The KomodoAura Team
Who We Are
We at KomodAura are a close-knit team of professionals that want to make a positive difference in the world. We, Garrett, Gina, Anna - and Stefan (see below), each bring our individual strengths, but our true strength is in our connection and understanding of each other, and our sense of connectedness with the rest of the world. We strive to bring this sense of connection and the joy within it to our guests and hope that you will feel that as part of the experience.
We share our journeys of connection below, and wonder if some of what is in them resonates with you. We look forward to connecting with you!
Garrett
Exploring True Nature
Garrett loves his adventures. From running mountains and deserts to crawling around like an animal to flying in a glider. Garrett feels most alive when he is closest to nature, often finding moments of presence and mindfulness on long solo trips into the forests, canyons and deserts.
It wasn't always this way. He used to work long hours sitting in a chair behind an office desk in big buildings in big cities around the world. New York City, Frankfurt, London, Hong Kong, Singapore. He was striving for that career that everyone had told him he should want.
But the feeling of being alive and connected as he engaged with nature in sport and adventure was too strong to ignore. For him, mental fitness became physical fitness, and so he began to work with executives, teams and the public on holistic health and relationships and their own natural connection to themselves and nature. His work includes management consulting with Asia-based SME's seeking cultural transformation and executive coaching for mid to senior level executives seeking to improve their leadership capabilities.
His focus now is on building new levels of self, other and system-level awareness and how to improve our individual and collective wellbeing by emphasizing the dynamic relationships that we often don't see. He is passionate about ecological wellbeing and its connection to our own and the broader state of humanity within that relationship.
He lives in Singapore, his home for 18 years, and spends the majority of his time in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.
For more about Garrett, see his LinkedIn profile.
Gina
Journeying to Joy
Gina is passionate about the ocean and the jungle, living along the tropical coast of Flores, in Labuan Bajo, near Komodo National Park, since 2016. She strives to balance the various priorities of her life, exploring the joy and gratitude for the simple beauty within nature and in her close-knit community. She feels blessed to live here on Flores.
Gina is originally from the Netherlands, where she worked with disadvantaged youth as a social worker. Through her career there and later in Australia, she increasingly took on more and more stress and trauma through matters in her own life, but also the youth that she was seeking to support. When she made the decision to live a healthier life, focusing on practices of yoga and mindfulness, and eventually changing her environment away from modern society, she found serenity and joy waiting for her.
Now in Flores, Gina prioritizes her wellbeing by creating a life that has space for playful and conscious movements, through yoga and dance. She finds sanctuary in moments of mindfulness above and below the oceans surface around Labuan Bajo. Her life passions now have helped to heal the wounds she took on.
Through the practices of yoga and living in the healing nature of Labuan Bajo, she followed a path to become a certified yoga instructor, and takes great joy in supporting others along their own healing journeys. She credits much of that process for her and others to the energy of Komodo and the supportive community in Labuan Bajo.
Now she focuses on helping others explore this beautiful natural environment and to develop greater self-awareness and connection in the process. Finding within her true nature - pure joy and pure love.
Anna
Finding Serenity
& Health
Anna plays a central role in the holistic health and wellness of the Labuan Bajo community. In addition to founding a nutritionally-focused restaurant that draws from organic farming and healthy food practices, she is known for her strong advocacy of holistic wellness.
Anna was raised in Indonesia, in a conservative family with a strong religious culture. She spent her childhood engaging in strict practices that prioritized religious worship over everything else and soon found herself experiencing strong anxiety and stress because she had neglected her mental and physical health.
Anna started her recovery and renewal journey in Bali where she joined the India - Bali Foundation yoga community, deepening her interest in yoga, nutrition and spirituality. She developed a new belief in the importance of body, mind and soul wellness as the core facets for tranquility and peace.
After briefly living in Europe, she returned to Indonesia, specifically Labuan Bajo, where the aura of Komodo has played a part in the development of her sanctuary and her role as a positive role model in the community, as she shares her passion for holistic health - nutritional, fitness, and mindful awareness.
Stefan
Sanctuary in the Sea
Stefan is a master diver with over 10,000 dives under his weight belt who loves being in nature, whether that's underneath the waves or hiking among the island hills, immersed in local culture. Originally from Flores and raised in a rice-field village, he finds his home now in the coral and biodiverse marine life, which he proudly guides people to get to know, through his own quirky and comedic style. Stefan recognises the challenges and impact on the environment that comes with tourism, but is also passionate about bringing new levels of awareness to others.
Stefan began his journey into the ocean at a young age, immediately being drawn by the wonderous beauty that lay beneath the surface. He crewed on a dive boat and submerged himself in the water at every opportunity. Over the years, Stefan has become a well-regarded expert in diving across the east part of Indonesia, from Komodo to the Gili’s, along the Sulawesi-Banda Islands, and of course around Raja Ampat. And yet Stefan prefers diving and snorkeling in his own backyard - Komodo National Park due to the currents that attract such a diverse marine and terrestrial ecology.
Over the past years, Stefan has specialised in touring and entertaining and guiding visitors to the island of Flores, whether its overland tours or undersea adventures. From Komodo to Maumere to Raja Ampat. With over 10,000 dives, Stefan is well regarded as one of the top dive guides in Flores with immense knowledge of and compassion for the human culture and natural ecology. With his fluency in multiple languages and his charming wit and personality, Stefan is an important part of the KomodoAura Team.
