because I’m sure that people listening to this that haven’t worked in tourism or they are aspiring to work in tourism, you know, there’s a lot of different parts of it. There’s the person that can sit there and go over invoices or contracts or stuff to make sure that, you know, things are in order. There’s jobs for people that do that.
And you might think that doesn’t sound very much like adventure travel, but there are opportunities. And then there’s guides maybe that are out in the field with the clients and could not balance their own checkbook, but they are amazing guides and they’re able to connect with people. And most importantly, they enjoy it because that’s, if you take somebody who’s.
maybe has that guide mentality that likes to be out in the field, likes to be exploring, likes to be sharing, learning new languages, and you sit them down and say, okay, for the next six months, you’re gonna set up all the transfers and all the flights and do all this stuff. It’s not gonna work. Yeah, so, okay, yeah, so good. I’m happy you touched on that.
Dalia Gibu (17:47.27)
Oh no.
Dalia Gibu (17:51.078)
No, it’s not gonna work.
Dalia Gibu (17:55.204)
Yeah, I guess there are certain personalities that can fit better with a certain role, but they’re all of them very important. It’s a big machine. It’s a big puzzle. And with ANK, I feel like I found that with my mentors, with my bosses, my team, everybody is…
just very eager to work together. So we are like a big family and it’s like, you know, like any family, sometimes it’s dysfunctional. We help each other, we love each other. So we push for the same direction and it’s just great, you know, when you find that and that’s why I’ve been with INK for 13 years and you know, I think I’m gonna stay here forever. So yeah, it’s the people.
Jason Elkins (18:48.225)
That’s, it’s very cool. It’s a great organization. I mean, it’s got an amazing reputation. I would like to dig a little bit into, because some of our listeners might, you you’re on the DMC or the destination management company side of Abercrombie and Kent. And I’m sure some of our listeners might be like, DMC, what is that? And instead of me taking a shot at it, I think I have a pretty clear idea.
based on my experiences, but I’d love to hear from you. Like, how do you describe to people when you’re out in the field, you’re at a lodge, you run into somebody and how do you explain to somebody what you do?
Dalia Gibu (19:26.66)
I mean, it’s our office, so it’s the local offices. So first thing is we are in the destination, so destination management company. We are the ones that are seeing what is going on on a day by day basis. So that’s, I think, the value of the DMC is that people are from the destination, they are very knowledgeable, we have the right connections in destination. We know.
Jason Elkins (19:37.141)
We are the ones that are…
Dalia Gibu (19:53.7)
what is going on minute by minute. If something is happening in destination, we know how to solve it, plan A, plan B, plan C. So, you know, we dig for new experts. We go and explore and create new products. We work with the tourism offices as well, locally with the hotels. We check that everything goes through health and safety. We do reports on, you know, every…
Jason Elkins (19:56.513)
if something is happening in this nation. We know how to solve it, plan A, plan B, plan C. So, you know, we dig for new experts, we go and explore and create new products. We work with the tourism office as well, locally with the hotels. We check that everything goes through health and safety.
Dalia Gibu (20:18.564)
a little piece of operation we have from hotels to transfer guides, everything. So we handpick and we try and we approve everything that we’re going to offer to our travelers. Well, to our travel agents or to operators because as DMCs, we do B2B. We don’t go direct to customers. We respect our relationship with our travel advisors, with our tour operators that they want to work with us in destination and we just make the magic happen. So.
Jason Elkins (20:21.377)
we have from hotels to transfer guides, everything. So we have…
Jason Elkins (20:41.121)
relationship with our travel advisor.
Dalia Gibu (20:48.46)
Well, we, my team in this, my team in operations, they make the magic happen because, you know, they are the ones, you know, in Cusco we have a team of guardian angels just, you know, kind of hand holding all the clients around Cusco City. Then we have our guides that they have different profiles. So we know that we have guys that are great for single travelers or for families or for people who are into history or who just,
Jason Elkins (20:49.185)
Yeah.
operations they make them I
Dalia Gibu (21:17.644)
you know, a multi -generational family. So they know how to juggle with different things. So, you know, we have people who are there in the Cusco office buying tickets for Machu Picchu if there is a last minute thing or in Rio de Janeiro, making sure, you know, we can get access and fast track to the Sugar Loaf. So there is this, you know, there is this team that they are on the ground. And that’s the beauty of having
Jason Elkins (21:23.777)
You know, we have people.
Dalia Gibu (21:47.64)
you know, the office is there because, you know, we had so many struggles during COVID times. And then afterwards with some social unrest in some destinations and with the office, like, you know, I was so amazed how quick we could evacuate people, how quick we can turn plan A to plan B and still make people happy. So, you know, it’s having those right connections and the teams are so strong in destination.
Jason Elkins (22:18.017)
Very cool. What I heard you say, if I were to try and kind of process it, is boots on the ground. You your team is the boots on the ground, the ones closest to the stuff actually making it happen. And this goes back, I’m not being very direct on this, but it goes back to our conversation we were just having a moment ago, where different personality types.
you know, fit into your team and we need to have different personality types because some people are really good at X and some people are really good at Y. And I’ve always kind of looked at as like the destination management companies are really good at operations, right? It’s the stuff that’s happening. And then maybe the tour operator back in the US or in Europe or whatever, they’re really good at marketing and maybe sales.
Dalia Gibu (23:07.652)
Yes.
Jason Elkins (23:08.609)
You know, that’s so they focus their efforts on marketing and sales. You guys kind of focus your efforts on actually making stuff happen, providing a product really, to those companies to then turn around and resell directly to their clients. And when I heard you say, well, we don’t, you know, we value our relationships with our tour operators and our travel agents. That’s part of it, right? But also the other part of it is,
That’s not what you guys are set up to do. You’re not necessarily set up to have 30 conversations a day. And so if you’re trying to work directly with clients from your offices, you’re just not set up to do that. And then the operational stuff falls down where Abercrombie and Kent, they’re in Chicago, right? Yeah, yeah.
