About your Naturalist Guide: Victor Barrantes

My life has been involved in the countryside and nature. I grew up in the Nicoya Peninsula of Guanacaste, on a small farm near the beach. The farm workers dedicated themselves to livestock and agriculture; that is when my passion for wildlife had started. I remember my father always teaching me the names of the plants and their uses, I learned to recognize many trees by examining them closely or by looking at their fruits and flowers. I was also fascinated by birds and their beautiful songs, courtships, and peculiar forms of nesting.Past my childhood and my secondary studies, I leaned towards the agricultural sciences studies; I graduated as an agricultural engineer specialized in administration. I then started to work as a Station Manager in three Biological Field Stations which and still are well recognized both as locally and internationally: Wilson Botanical Garden, La Selva, and CCC (now known as Sea Turtle Conservancy ). I then becamen more and more linked to ecotourism field. 

On my last managerial experience at the field station of the Sea Turtle Conservancy (formerly CCC) in Tortuguero, I found the opportunity to continue enjoying and expanding my knowledge in the biodiversity of this fascinating region. From then on decided to fully dedicate myself to the tour operator activity as a naturalist guide. I was formally trained as a naturalist and had started my small travel agency called Tortuguero Infocenter ten years ago, which today operates virtually.