Nature Travel Specialists

OUR GUIDES

Jonathon Munro lives on Warrigal, an area of regenerating and old rainforest he and his wife own near Ravenshoe, North Queensland. Jonathon is a superb guide with knowledge across a surprising range of disciplines. In addition to being able to identify mammals at night just by their eyeshine characteristics, Jonathon is an expert birder, and can create a complete rainforest birding list by ear alone. Since 1987 Jonathon has led over 3000 excursions into the highland rainforest to observe nocturnal wildlife, including Audubon societies and the BBC Natural History Unit, museum, universities and zoos. As well as Australia, Jonathan has traveled extensively to observe wildlife in Africa, Borneo, China, Mongolia, USA, Canada, the Arctic, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Polynesia and Europe. In addition he has worked as a biologist for the Australian Parks and Conservation Service and for organizations concerned with wildfowl and wetlands conservation and captive breeding programs for rare and endangered species.

Denise Goodfellow - well, here's what she has to say about herself: "Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow has had a career path 'like a mad dog's dinner,' ranging from music teacher and buffalo shooter to biologist, guide, lecturer, cross-cultural consultant, author, and illustrator. A member of the Kunwinjku peoples of NW Arnhem Land, she is the family snake-catcher and a dab hand at catching pigs with a castnet! She also mediates in times of family trouble. Lawungkurr, a name given to her by the clan matriarchs is the name of a long-dead but still highly honoured woman of her clan. In 2000 Denise was contracted to work as interpreter/transcriber on the Lonely Planet's Guide to Aboriginal Australia. Denise also lectures in environmental studies for the University of New South Wales' summer school." In between all this she became an excellent birder, painter (the one of the Hooded Parrot is hers) and contributor to the Gouldian Finch Recovery Plan. Finally, she has written the definitive book on the Birds of Australia's Top End, plus two others - Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End, and Quiet Snake Dreaming.

Alan Gillanders is a local Tablelander who grew up on western Cape York Peninsula. His interest in natural history has been life long. While earning his living as a teacher Alan lead botanical, geological and birding tours for various local, interstate and international interest groups and operators; he's now guiding full time. Alan has been a national park volunteer for a decade, leading many public activities including spotlighting tours. Alan's wealth of amusing stories stem from personal experience, illustrating his points about the plants and animals you see. Alan is our primary guide for custom day trips on the Atherton Tablelands, North Queensland, Australia.

Del Richards has been birding for over forty years, all over Australia, and lives at Julatten, North Queensland. He knows his "patch" intimately, and follows and logs bird activity on every tour, and just daily as he birds for fun. This knowledge allows Del to find target species for birders, as well as provide a comprehensive morning or full day's birding - over half of Australia's species have been recorded with 200km of his home.

Janine Duffy
What can we say? This is a lady who can recognize wild koalas by looking at their poop dried on the ground. We don't mean koala in general, we mean individuals. Takes great pride in a board with koala scats arranged and mounted tastefully on it. Also happens to be an excellent artist, naturalist, researcher and bushwoman. You can see Janine talking about koalas in this30-sec National Geographic Channel film clip.

Paul Hackett
Paul has been active in the Australian birding scene for many years both as an avid observer and keen wildlife photographer. He has a close association with the Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Team searching for these endangered birds on the Australian mainland and monitoring them at their breeding grounds in the wild south west of Tasmania. Special interests include migratory waders, raptors and birds of the mallee. Paul has also assisted in several research expeditions including a stint in the mallee successfully searching for Black-eared Miners and Red-lored Whistlers. He is a member of Birds Australia, Bird Observation and Conservation Australia and a past Secretary of Birds Australia (Victoria).

Paul has a wealth of experience and knowledge to offer birders as they search for the spectacular bird life of Australia.

Wally Prince
There are few guides in Guyana who can claim the degree of experience and expertise held by Waldyke ("Wally") Prince. He is one of the most sought-after guides for professional birders, documentary teams, and scientific expeditions visiting Guyana.

Wally served for seven years as the guide coordinator, resident wildlife biologist, chief trainer, and operations manager at Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development. An avid birder, Wally has visually identified more than 700 of the 800+ bird species recorded in Guyana and is intimately familiar with their habitats, behaviors, vocalizations, and mating rituals. He grew up wandering through Guyana's lush and biodiverse interior, and boasts unparalleled expertise on the country's fish, amphibian, reptile, insect, and floral populations.

Wally has worked with some of the true luminaries of rainforest conservation and bird population studies, such as Robert Ridgely, Angelo Caparrella and David Agro in the early 1990's, then later with Michael Braun, Mark Robbins Brian Schmidt, and Dr. Godfrey Bourne and his post-doc students working at the CEIBA Biological Research Station. He has led or participated in scientific expeditions to the top of Mount Ayanganna, the remote Wai-Wai village of Gunns /Masakanari, the Acari Mountains, coastal Shell Beach wetlands, the savannahs and lakes of Berbice and Rupununi and the forest and waterways of the Mazaruni, Potaro, Paruni, Waini and Baramita rivers.

Wally was a participant in the Smithsonian Institution's Man & Biosphere Biodiversity Internship in Washington DC. and is a member of the American Society of Ichthyology and Herpetology. He attended the American Birding Association Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, the first Bird Banding Workshop for the Caribbean at the William Beebe Research Centre in Trindiad & Tobago, and recently represented Guyana at the British Bird Fair at Rutland Waters. He is a co-author on several publications on mammal behavior and has been interviewed by National Geographic Magazine and the Discovery Channel.

Wally reports that one of his greatest accomplishments was establishing the Wildlife Club in 14 of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) communities. He still volunteers his time and continues to mentor the youth participating in wildlife clubs.

Although Wally is known for his deep knowledge about Guyana's botany and wildlife, he is an avid student of Guyana's history and cultural heritage as well... from time to time visitors are fortunate to find Wally leading a particularly lively and rich Georgetown city tour.