Dalia Gibu (23:36.77)
No!
Dalia Gibu (23:54.692)
Yes, in Chicago, there is another one in the UK and another office in Australia. So they are the ones that are talking to travel advisors or to direct customers about the destination. So also, we as the emcees, we have that responsibility to train those teams about the new things and then tell them, you know, we work together. So that’s the thing. We work together.
Jason Elkins (24:02.465)
OK.
Jason Elkins (24:16.929)
train.
Dalia Gibu (24:24.464)
to develop new products. So, you know, I was last week, I was at El Chalten, in El Calafate, in Argentina. So now I was just training my team and I said, okay, this is a property we should be looking for, for families. This property is great for couples. These activities are too much, maybe for someone who is, you know, has mobility issues. So just to tell them what’s best for a different type of clients.
And of course tour operators and travel agent and travel advisors, they know their clients best. So that’s like a great marriage because we know the destination and then they know their clients. So this is how we match together. And I think like the key of success for ANK and I’m talking about Latin America especially is that relationship we have with travel advisors and tour operators is that they trust us. They trust our knowledge.
Jason Elkins (24:56.961)
their clients best. So that’s like a great…
Dalia Gibu (25:21.489)
and we have a great relationship just working together.
Jason Elkins (25:24.865)
I love the, yeah, you said we know our products, we know our destinations, they know their clients and just kind of bring it together. That’s super cool. And I happen to know, and I don’t know by the time this airs, I don’t know what you’re gonna be doing, but I happen to know that one of the things you’re doing is, I think it’s just called a university in a sense, right? A series of webinars and informational stuff. And.
you’re like at the forefront, I think of this project or you’re definitely very involved in it, because I see your name come through on my emails, because I’m on your email list. Tell our listeners a little bit.
They can take advantage of it if they’re interested. They want to learn more about South America.
Dalia Gibu (26:09.488)
Yes, well, you know, for Latin America, sometimes it’s a difficult spot because everybody knows Europe. Everybody loves Africa. You know, there are destinations that are a little bit more popular, you know, like Egypt and Jordan and Japan. And when it comes to Latin America, sometimes it’s like the unknown, you know, I don’t know, should I go there? Is it safe?
How about the distances? How do I get from here to there? So for us, it’s more about educating the trade about how to travel and how to navigate Latin America. So I said, why don’t we do something that is not so long because everybody’s tired of an hour’s Zoom calls. So I said, let’s do like 15 minutes.
Jason Elkins (26:55.905)
That is not so long…
Dalia Gibu (27:03.728)
but on one piece of destination. So you have like kind of your podcast in a way, just a very short while you are, I don’t know, making breakfast or washing dishes. And you can hear for 15 minutes, 15 minutes of inspiration about Buenos Aires, 15 minutes of inspiration about the Pantanal, best time to go, how many days, the properties we love, A &K Insider access, and you know, the unique things we do in destination. So, you know, it,
turns you a little bit into an expert on the destination with 15 minutes of listening information from the country manager. So it’s not just from a tour consultant or someone that is junior, it’s someone that has been working in the destination for many years. And the
and that’s so knowledgeable. So we said, let’s do this university. We had like different seasons by country. So we had six seasons plus one that is like how to make multi -country itineraries. And that’s available for everyone that wants to learn about South America. And hopefully we’ll launch soon also the University for Costa Rica, which is the office that we just opened July last year. So we were working into developing new experiences there as well.
because we want to make a different Costa Rica, a special Costa Rica that can be not just your adventure and easy way to travel, but something a little bit more in depth with culinary experiences, experiences with the communities, and doing some of the also ultra -lux traveling in Costa Rica.
Jason Elkins (28:26.785)
Costa Rica, special Costa Rica that can be not just your adventure and kind of easy.
Jason Elkins (28:47.585)
That’s very cool. Do you, I can imagine and as I listened to you and when I first became aware of the university, I kind of imagined that it was really tailored towards travel agents, tour operators and that sort. Is it something that, if somebody listened to this podcast that just likes to travel, has no desire to work in the business, whatever, but likes to learn about places, is it relevant? Would they get something out of it?
Dalia Gibu (29:00.91)
Yes.
Jason Elkins (29:17.473)
I would think so, right?
Dalia Gibu (29:17.892)
They will for sure because it’s more inspirational. So yes, we talk about also logistics and how things work in destination, but it’s also inspirational because then you will see what Bariloche is about and you know the hotels you would dream of staying like Chao Chao or Casco or Villa Beluno. So, you know, it’s I think like everybody enjoys that and we got really good reviews about it because at first I was like.
Jason Elkins (29:40.065)
and we got really good reviews about it because at first I was like, I hope people listen to those because it’s a long university but people were really interested and that make us very happy because there was a lot of work involved. Okay, so if somebody is intrigued by what we’re talking about, wants to find that, what’s the easiest way to, I mean, I have a link to your website, well to Abercrombie and Kent.
Dalia Gibu (29:44.208)
I hope people listen to those because it’s a long university, but people were really interested and that made us very happy because there was a lot of work involved.
Jason Elkins (30:10.241)
America in the show notes, but if somebody is interested in this university, where would they find more information about that?
Dalia Gibu (30:17.616)
So I can share with you Jason, so you can post it on the description of this, yeah, on the show notes. And then people can just click and download the links to go to this, because they’re all uploaded on YouTube. But it’s like, so it’s not open to everybody, so they need the link to access. So I’ll give you the link, and then everybody that wants to listen.
Jason Elkins (30:23.253)
In the show notes, yep.
Jason Elkins (30:32.641)
Okay.
