Gustavo Abarca

Gustavo was born in San Jose as the youngest of three children and now lives with his wife Jenny in San Rafael, Alajuela. Once he finished high school, he became interested in sciences and languages and enrolled at The University of Costa Rica, where he studied Basic Studies of Biosciences and Modern Languages. During this time Gustavo became fluent in both English and Italian.

His working experience started at age 10 when he was a host of a television program for children. During this time, he also harvested coffee in a small rural town during school vacations. His first travels abroad to The United States, Italy and Holland taught him the importance of being conscious of other cultures. This awareness is what led him to want to educate people about his own culture and therefore, into the field of Eco-Tourism. He started working as a guide in 1992, because he wanted to be closer to nature as well as to the Costa Rican people. This career shift, as well as his travels to British Virgin Islands Canada, Ecuador, Europe, Egypt, Mexico's Baja California, Panama and Nicaragua has made him aware of the importance of nature, its conservation and the world's cultural heritage.

In the last decade, Gustavo has coordinated environmental study programs for a Texas-based university. His deep knowledge about Eco-Tourism and Costa Rica's nature has given him the opportunity to give talks in different parts of the continent. Specially as a guest speaker in Boulder, Colorado; Fort Worth, Texas and the bird festival at Vina del Mar, Chile in 2010.