While I’m from the Washington DC suburbs, I always remember being attracted to the birdlife and at the age of seven I joined thanks to my mother a birdwatching group where I learned to wield binoculars and capture the tiny, colorful spring migrants high in the trees.
I eventually learned that these birds and their populations are in danger of detrimental human impact including habitat loss and human related causes.
This is why I decided to dedicate my life to these feathered sprites and worked years in the field studying their populations and nesting success.
When I first went to the Central American tropics thanks to the gift from my dear Grandy of a trip to Costa Rica for my high school graduation. The tropics captured me, the biodiversity throughout these latitudes mesmerized me. When I got home I told my parents I’m going to live down there one day.
Studying spanish and making sure I kept getting down to the tropics eventually got me to where I could guide tourists coming to Costa Rica and Panama and regale them in tropical ecology and the stunning biodiversity of these countries.
This is ultimately leading to what I’ve dreamed about for years during my time guiding with Tranquilo Bay. I want to start an eco-guide school and help young local Afro-Caribbeans and indigenous Ngäbe become eco-guides.
It will take a great deal, but I want to work with the local youth and help them discover their value as guides, thanks to sharp eyes that pick out the birds and mammals in a way my gringo eyes never could or will! But further, I want to take these youngsters out into the forest, mangrove ecosystems and coral reef to begin to memorize names in English, which I will be incorporating on a constant basis along with dedicated classes.
Bocas Biodiversity is a great love of mine and I want to invite visitors to this archipelago to learn the wild nature of Bocas and the tropical ecology that makes it all up. I will be accompanied by one or two eco-guides-in-training so they get immersed in English and how to work with guests. Before they know it, they’ll find the guests to be enamored with them and their ability to spot wildlife. My ultimate goal is to raise the confidence of these youth of Bocas and give them the possibility to share the very land they belong to.
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