Dalia Gibu (30:46.512)
they can listen and hopefully they will get some inspiration to come and travel to South America. Well, you are in Medellin, so you know, once you step into South America, it’s okay, you want to know more, you want to learn more. Medellin is such an amazing city. I love it. I hope you have been to Guatapé.
Jason Elkins (31:05.985)
I have, I’ve actually this past weekend I was in Santa Fe de Antioquia, took a bus, just went down to the bus, you go to the bus terminal and you just like find a bus and it’s like $5 and you’re, you know, go to one of these pueblos. The weekend before I was in San Pedro de Los Malagros. Kind of the same thing, Guatapay, there’s Jardin, there’s, it’s just, when I first came here, I decided to travel full time. I had been to South America, I’d worked in the tourism business. I’d,
I helped a lot of clients book trips and led trips to Venezuela and Argentina, but I’d never lived here and it was different. So when I started traveling full -time, I thought I’d spend one month in Columbia and then work my way down to Ecuador and Peru. I haven’t even got past Medellin really. I mean, I’ve laughed, I’ve gone other places as well, but I just fell in love. I’ve spent about a year and a half out of the last two years here.
Dalia Gibu (31:46.307)
No.
Dalia Gibu (31:56.7)
Jason, you will agree with me when people ask you, is Colombia dangerous? The danger is that you are never going to leave that country because you’re going to love it so much. You’re not coming back home.
Jason Elkins (32:05.033)
That’s
there’s, yeah, you’re, you’re spot on. There are some like holes in the sidewalk. Not gonna lie. I always think, you know, when people say is it dangerous there? Well, you got to kind of watch where you’re walking because sometimes they remove the little manhole covers in the sidewalks. That could be dangerous. Sometimes the motorcyclists don’t really pay much attention to signs or there’s a lot of one way streets in this town. And,
Dalia Gibu (32:25.822)
Hehehehehe
Jason Elkins (32:36.257)
you have a motorcycle apparently you can go whichever direction you want to go so you got to be careful crossing the street but if you’re if you’re
Dalia Gibu (32:43.262)
Especially after celebrating so much in Colombia because it’s like, okay, after office and then you have a couple of beers or, you know, aguardiente and then yes, you have to be careful about, you know, going out and looking at both sides of the street.
Jason Elkins (32:59.649)
Yeah, yeah, you know, but, and I mean, there are things, it’s, Medellin’s a city, Columbia’s a country that, you know, there’s areas that there, you know, there’s issues, it’s that way everywhere. Yeah, and I believe that if you come here for the things that you and I enjoy, you know, the climate, the culture, the nature, the food, if you come here for the things that adventure travelers go for,
Dalia Gibu (33:10.046)
Like any big city.
Dalia Gibu (33:20.445)
Oh yeah.
The food.
Jason Elkins (33:29.281)
then I find it very safe. If you’re coming here to look for other stuff that is typically associated with bad people, then guess what? You’re gonna find bad people. But, and I think it’s that way pretty much anywhere, so.
Dalia Gibu (33:45.916)
And I think Medellin is such an amazing city because of the resilience of the people as well because they live happily. Because they went through so much. Their past generations went through so much as well that now they learn how to live the day. And this is something that I believe a lot of people still need to learn from our Latin culture is that we enjoy life and despite our problems, despite our
Jason Elkins (33:51.041)
Oh yeah.
Dalia Gibu (34:15.11)
politicians, you know, it’s like when you go to, I was in Buenos Aires last week and I was just asking about, you know, new president and all that. And I can see people just, you know, enjoying life and they say, okay, you know, we are waiting for a change. Yes, we know it’s going to be hard, but this is not going to stop us to enjoy life, to, you know, to be happy. And I just love that because, you know, we’re not waiting to be 70 or 80 years old to start living our lives.
Jason Elkins (34:27.763)
Okay, you know, we are waiting for a change. Yes, we know it’s going to be hard.
Dalia Gibu (34:44.922)
We do it day by day.
Jason Elkins (34:48.641)
And I think, yes, because here, even when things are bad, or maybe your financial situation is challenging, you can still go sit down in front of a tienda and drink a beer for a dollar and watch a soccer game with your friends, your family, your girlfriend, your whatever. It doesn’t have to be so complicated where there’s other parts of the world that we live so isolated that.
Dalia Gibu (35:09.978)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (35:14.337)
for us to do anything fun, it’s like a big deal. You gotta, you know, you gotta do a whole date night. You gotta go to Disneyland because you can’t find anything fun in your neighborhood. And the thing I love about, I mean, any moment, if I’m like, you know what, I’m kind of bored. I literally just walk out my front door. I decide, do I want to take a left or right? And I go look for just something new and there’s new little tenders and markets and shops. You just go sit down and watch people. It’s, it is absolutely fascinating.
Dalia Gibu (35:29.931)
Hehehehehe
Dalia Gibu (35:41.995)
you
Jason Elkins (35:43.777)
And I also want to touch on there’s a generational thing, especially here in Medellin because like, you know, I’m 50 and a lot of people my age grew up at a time that was very, very challenging here or older. If you were a parent, if you had young children during those times, it definitely impacts, you know, kind of the way you see the world. And I was just having a conversation last night with a younger person that, you know, we were talking about.
Dalia Gibu (35:52.281)
you
Dalia Gibu (35:56.801)
Yeah.
Jason Elkins (36:11.529)
generational thing and she’s like, yeah, my mom and dad don’t want, you they’re terrified. They don’t want me to go anywhere. You know, like don’t leave the house, da da da da da. She’s Colombian. And, and she’s like, but all my friends, everybody my age is like, this place is amazing. We love this. We’re going to go have fun. And there’s so many things to do. And they’re just like, it’s, it’s a generational, it’s like my grandparents, you know, we’re World War II depression, you know, they lived through the great depression. So their attitude about like,
Dalia Gibu (36:24.439)
Ha, no!
