Meet Your Naturalist Guides

Carlos Vazquez

Carlos was born in the city of Quepos, on the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. His love of the outdoors was transmitted to him by his parents. Some of his earliest childhood memories are of looking for crab and shrimp the forests of Mangrove forests of Quepos and then back at home, his mother's delicious soup.

Carlos' father was a truck driver and for a time Carlos thought he wanted to follow in his footsteps. He then thought of becoming a doctor, but finally as an adult he realized that his true passion is conservation. Although Carlos does not have a formal degree, he has 18 years of experience as a Naturalist Guide and countless hours in the forests of Costa Rica. After his family his love is nature and conservation.

Guiding has given Carlos the opportunity to get to know guests from all over the world and all walks of life. Not only does he enjoy interpreting the forest, tracking creatures and explaining he environmental phenomena that the world faces today, he also likes to hear of guests lives in other parts of the world and learn about what they are interested in, what they do and what made them decide to visit Monteverde.

When he's not delighting guests on the trails of Monteverde, Carlos enjoys playing soccer and spending time with his wife Martha and their baby girl Jimena.

Elier Zuñiga

Born on May 10th 1979, in the city of Puntarenas, Elier is one of four brothers and sisters.

As a little boy, it was his dream to work outdoors, he was sure that he didn't want to work in an office. Elier was one of those boys that his mother asked to empty his pockets at the back door because she knew that insects, reptiles and seeds were sure to be stashed there. He didn't walk around whistling, he walked around imitating bird calls.

After graduating from the Universidad Estatal de Puntarenas, Elier was an exchange student in Ellensburg, Washington. Here he had the opportunity to polish his English while working at a ski resort, he says this made a tremendous difference in his understanding of guests and greatly improved his English.

Elier has been guiding for 9 years and specifically for Monteverde Lodge for 7 years, his special passion is tracking a specific species his guests want to see, but he loves the forest and its plants and creatures in general. His biggest thrill while roaming the forests of the Santa Elena Reserve was finding an jaguarundi with guests, an extremely rare sighting.

When he's not interpreting the Cloud Forest, Elier enjoys playing soccer, swimming and spending time with his wife Alicia and his children Christian and Kendra.

Samuel Arguedas

Born in the port city of Puntarenas on September 25, 1968, Samuel grew up in the Monteverde region. He is the last of 14 brothers and sisters.

Samuel's is a descendant of one of the oldest Monteverde Families. His father, Don Felipe, was a farmer and grew beans and vegetables and then he sold them to a Chinese Restaurant in the Las Juntas de Abangares. At that time, the trip from Monteverde to Las Juntas took 3 days.

Samuel's mother, Doña Adelaida, stayed at home and took care of the family, cooking, washing, milking their 3 cows, making sour cream and cheese and cleaning. She did this with the help of his sisters. Sometimes, Don Felipe took longer than expected returning to Monteverde after selling their produce and Doña Adelaida would have to hunt for food. The Paca was the favorite animal to hunt because of its soft and tasty meat.

When Samuel was growing up it was unusual for kids to go to school given the need for hands in the field. In spite of this, Samuel completed 9th grade in high school which is a testament to his and his parent's dedication.

As a child, Samuel wanted to be a Traffic Officer but today he says he's really grateful that his dream never came true. In 1991 he did a field course with the Monteverde Reserve and fell in love with conservation. Today, Samuel has 18 years of experience in the field dedicating his days and nights to exploring the Santa Elena and Monteverde Reserves with guests, he believes that the outdoors is the best class room of all.

When he's not setting up the spotting scope for guests or calling a tiny bird out of the forest by imitating its call, Samuel enjoys spending time with his wife, Yorleny and his kids Jeffrey, Angelica and Anthony.