Chris Jones

Chris Jones has spent more than seven years at Longitude 131°, working his way through nearly every side of the guest experience. He began at the Front Desk as a Guest Services Host before becoming an Experiences Guide, Duty Manager, Guest Services Manager, and eventually Assistant Lodge Manager. That varied background still shapes his days. As part of a small team, Chris might find himself guiding a walk at the base of Uluṟu one day and hosting cocktail hour in the bar the next. “No two days are the same,” he says, and it’s precisely that unpredictability and involvement across the lodge that he enjoys most.

Of everything Chris has learned along the way, it’s the desert’s ecology that he is most eager to share. Guests often arrive ready to learn about the cultural significance and geology of Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa, but many are surprised by how much life exists in a landscape they expected to be barren. Chris introduces them to the plants and animals that thrive here, explaining both their ecological roles and their importance to Aṉangu. For one particularly vivid lesson in the landscape, he recommends sunset at Kantju Gorge, experienced as part of the lodge’s Mala Walk. Standing at the base of Uluṟu as the setting sun intensifies the color of the rock against the blue sky is, for Chris, one of the essential experiences of a stay, and another reminder that there is far more to this desert than first meets the eye.