Dalia Gibu (36:36.116)
Mm -hmm.
Jason Elkins (36:40.149)
food or other things was just a little bit different than mine and it’s and you know, it’s it’s good. But yeah, the the Latin culture, the Latino culture is just I guess it’s la cultura Latina, right? Yep. So yeah.
Dalia Gibu (36:53.957)
Did you learn how to dance salsa already?
Jason Elkins (36:58.497)
No, no, no. I’ve stood up a couple times and been taught a few steps, but it’s intimidating, to be honest with you. Like, learning Spanish, I, well, Dalia, have you, or just like, everybody here grew up dancing that way.
Dalia Gibu (37:10.773)
Why?
Dalia Gibu (37:18.234)
Latina women were intimidating, that’s what you’re saying.
Dalia Gibu (37:26.26)
Oh yes, we were born dancing.
Jason Elkins (37:26.913)
So it’s like if everybody here rode unicycles to work, you know, the bikes with one tire. If they grew up riding those things around town, do you think I’m gonna get on one and try and ride around town? No, I’m gonna be like, I think I’ll walk. I mean, I could probably learn, but it’s just like, yeah, it’s, and learning Spanish was different, because yeah, I mean, I felt like I needed to learn Spanish in order to communicate, and I’m outgoing.
Dalia Gibu (37:34.356)
Yep. Don’t worry.
Dalia Gibu (37:52.312)
Uh huh.
Jason Elkins (37:54.881)
curious, so I felt like I needed to learn Spanish just to communicate. The dancing, I just really like to watch, and because they’re so good. I mean, there’s no bad dancers here.
Dalia Gibu (38:01.804)
No, Colombia is a different level. That’s a different level, even for me. But you know, we’ll give you A for effort. Just go and give it a try. Just have fun. And here, Latin America, we just love when everyone wants to dance and wants to be part of that community. Because dancing for us is like…
Jason Elkins (38:25.409)
Yeah.
Dalia Gibu (38:27.794)
like speaking is our form of communication. We are, you know, we are warm. We love to hug and dance and, you know, sharing things. So, yeah, go for it. Next time we talk or next time we see each other, then, yeah, perfect.
Jason Elkins (38:30.337)
Okay, you’ve inspired me. I will make, yep, I’m gonna, we’ll go dancing. You can see if I made any progress. All right, very cool. So, and yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, I love it here, but I have yet to get to Peru. You’ve got,
probably more experienced than anybody I know in different places around South America. And, you know, this show is really kind of about your story, but it’s also about your passions. And so I’m just curious, like, what is there something on the horizon you mentioned, you discussed Costa Rica, is there something on the horizon that you’re super excited about? Is there a place or some experience that you feel like everybody listening to this needs to experience at least once in their life? I mean, just share with us what’s on your heart.
Dalia Gibu (39:26.628)
I was last week at El Chalten and it has been a dream for me because I love hiking. So I love two things, eating and hiking. So I eat and I try to burn the calories.
Jason Elkins (39:37.377)
That’s good though, that’s good because then you can burn the calories. Yeah, if it was hiking and watching football, or no, eating and watching football, that would be bad. Maybe, yeah, okay.
Dalia Gibu (39:44.85)
Well, that – that was it!
Dalia Gibu (39:51.602)
Yeah, no, so I went to Alcaltén and I just loved it. And I’ve been dreaming about the Fitzroy for ages and just seeing that mountain was like, wow. So I want to go back as soon as possible because I couldn’t have like enough time to do all the hikes, but I just love that part of Patagonia and I love meeting the people there, the guides. And to me, that was a revelation because…
I know guides that they love the mountains, but the guides in Argentina, they are so prepared. And also they are not just guides for the mountain guides, but they do climbing and they do rescues. So they are the ones that if someone gets lost in the mountain, they will go voluntarily to rescue them. So to me, that’s like being a firefighter. It’s to…
you are devoted to humanity. So that was just so touching and so I admire them so much because also these guides are very young. So I met like a 26 year old climbing guide and another one, 34 women. So also I just love these, how we empower women in the different destinations where we have our offices. So,
I was just chatting with my team in Argentina and I said, we have to do something with this, with these women that, you know, they are struggling to make their point and say, okay, I could be, you know, five feet tall and 26, but I can hike that mountain as well. So I, and it’s a new generation. So I love that, you know, we’re putting effort into making the new generations.
Jason Elkins (41:41.953)
generation. So I love that you know.
Dalia Gibu (41:46.574)
love travel, love all the experiences we have in this nation. Here in Peru, we have been working with our community for about nine, 10 years in the sacred valley. So the women of this community, when we got our permits to operate our Inca trail, they asked to be part of it because those jobs are usually given to men because those jobs pay better. So we train them to be part of that support service for the Inca trail.
and I did the Inca Trail with them last year, so with two of them, with Sonia and Imelda. So I was just chatting with them in Spanish and they were speaking a little bit of Quechua. I was like, oh my God, no, I don’t know Quechua that much. And just hearing their stories and know how we can make a difference for the people that live in the destination, because it’s not just about being a company and Abercarme and Kenny’s a big company in a way, right? Because we have like all these…
Jason Elkins (42:26.433)
I don’t know, know, sketch that much. And just hearing it…
Dalia Gibu (42:42.738)
network of DMCs, but we are very into philanthropy and doing that positive impact into the countries and the communities we work with. So just knowing that, you know, Amanda was telling me, I said, so what is going on in your house today? Well, we are hiking. And she’s like, for the first time, my husband is looking after my two kids. I’m going back home with my money. I’m going to tell this guy.
this is the money for our kid to go and study in Cusco and this is my decision because it’s my money. I was like, wow, you know, it’s, she, she sounded and she looks so empowered that to me, I was like in tears and I’m like, you know, finally, there you go. This is, this is, you know, the Andean women, this is, this is our power. So making the difference with, you know, in different destinations, that’s what I love because,
Jason Elkins (43:27.553)
you know, finally.
