Tico Tours
Our Leaders will serve as your host and general tour guide for the entire tour. Our leaders are also experienced bird guides. Other experienced,professional bird guides will be available at many areas visited. We are dedicated to ensuring your birding tour to Costa Rica ,or any other destination you choose,will be one of the, if not THE, best birding ventures of your life.
Tico Tours Leaders/Guides
Michael R. (Mike) Boatwright, owner and operator of Tico Tours™, has been birding for over 35 years. He has birded extensively in North America,the Bahamas,Costa Rica,Ecuador,and the Galapagos. He has a Life List of nearly 1400 species. He is currently a regional editor for Virginia Birds,a regular contributor to North American Birds, and has organized and led numerous trips throughout the lower 48 as well as Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the Galapagos. Other birding activities and accomplishments include 15 year compiler for the Lake Anna CBC and originator/operator of the VA Birdline RBA for 10 years. In 2004, Mike completed a Virginia Big Year with a total of 344 species (third highest in the state). Mike is a member of the Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica and the Birding Club of Costa Rica.
Mike holds a Biology degree from Old Dominion University and has been a Chemistry Manager for the last ten years. His leadership skills will ensure every trip is well organized and led with your satisfaction being his primary goal.
Andrew (Andy) Walker, Owner of Schiffornis Bird Tours has spent the last 17 years birding throughout Europe, Africa,North,Central,and South America. A love of traveling came about after spending 2 years living in Kenya where he birded extensively , including birding trips to Uganda and Gambia. Other birding trips have taken him to the Neotropic, Nearctic and Western Palearctic regions including Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Trinidad & Tobago. Andy's first organized tour of Costa Rica in June 2004 was very successful with over 400 species being recorded, including many endemic and near-endemic species.
Andy holds an honors degree in Countryside Management and Ornithology from University of Hull. He is one of only twenty or so individuals in the UK to have earned this degree. Andy will put his education and birding skills to work for you. Andy's dedicated to ensuring you will want to tour with Tico Tours™ again and again!
Vincent de Boer lives in Arnhem, The Netherlands. He has been an avid birder and guide for 20 years. Vince is especially keen on migratory birds. In the last 13 years he has developed his hobby into a great passion which has given him a chance to make a living in The Netherlands and other exciting locations. He has spent most of the last two years doing bird surveys in his homeland.
After finishing a bachelor degree in Nature Management in 2003, his passion for the birds lead Vince to Israel, South-Africa, and Costa Rica where he birded and participated in a variety of volunteer projects including the Northern Valleys Raptor Survey in Israel and a project on Black Harriers in South-Africa. In the winter of 2005-06 he had the great opportunity to experience being a bird guide at Rancho Naturalista in Costa Rica. Vince is dedicated, energetic, and has very keen eyes and ears. In addition to his native Dutch, Vince also speak fluent English and has a working knowledge of Spanish from his days a Rancho Naturalista. Vince will enhance any Tico Tours™ tour with his wit, charm, and enthusiasm.
William (Willy) Pérez,a native of Ecuador, has been working as a guide for Maquipucuna and Kapawi Lodge in Ecuador since 1998 and is one of the best and most sought after guides in Ecuador. Willy's great knowledge and passion for birds is unique
Nurlin Djuni, a native of Palu, is one of the most experienced guides in the Sulawesi area. Nurlin is available to meet birders in Palu, Torajaland, or Manado. From there he will guide you to any number of locations throughout Sulawesi. Nurlin has been making the visit of international travelers to Central Sulawesi more pleasant for a number of years, and with his ability in local languages and dialects, as well as English, and his huge smile, I am sure he will make your trip with Tico Tours™ more memorable too.
Andrés de la Torre , is a native of Quito, Ecuador, and has worked as a naturalist guide since his college days when he studied biology. He is well informed about his country's culture, history, and spectacular natural places, and loves sharing his knowledge with our guests. Andrés has guiding experience in the rainforest, highlands, and the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador, and when not guiding, enjoys mountain biking, running, and climbing. One of the most experienced guides in Ecuador, Andrés is a trilingual naturalist guide who speaks English, French and Spanish fluently. He has a tremendous enthusiasm, excellent knowledge of Ecuadorian History and good knowledge in birdwatching
Fabrice Schmitt hails from France though he currently resides in Santiago, Chile. He has travelled extensively throughout South America, Europe, Middle East, northern Africa, and India. Fabrice has travelled and birded in most of Europe and knows most every european bird species by voice. He is also well versed in european mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. However,he says "the places I know the best are the high Andes, from Ecuador to southern Argentina and Chile,and the cloud forest east of the Andes (from 1000m to 3000m), from central Peru to Argentina".
In addition to his mother tongue, Francais, Fabrice also speaks English and Spanish. Couple his language skills with his 20 years of birding experience (Life List of over 2600 species), his 10 year "love affair" with neotropic birds ( 1700 species of birds seen in Central and South America ) and all one can say is "Viva La France!" Tico Tours™ is lucky to have Fabrice.
Andrew v. F. Block is a consulting naturalist who resides in Bronxville, New York. He graduated with honors from the State University of New York at Cobleskill with a degree in Wildlife Management. All his life, Andrew has been interested in anything that is wild from plants to animals. Being mostly self taught he has become a knowledgable and enthusiastic student of nature. Andrew specializes in ornithology, herpetology and mammalogy, but is knowledgable in entomology and botany too.
An avid and skilled birder, he's been observing and studying birds for over 30 years. He has travelled extensively in the US, Costa Rica, Japan, Trinidad & Tobago, Ecuador, Kenya, Tanzania as well as some of Europe as a participant, co-leader and leader. Andrew is indefatigable, enthusiastic and great at finding and identifying birds.
Personable and enthusiastic, Andrew is an excellent guide, companion, teacher, and leader in the field. Tico Tours™ is excited to have Andrew as a leader and we are sure you will be excited to have him as a leader too.
