About us

Meet the team behind Andean Journeys. 

Who are we?

Michael-Cantos-travel-agent-ceo

Michael Cantos

Meet Mike: a true brilliant mind who doesn’t like to do things the conventional way. To him, everything is possible in business and in life as long as you work hard and smart. Born in Ecuador, traveling had become second nature to him. He has traveled so much and met so many people that he is a known figure in South-America. Just say you know Mike!

His personal dream became reality when he started his own travel agency to South-America. His warm and open nature allowed him to meet and establish wonderful relationships all over South-America. In business, this turned out to be extremely helpful, as it provided Andean Journeys with unique travel partners and experiences.

Honesty and trust are the base values that he lives by. A no bullshit approach and telling things how they are is something he holds dearly. And he sticks by that when it comes to travel. He has worked in the travel industry for many years now and always pushes for the unique and better tours. Business partner Sophie is the perfect match in this!

His daily mantra: here we go, let’s do this! With a matra like this, he is making the most of every moment he has. He embraces this in work, when meeting new people, and when going to a typical latin party. Be in the moment!

sophie-van-der-pluijm-travel-agent

Sophie van der Pluijm

Meet Sophie: born with her hiking shoes on, she is an unstoppable person when it comes to adventure traveling. Scuba diving, multi-day hikes, bridge jumping, she takes everything head on. It was a logical choice for her to work for a future in Tourism and Marketing. And that paid off. It allowed her to travel to far corners of the world!

In South-America, she found her ultimate playground: it’s filled with beauty, wildlife, nature, history and other splendor. Ecuador in particular has a special place in her heart. That’s also where she met business partner and close friend Mike.

Being an entrepreneur also wasn’t new to Sophie. With a successful Marketing business in the pocket, it was time for a change. She chose to do something she has been truly passionate about: travel and people.

Her daily mantra: today is gonna be a good day. And she lives by these words. As a true morning person, she loves to start early in the morning with a book and walk. And she has too many hobbies to count: to spend hours painting while rocking to her favorite 80s music, dancing salsa, taking her camera when exploring and so much more. This is the good life!