Dalia Gibu (43:37.906)
I think that in South America and Latin America, women, we had a really long path and still we do fight with a lot of machismo. So just having a little bit more equality and I feel like also the men here in my generation and the new generation, they understand that women need a little bit more help, exposure, whatever you want to call it.
Jason Elkins (43:53.343)
Yeah.
Dalia Gibu (44:05.874)
It’s just great to see things moving forward for more equality.
Jason Elkins (44:14.209)
I asked you what’s on your heart and man, you just opened it up. I love that. Because I get to see, our listeners don’t get to see your face and I can see the passion behind this and it gave me goosebumps. And it’s super cool because historically, I feel like historically involving women in tourism has been around housekeeping roles, culinary roles maybe.
Dalia Gibu (44:16.978)
I just…
Dalia Gibu (44:41.874)
Yes.
Jason Elkins (44:43.731)
or arts and crafts, selling crafts. If you go to a typical place, you’ve got these male guides often leading these trips and at the gate, as they go into the park or as they start to climb the volcano, there’s the women there with their tables and selling their craft things. So that’s gotta be a big shift that’s probably exciting for some women that want to shift and get.
Dalia Gibu (44:53.808)
Mm -hmm.
Dalia Gibu (45:02.61)
Yes.
Jason Elkins (45:12.223)
you know, work on the other side of it or in a slightly different capacity. And I love that you said that. Well, yeah, yeah, that’s, that’s.
Dalia Gibu (45:17.724)
And it’s also good for men, because now it’s kind of, okay, we’re equal, we can do whatever we want. And you see in Peru, the chefs, mostly men now. And it used to be women, because it’s like the grandmas and the mothers cooking for the kids. And now men don’t feel afraid to study a culinary career, because they know they can also be so good. And it’s…
Jason Elkins (45:31.743)
Hmm.
Dalia Gibu (45:46.834)
It’s just great to see you can be here or there, whatever your heart takes you. You can do it.
Jason Elkins (45:52.993)
And it goes back to what we were talking about, personality styles, really, because I know that not all men are the same and not all women are the same, but in general, I think that we can agree that maybe women can bring a slightly different type of experience to clients, I would argue. I mean, I’ve been with a lot of guides. I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve been a lot of places.
And I’ve met some amazing male guides that are very good at connecting with people. And you just feel like immediately you feel like, oh my gosh, I’m his best friend and like he’s looking, you know, he’s just so interested in what I have to say, da da da da. Women are generally better at that than guys. I think in connecting and communication and just compassion, like I think sometimes women will stop and show you things that guys will just step right past.
Dalia Gibu (46:21.062)
Uh huh.
Jason Elkins (46:44.213)
you know, in my experience, but again, I know that’s very generalized. Yeah, it’s…
Dalia Gibu (46:47.218)
I would love to take care of people and you know just you know be the mom in a way for everybody and this is something that especially Latin America I think it has been passed from generation to generation where you know the mom is looking after the family making sure everything runs well in the family and that you take it also into your career is the same thing with my team I always like to make sure everybody is happy.
But then you learn also how to delegate. And it’s not easy when you are a woman in South America or in Latin America where you have to, in order to achieve things, you have to become tough and work hard. And then, well, you have to learn also to delegate and also sometimes just be backstage for other people.
to take the lead and yeah, so.
Jason Elkins (47:46.817)
That’s cool. You know, and as we were having this conversation, it occurred to me, right now I’m living in what is known as Comuna Tresa in Medellin. So it’s what used to be the most dangerous community in the most dangerous city in the world. And now it’s, I mean,
It’s still an interesting place. It’s not like they went in and tore down all the houses and built new houses. It looks like the hood, frankly, and it is. And they’ve shifted, I mean, the number of tourists, I have no idea, but the number of tourists walking through Camuna Trece on a daily basis, you get to the train, you know, you get to the metro station in San Javier, which is the same town or same part of the city. You get off the train station.
Dalia Gibu (48:17.138)
Yes.
Jason Elkins (48:35.873)
and there’s a lot of guides standing outside the train station ready to go that will take you on a two, three hour tour of Comunitrese. And I guess my point is it just occurred to me that, I mean, I see them every day when I got off the metro and they’re almost all women. And I know they’re just, they’re doing day trips and maybe it’s a little different than the mountaineering stuff that we’re talking about or the, maybe not the mountaineering, but yeah, it’s actually just occurred to me that pretty much all of the guides,
Dalia Gibu (48:42.45)
Mm -hmm.
Jason Elkins (49:04.865)
they’re at the train station are women. And when you go into the community and you see the guided trips, you know, you’ll see a group of 12 people, you know, and a young woman that’s probably 22 and she’s got a group of, you know, 12 gringos in their 30s and 40s, falling around like listening to everything she says. And she is in charge. And it’s so cool. It’s so cool to see that. Yeah, it’s, that’s very cool. Yeah, so, all right.
Dalia Gibu (49:19.986)
Hahaha!
Dalia Gibu (49:27.666)
Oh yes.
Dalia Gibu (49:32.242)
It’s great to see women taking that lead in tourism. And you see it in the tourism world. We have so many women working in the tourism world nowadays. And having all these amazing roles and passing all this great knowledge to new generations. So yeah, very, very proud to be part of that movement.
Jason Elkins (49:59.201)
Yeah, no, it’s very cool. I’m happy we had that conversation. And I also wrote down, before we jumped on this call today, I do want to talk to you a little bit about food because you’ve mentioned it a couple times. And you mentioned it in your bio and you live in Peru. So I can appreciate that. And there’s some things that maybe traditionally people eat in Peru that they don’t eat other places.
