Ilia was born in a small Russian town and as far as his memory reaches back, he remembers seizing every opportunity to take a journey. A close neighborhood? Sure. Another town? Why not. Another country? Absolutely! Moving to a European city to study at a university made him realize what his passion is; Discovering new things about the world and then sharing it with the others, learning what makes us all alike and what makes us different, that was his drive for traveling all these years.

After graduating from Saint Petersburg state University he spent a few years working in the United States and Europe, regularly visiting Middle East and Asia, meeting wonderful people from all across the globe. Coming from outside of the developed world he is pretty familiar with prejudices and preconceived notions people of the West might have about other parts of the world and he is ready to bridge those gaps.

Joining Southern Sky Adventures, he knew that he had an important goal to introduce people to the hidden gems of the beautiful continent of Africa.

“Travel far enough, you meet yourself” – David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas