From Everest to enterprise: Omar Samra’s journey as a global entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs come in many forms, but few combine business vision with extraordinary feats of exploration quite like Omar Samra.

From scaling Everest to rowing across the Atlantic, his story goes far beyond the conventional path.

As the founder of Wild Guanabana, the Middle East’s first carbon-neutral travel company, and Base Camp Egypt, he has shown how entrepreneurship can spark both sustainability and adventure. His ventures reflect a deep commitment to creating impact through innovation.

In this exclusive interview with The Motivational Speakers Agency, Omar shares the inspiration behind his entrepreneurial journey, the lessons learned through extreme challenges, and how resilience shapes success in both business and life.

Q: You launched Egypt’s first adventure park, Base Camp. What was the inspiration behind creating a space that combines nature, glamping, and outdoor adventure?

Omar Samra: “It’s an adventure park and a glamping destination, sort of a glamorous camping destination.

“It exists in the Red Sea, probably an hour and a half drive from Cairo, and it’s nestled in the middle of the mountains overlooking the Red Sea. 

“The inspiration behind it really was because I’m a big advocate and passionate about nature. I believe we have all these challenges ahead of us with climate change and single-use plastic, and there’s a huge impact on nature.

“I’ve personally had a very emotional connection, so when I see any transgression against nature, it’s almost like a visceral thing that’s happening. 

“I believed from experience that the only way to protect nature and to raise awareness about its importance is to get people to fall in love with nature in the first place. 

“In a culture like the Middle East, especially Egypt, a lot of the time, people are far removed from nature, especially people living in Cairo. It’s really important to create that stepping stone - a place that is within nature but still provides some comforts. 

“That can be a gateway or rite of passage to get people comfortable, fall in love with it, and then say: ‘Well, maybe next time I’ll go do a hike or camp for a few nights in the desert.’ So that was really the inspiration behind it.”

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Q: In your many expeditions - from the polar regions to rowing across the Atlantic - what role has teamwork played in survival and success?

Omar Samra: “It’s paramount, really. I’ve had the fortune of doing various kinds of adventures, from climbing mountains and going to the polar regions like the North and South Pole, the Arctic regions and so on, to venturing into the ocean. 

“My last big adventure was an attempt to row across the Atlantic Ocean with a buddy of mine.

“Think about this: two people in a two-by-seven metre rowing boat trying to row across this vast ocean - 5,000 kilometres from the Canary Islands to Antigua. After a couple of days, you find yourself just staring at the vast blue all around you, 360 degrees. 

“It was an unsupported expedition, which meant that all we had was our teammate and our boat. The boat had a name, Jan, and my teammate was called Omar, and we were really the three characters on this journey.

“On the ninth day, there was a massive storm with eight to ten metre waves and 80 kilometre winds. 

“Our boat ended up capsizing - it was designed to self-right itself, but it didn’t. The life raft that was supposed to inflate didn’t inflate either. 

“What transpired was 12–13 hours of us treading water, trying to manually inflate the raft, and eventually we got rescued in the dead of night. 

“It was so crazy that a documentary film was made about it - it came out in cinemas recently and is now on streaming platforms in the region. 

“The movie tells our story about trying to row across the Atlantic, but it also juxtaposes our experience with the plight of refugees crossing dangerous seas in search of a better life. 

“We’re trying to use that experience to raise awareness about such an important issue humanity faces today.”

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Q: Leading an expedition often means making life-or-death decisions. How do you approach leadership to keep your team motivated and safe under pressure?

Omar Samra: “We’ve established that teamwork is crucial in any of these ventures. But it’s another thing entirely to keep that team motivated until the very end. 

“It depends on your style of leadership. Some people lead from the front, some from behind. My personality is more reserved, so I’m more of a quiet leader.

“What I try to do early on in expeditions - which are often days or weeks long - is get people thrown into the deep end early, when the stakes aren’t very high. That builds confidence. You’ve selected people for their skills, but they might lack self-belief. 

“So it’s important to develop that confidence early on. Another crucial part happens before you even go on expedition - something I call the ‘what-if game’. You ask: What happens if you get injured? What if I get weak or sick? What do we do?

“You can’t predict thousands of scenarios, but by going through as many as you can, real-time decisions become more instinctive. 

“For example, in 2007, I was climbing Mount Everest with three people - an English friend, a Welsh woman who became the first Welsh woman to summit Everest, and a South African friend. 

“On the way to Camp Three, we encountered the body of a climber who had just perished minutes before. We had to decide whether to continue or turn back.

“We’d already discussed such a situation and agreed that if even one team member felt uncomfortable, we would all turn back. That understanding gave us clarity. In the end, we continued, but I never felt pressured by the others. 

“The key learning is that when you sign up for something dangerous, you know things will go wrong. When they do, it’s no longer a decision-making phase - it’s execution mode. You rely on your training, your preparation, and your team. That’s what gets you through.”

This exclusive interview with Omar Samra was conducted by Megan Lupton of The Motivational Speakers Agency.

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