Saba — Guide for Batumi & Svaneti

Saba was born and raised in Batumi, on the seafront where the Black Sea meets the mountains of Adjara. His childhood ran between the old Batumi courtyards, the tea plantations of Chakvi and the waterfalls beyond the city. He knows the coast far beyond the brochures: where to find a quiet beach away from the crowds, which bakery does the best Adjarian khachapuri, and exactly when the famous Batumi fountains come on.

Saba's second home is Svaneti. His mother's family lives in Mestia, and every summer he went up into the mountains: herding, listening to stories about towers 900 years old, walking the trails to Ushguli — the highest continuously inhabited village in Europe. That double life between sea and mountains is what made him a guide for exactly these two regions.

Ten years ago Saba ran his first tour — showing friends from Tbilisi "his" Batumi. It became a profession. He earned his guide licence (No. 9332412411) and joined the Sakhva Travel team, where he covers the regions he knows best.

The route stays flexible: if guests want to linger at a viewpoint above Mestia or turn off to a family cheese farm in Adjara, we do.

In Svaneti he builds the trip around the weather and the group's fitness: for some, an easy walk to the Ushguli towers; for others, the trail to the Chalaadi glacier. In Batumi — from a slow stroll along the boulevard to a day in the Adjaran mountains with the Makhuntseti waterfall and Queen Tamar's arched bridge.

He speaks Russian, English, Georgian and Turkish — and, more importantly, he translates not just the words but the context: why a guest is seated by the hearth in a Svan house, and what the toast the host is making really means.

"I was born and raised in Georgia, and I know this country like the back of my hand," Saba says in his video. He drives the guests himself, so the road between Batumi, Adjara and Svaneti is part of the tour too: on the way he tells you about the places you pass and stops wherever it is worth it.