| Our team is united by passion for Latin America. Based in Costa Rica, and combining Europeans and Latins, we harness the best of the old and new worlds: order, imagination, knowledge, and an insatiable zeal for excellent and consistent service. |
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Paul Cardwell / British / ceo | |
| Until recently the proverbial rolling ball, thanks to a Royal Air Force father who passed on his love of travel. Ecuador, France, South Africa, Togo, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Papua New Guinea: the list of homes was becoming excessive. But 15 years ago Costa Rica’s beauty, and its ready access to Latin America, spelt an end to these migrations. Soon after Paul left the world of development finance for the travel industry, and now delights in travelling around Latin America for ‘work’. Passions include Latin American art, history and literature, trekking and mountain biking, windsurfing, squash, chess, photography, technology and El Dorado. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Paul has degrees in engineering (Imperial College), economics (Cambridge), and an MBA (Insead), but these fortunately prove no obstacle for serious travel….. | |
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Elisabeth Kubiena / Austrian / general manager |
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| After several years as sales manager with Bayer, Elisabeth moved first to Ecuador and then to Costa Rica. The travel bug, another kind of drug, had struck! Now she combines work in travel with her love for Latin America, seeing new countries, places and people. Elisabeth’s passion for travel extends especially to the jungle and wildlife sighting. If she could just leave the family and six dogs, she would have disappeared to an Amazonian backwater many moons ago. She also tries to satisfy her lifetime love for horse riding as much as possible. Beside that, classical music like Mozart and Schubert play an important role but modern rock such as good old Cream and Jethro Tull are definitely not neglected. As the best Latin American singer she recommends Julio Jaramillo, a legend. She studied veterinary medicine at Vienna University. | |
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Laura Montero/ Costa Rican / consultant | |
| We think Laura must have been a prime minister or bee or both in a previous life, given how incredibly efficient she is. With 17 years of experience under her slender belt in tour operators and hotel sales in Costa Rica, she has expanded with amazing enthusiasm and capability to cover Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Galapagos, and the Antarctic. She loves the urban life (watching TV, going to the movies, and dining out), but is also ready to face the unexpected out in the wild of Costa Rica and elsewhere in her Latin American patch. She adores being a mother (two children), and enjoys listening to classic 80s pop music and Chayanne (a Latin pop singer we now know well in the office). Laura studied tourism at the Autonomous University of Central America. | |
| Mauricio Guzman / Costa Rican / consultant |
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| Thanks to having lived in the United States for more than 20 years, we can’t help feeling at times that Mauricio is more American than Costa Rican. A complete bilingual, he knows the importance of managing detail and of the personal touch, and covers Costa Rica, Belize and Peru. He has worked in the tourism industry for over 12 years in the USA and Costa Rica. He’s gone by car frequently between the States and Costa Rica and has personally met most of the many potholes in Central America. He gets a kick out seeing different destinations, new places and meeting new people. Mauricio enjoys playing soccer with his son, fiddling around with his computer, and walking for exercise to keep fit. He studied Business Administration at Moorpark College, California. | |
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Sandra Benavides / Colombian / consultant | |
| Born in Colombia, Sandra has now lived in Costa Rica for many years - a true ‘colombotica’. She handles Costa Rica, Peru and Galapagos, and has over 10 years experience in tourism, having worked in hotels and tour operators. Sandra was also a guide for a while. She is fascinated by other cultures, soft adventure, horse-riding trips, and beaches. Otherwise she plays the guitar, and took violin classes for more than ten years at the Youth Symphonic Orchestra as a teenager until the pressures of study put a stop to them. She studied Hotel Management at Cartago Community College. | |
| Isidro Montero / Costa Rican / web magician |
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| Isidro plays a vital role in making machines work, keeping websites updated and modified, monitoring search engines, and personally battling viruses in mortal hand-to-hand combat. His interest in technology and inventions, especially the computer, keeps his combat enthusiasm high. He enjoys nature and cultural heritage, often heading out at weekends with the family to visit a volcano, beach or National Park. He has very fond memories of trips to Mexico and Colombia. His favorite hobbies are listening to all types of music, and is a big fan of robotics and science fiction. Favourite movie? ‘Star Wars’. And animated series like Evangelion, Mazinger Z. Like all ‘ticos’, he is mad about soccer, and collectibles such as soccer shirts from teams from Holland, Mexico, Colombia. We dread the rare days when his soccer team loses….. | |
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Guillermo Guerrero / Costa Rican / accountant | |
| Guillermo is a true alchemist, converting our myriad invoices and receipts that we understand into an organised but impenetrable set of accounting books. The task is gargantuan, requiring endless coffee. He has worked for about 20 years with North American companies as financial controller, and lived for several years in Connecticut and Arkansas. He enjoys travelling, has been to most Central American countries and Colombia, and plots trips to Oriental countries when he is not making souvenirs, painting pictures, doing 10 km runs, listening to music (Chopin, Tchaikowski, and romantic boleros and pasodobles), or reading Víctor Hugo. He also likes swiming, baseball (Dodgers), basketball(Lakers) and soccer. He keenly waits the arrival of his first grandson. Guillermo is an accountant and auditor. | |
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Kendell Calderon / Costa Rican / systems guru |
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| When all fails and yet another vital piece of data reached out and somehow clicked the delete button when nobody was looking, Kendell rides to the rescue. He is our systems expert, happily going where nobody has gone before nor wants to go. His experience spans 15 years as computer technician, covering many operating systems and different microprocessors. Married with two children, he loves spending time with the family on the beach. His preferred sports are tennis, squash and mountain biking. So if you have any problem with your computer while in Costa Rica, he may be able to help you! | | |