Dalia Gibu (50:19.794)
You
Jason Elkins (50:29.113)
Share something about, let’s talk about food. What’s the, like if you have somebody coming from the States, they’re flying into Lima and you’re gonna go take them out for dinner, just assuming they haven’t been to Peru, they haven’t been to South America, what’s the, what do you do? Like what’s the thing that you’re super excited to share with the world?
Dalia Gibu (50:43.73)
Okay.
Dalia Gibu (50:50.226)
Okay, dinner, because if you say lunch, that would be a different story. So, breakfast, we do pan con chicharrón. So that’s the deep fried pork in a bun with a sweet potato, fried sweet potato. That’s also the cure for a hangover on a Sunday, because that’s really rich.
Jason Elkins (50:53.953)
OK, let’s start at breakfast. What do we do for breakfast?
Jason Elkins (51:04.115)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Jason Elkins (51:14.337)
So you do, it’s pan de chicharron, because here, they don’t do that here. I mean, they do the chicharron, and they do pan with everything else. I’m on a queso.
Dalia Gibu (51:18.514)
Yeah, it’s like the…
Dalia Gibu (51:23.026)
Oh Jason, buy your tickets now. I’ll take you to Panko Chicharrón.
Jason Elkins (51:27.585)
Oh, that’s on the, but here’s the problem. My breakfast food is croissant. I do a croissant with ham on a queso or pan de jamon a queso, ham and cheese. And then my favorite for dinner is gonna be a chicharron or lunch or whatever. But you put those two together, I’m gonna really need to do a lot more hiking.
Dalia Gibu (51:36.882)
Okay.
Dalia Gibu (51:46.386)
oooo
who walk around Lima, don’t worry about it. Or we can go on the bike because it’s a great bike line in Lima as well. But pan con chicharrón, that’s one thing. We have so many different fruits here. So we have, you know, grape papaya, lucuma. There’s so many fruits. So we’re used to have like a fruit juice with pan con chicharrón, or good coffee because also Peru has great coffee.
Jason Elkins (51:52.733)
Okay.
Dalia Gibu (52:18.034)
And then for lunch, definitely ceviche or tiradito. That’s, you know, tiradito is more, you know, more ni -kei, I would say. So that’s more Japanese. And I was, well, I think I told you, my grandparents are from Okinawa. So they moved to Peru in the 20s. And then they had their family here. And so I was born and raised with, you know, Japanese food.
on one side and Peruvian food on the other side. So I’m kind of like that, Nikkei, you know, blend. And I just love, you know, like the tiradito, it reminds me of that ceviche that my grandma used to make every Sunday. And then of course, you know, the maki rolls and, you know, a great example of that, if you want to take it to a different level, is going to Maido, which is, you know, one of the 10 best restaurants in the world, located here in Lima.
and he does an amazing job with Nica y Cuisine. But anywhere in Peru, like, you know, you find great ceviche. I take my friends to from the top restaurants all the way to the market because you have to experience all of that. And of course, you know, we eat great food at home with the aunties, the grandmas, everybody feeds you around. It’s a problem because then you have the chicks like mine because you cannot go on a diet in Peru.
Jason Elkins (53:40.755)
I’m
Dalia Gibu (53:45.772)
And then you have also the influence of Chinese. So you have Tifa, which is the mixture of Cantonese food with Peruvian food and ingredients. And then every, so we have 60 % of Peru is the Amazon. And then you have the Andean mountain range and the coast. So every region will have a different type of cuisine and food and ingredients. So, you know, you go to Cusco and then.
Jason Elkins (54:00.723)
60 % of Peru is the Amazon, and then you have the Andean mountain range.
Dalia Gibu (54:13.291)
Of course you have to try all these big corns and potatoes and you know, well, they eat a lot of different meat as well. Even though people will kill me, but they eat the guinea pig as you know. They are pets, but kui, yes, that’s kui. And then it’s like, you can eat it like deep fried or in the oven. And when I go to the local community,
Jason Elkins (54:27.585)
Yeah, yeah, it’s kui, right? Do they call them kui? Kui? Okay, you said it a little different. Okay.
Dalia Gibu (54:42.269)
and they offer, I have to eat a little bit with the pain in my heart, but I have to do it and I enjoy it.
Jason Elkins (54:47.905)
Yeah, let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. So on a A and K trip, ever coming Kent trip, is it possible, is it likely that a client, maybe a tour operator back in the States or maybe it’s ever coming Kent will send a client to Peru and they’ll have those type of culinary experiences that you’re describing or do you avoid things like Cui?
Dalia Gibu (55:14.635)
And you know, there are restaurants that they offer kui so you can try in different presentations. Usually we don’t encourage the clients to eat the kui in the community because it could be a little bit too heavy for them. But when I go, I eat it. So, you know, it’s like, OK, you want me to sign a disclaimer? I’ll do it. I’ll just do it with them.
Jason Elkins (55:35.873)
So you don’t offer a day trip to a guinea pig farm and a cooking class afterwards. Okay, yeah. It’s bad for PR too, I think, if people are posting their pictures from their African and can’t trip on Instagram.
Dalia Gibu (55:43.883)
We do cooking class but not with guinea pigs
Dalia Gibu (55:57.355)
pictures with the kui and the community and it’s part of the local culture and I love that and I respect that and I share with them and you know whatever I when I go there I share with them what they have on their table and I love it. I love just you know the ceremonial thing around it and what it means to them because it’s also
They have raised these guinea pigs and they eat them in special locations as well. My grandma used to do that with the chickens and things at the farm and even with guinea pigs. I know what it’s all about but in Lima, we don’t eat guinea pig really. We eat mostly seafood because we’re so close to the ocean. One of the things that I love is during COVID times, I didn’t want to
use the public transportation. No one wanted to use the public transportation. So I grabbed my bike and I went around the bike lane. I said, Oh, why don’t we do like a tapas and bike pretending to burn these calories. I don’t think we’re going to burn it all, but let’s do that. So I went with one of, one of my friends who is a chef here and I said, okay, let’s make a list of our eight favorite places to eat like anticucho ceviche, picadones and so on.
