Intrepid Italian is named the world\'s top guide

He was honoured at a ceremony in London on Thursday, having been picked by a panel of expert judges, including the author Bill Bryson and the television presenter Mark Carwardine. More than 1,000 nominations were received for the awards, which recognise the best tour leaders from across the globe. Mr Alfatti, who is fluent in three languages, has worked as an overland driver for the tour operator Dragoman since 2006. His prize is a £5,000 bursary, which he plans to donate to a project for orphans in Guatemala. The silver award was given to Simyra Taback-Hlebechuk, who founded the Hallo Bay Wilderness Camp in Alaska in 1994. She leads small groups to observe bears in their natural habitat. Bhupendra Sharma, a G Adventures guide based in India and Nepal, and Nyi Nyi “Frankie” Naing, who works for Panoramic Journeys in Burma, both won bronze awards. Other shortlisted guides were Dheeraj “Monty” Bhatt (Intrepid), Alan Ward (Bigfoot), Sharita Van Der Merwe (Tour d’Afrique), Emmanuel Tian (Wendy Wu), Hugh McMillan (Contiki), Arzu Tutuk (Independent), Andrea Petic (Oasis Overland), Balvinder Singh (Exodus), Deepen Rai (Explore), Eric Petersen (Travel Indochina), John Mamuya (Mamuya Tours), Myles Farnbank (Wilderness Scotland) and Nyi Nyi Tum (KE Adventures). The Telegraph