Jason Harman

Seán Ellis and Maria Kuster are the owners of Pure Salt Charters. Together, they form a balanced duo of doer and thinker, mover and shaker. They’ve built Pure Salt from the ground up, with a love of people and the natural environment at its core. Maria is a firecracker of energy, optimism, and passion.

Each step forward feels like the last rep of a tough set at the gym, except that I’m not lying on a padded bench in air-conditioned comfort, listening to my workout playlist. Instead, I am hiking through a veritable jungle with four days’ worth of supplies strapped to my back and a serious doubt in my mind as to whether it’s all worth it.

The helicopter blades whirr and whine as we lose altitude. From my seat in the cockpit, I can see the altimeter frantically spinning backwards as we drop into a narrow valley. Within moments, green forest fringes us, streaking past on either side of the helicopter. I press my face hard against the window, looking down, and find myself staring at an emerald river filled with large salmon. I glance over at the pilot sitting next to me and he shoots me a big grin back. We’re on.