And then we went and we kind of better that, okay, is it good like to park here with a bike and, you know, try this and then we’d make another stop. So, and people really love that because, you know, they can try what we love as Peruvians. And this is what we do, you know, on a kind of a daily basis in each of the offices. Whatever we like and we try as locals, we see if that is, you know, good enough for to offer to our clients. And people want to live.
what we live in in destination so same thing in Buenos Aires we did a okay let’s go to the speakeasy it’s so cool let’s see the rooftop so let’s uh let’s let’s do an speakeasy tour so we chose the ones we love and then we are taking clients there so they can enjoy a little bit of that porteño nightlife that we all love in Buenos Aires yeah
Jason Elkins (57:49.279)
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Elkins (58:08.769)
I suspect maybe you’re a little biased, but you are also an expert that knows probably every city in South America, at least knows a lot about every city in South America. So what is the most interesting, let’s say Latin America.
the most interesting food city in Latin America. If somebody that’s never been to Latin America and their whole thing is foodie, they grew up watching Anthony Bourdain and they wanna go have a foodie experience, which city would you start with?
Dalia Gibu (58:41.099)
I have to start with Lima. I think it’s, yeah.
Jason Elkins (58:43.073)
I knew you were gonna say that. But honestly, I’ve heard that from other people that aren’t from Lima, so I get it, okay.
Dalia Gibu (58:51.403)
Yes, no Lima is very interesting in terms of food and flavors and just a mixture of different cultures in one city. So I would say Lima, if you love meat, if you like beef, definitely Buenos Aires. But I would say, you know what, whenever I go also to Santiago, I’m like, if a Peruvian chef,
would just cook with these ingredients, it would be heaven because they have all these great fish and seafood from that colder part of the Pacific that is so good and so interesting. So every city, I was surprised also with Quito the last time I was there. I went to a couple of restaurants from chefs that are the new generation of chefs and just, I never thought of Ecuador as a,
top culinary destination and when I was there I was like wow this is great so you know there are iconic cities like Mexico City and then you have Lima and you have Buenos Aires but there are so many others where you can find different flavors and different ways of you know enjoying food and wine because then you know we have Chile, Argentina and Uruguay with great wines.
but even also in Mexico, you can find amazing wines and you can find great wines in the south of Brazil. So I think we are just discovering every day. There are so many things to keep learning and tasting in Latin America. So I’m never gonna lose weight in this job.
Jason Elkins (01:00:31.073)
I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna –
I’m gonna put you on the spot, and I don’t know if you can answer this because I know you’ve got team members that work in every one of these places, but let’s take the same person. Never been to Latin America, definitely interested in food. Like that’s the whole, that’s their thing. Where is the last place you would send them?
Like the one that, like they would be most disappointed. Like, oh my gosh, this person’s a foodie. They want to come for food. I better not send them to City X because it’s the most boring food I’ve ever seen. Or you know what I mean?
Dalia Gibu (01:01:13.547)
I don’t what you mean but I wouldn’t talk about Latin America that way. I think I eat everywhere really really good
Jason Elkins (01:01:20.033)
No, I knew you. Come on. And the reason I ask is I see, like I’m a foodie and I see like sometimes I’ll do rankings of countries by the food. Columbia doesn’t usually fare that well on those lists. It usually is kind of near the bottom of the list for Latin America.
Dalia Gibu (01:01:42.441)
Jason, but have you been to El Cielo? I hope so. Because you are in Medellin.
Jason Elkins (01:01:47.809)
I think I… Oh, I…
Dalia Gibu (01:01:50.923)
Ah, I have one for you. That’s what you have to try. And then we talk about Colombian food. El Cielo is, yeah, it’s a beautiful hotel.
Jason Elkins (01:01:55.009)
I think I have. Cielo. Oh, but it’s probably too expensive for me. That’s probably why I haven’t gotten it. Yeah, I have heard of it. I’ve heard of it. Okay, all right.
Dalia Gibu (01:02:03.8)
It’s worth it Jason, it’s so worth it. Definitely. It’s an experience. I mean, this guy, he has Michelin stars with his restaurants in the US. I think he has one in Washington and one in Miami. And what he does in that kitchen is it’s opera. It’s unbelievable how the service is so coordinated and it’s an experience, not just the flavors. When you try that,
you tell me about Colombian food and then try of course in Cartagena you have to try Celele, you have to try Alma at the Casa Agustin and in Bogota, El Chato, there are so many and you know that’s why I cannot say there is one place where you are not going to love the food in Latin America. I think like in every place that I’ve been I was never disappointed. I’ve taken so many friends around as well and
they were all like, oh my God, what are these flavors and textures? And it’s very different than any other food in the world.
Jason Elkins (01:03:11.361)
I think I just came up with an idea you and I get to collaborate on is I think you and I get to do a South America food podcast and we’ll get, you know, and we’ll just, we’ll go city by city. We’ll do an episode for each city and talk about the highlights and then we’ll go to these restaurants and they can sponsor the podcast and yeah, this is gonna be good. Okay. Well, cause you just opened up a whole world of knowledge. I could tell that was just the surface.
Dalia Gibu (01:03:20.312)
You
Dalia Gibu (01:03:32.44)
That’d be great!
Jason Elkins (01:03:40.385)
So I’m, yeah, and I’m gonna go down to Cielo, El Cielo, and I’m gonna make sure that they hear this podcast, that they hear this episode, and maybe they’ll give me a little sampling platter or something, anyway, so.
Dalia Gibu (01:03:45.026)
Yes. Give it a try.
Dalia Gibu (01:03:55.096)
Oh, you’re going to love it. And you know, there are so many great experiences, culinary experiences in Latin America. And you know, you see it on, you know, like with Anthony Bourdain, with, you know, street food on Netflix. People love it when they come here. And it’s like being at home in a way makes you feel at home when you come to South America, to Latin America, and you try all these dishes and it touches your soul. That’s, you know, that’s, that’s all I can say.
Jason Elkins (01:04:23.169)
So, no, I get it. And you mentioned that there’s a place, you mentioned Street Food Latin America, I think was a series on Netflix. And I remember sitting in my Airbnb in Envigado, which is basically part of Medellin. And I was like, I think my room was almost, I was almost needed to go find a new place. And I was sitting there watching Netflix and I saw a Latin America, a Street Food Latin America, and they were doing an episode on Bogota. And it’s the La Pes
Dalia Gibu (01:04:32.438)
Mm -hmm.
Jason Elkins (01:04:51.809)
Perseverance, perseveranceia? Or perseverance, okay, I’m probably not saying it. Yeah, thank you. I struggle with that. I don’t know, that’s a hard word for me. Perseverance, say it one more time. Perseverance. Yeah, see, that’s, I should’ve, I’ll just let you say it. And I was like, that place looks really cool. And I literally, like by the end of the episode, I picked up my phone, went on kayak and booked a flight to Bogota.
Dalia Gibu (01:04:54.328)
Perseverance.
Dalia Gibu (01:05:03.032)
Perseverance.
Jason Elkins (01:05:17.601)
And for the next day, for the next morning, and within 24 hours, I was there trying to decide, because it’s these little food stalls, not stalls, but the different restaurants all in one building. It was incredible. And that’s one thing I love about Latin America is I think it was a $30 or $40 flight to go to Bogota from Medellin. And Bogota’s so different. And.
Dalia Gibu (01:05:40.856)
Oh yes. It’s.
Jason Elkins (01:05:45.729)
And there’s just these cool places that are worthy to just pick up and go. And yeah.
Dalia Gibu (01:05:51.96)
Bogota is a lot of fun. A lot of people kind of dismiss Bogota and say, oh no, I’m just going to fly in and then go to Cartagena or go to the coffee region. And I really enjoy Bogota because also the museums are amazing. So you have like Botero Museum, the Gold Museum. You have, you know, the markets, Palo Queimau Market is amazing to go and just see and it’s so well organized. And the food, I mean, and the coffee, come on. I mean, I, I,
Jason Elkins (01:06:01.055)
Mm -hmm.
Jason Elkins (01:06:05.825)
Yeah.
Dalia Gibu (01:06:19.318)
Always at home, I always have San Antonio here, San Antonio coffee at home. So I don’t know if you try the Geisa type of coffee from San Antonio. Try it. San Alberto, sorry, San Alberto. I’m just mixing names now. San Alberto. And that’s really good. I always have one here. So I have Colombian coffee, Brazilian coffee, Costa Rican coffee, and Peruvian. So I kind of like, you know, one day each one.
Jason Elkins (01:06:29.505)
No.
Jason Elkins (01:06:45.345)
Wow.
Dalia Gibu (01:06:46.904)
I love my coffee in the mornings and the Colombian coffee is just amazing. And, you know, going to the coffee region, that’s something also you have to do when you are so close from Medellin. There are direct flights to go to, you know, any part of the coffee region. And just also meeting the people there because a lot of people that are based now in the coffee region, they escaped from, you know, that time with the guerrillas. So, and they made a new life and it’s just so inspiring to, you know, have a coffee and learn from their story.
And this is something that we do when we go and visit with NK, all these areas of the coffee region.
Jason Elkins (01:07:17.153)
Okay.
Jason Elkins (01:07:22.305)
Very cool. There’s so much, like I said, we could do a whole nother episode, a whole nother series of episodes and podcasts and all kinds of stuff. So I look forward to having the opportunity to hopefully, not hopefully, I trust that we will collaborate on some, some cool stuff in the future. We’ve talked about a lot of things. Is there anything that I missed that I should have asked or anything that you want to make sure our listeners hear before we wrap it up?
Dalia Gibu (01:07:45.243)
We talked so much and I thought, right, when we first talked, I was like, do you think we’re going to make like 45 minutes? And I think we already passed that because it has been so great to just share stories and life. And so thank you so much for the opportunity to tell my story. And we have a plan now because we can do this culinary journey through Latin America. So I’ll wait for you in Lima.
Jason Elkins (01:08:02.657)
lot of fun.
Jason Elkins (01:08:07.649)
All right.
Dalia Gibu (01:08:14.055)
And if I go to Medellín soon, I’ll let you know. So practice your salsa steps.
Jason Elkins (01:08:20.459)
I gotta practice my dancing and I need to come down there so I can have the pan de chicharron. Or is it pan con chicharron? Or is it with? Okay, so it’s not like a croissant with a chicharron in the middle of it. That would blow my mind. Okay. It is inside of it? Okay, all right, I’m gonna find that. Okay, I might have to come see you.
Dalia Gibu (01:08:26.407)
Yes, panko and chicharrón.
Dalia Gibu (01:08:33.894)
No, it’s bread with the chicharron inside. And yeah.
Jason Elkins (01:08:45.985)
Dalia, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. Great conversation and I trust our listeners picked up on some tips on restaurants, places to go, things to do, and mostly just kind of outlook on life, which is what this is all about. So Dalia, thank you so much. Appreciate you.
Dalia Gibu (01:08:59.974)
Thank you so much Jason, enjoy Colombia!
Jason Elkins (01:09:03.905)
I will.
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