I am thrilled to report that the first EcoTripMatch.com “Best Nature Tour Guide” has been selected through a successful global vote! Nominees were narrowed down by a team of very knowledgable judges, to a group of five finalists and then put up for a global, online vote. Over 700 votes poured in from 331 cities around the world. The finalists are not only inspirational, but after seeing the votes come in everyday and every night for two weeks, it is clear these guides have fans!
The winner of the award goes to:
Carlos Armando Rosero from Bogota, Colombia
Congratulations to Carlos!
Here is the description of Carlos, in the words of his nominator:
“Not only is Carlos an outstanding mountain guide with all the certifications available from the Colombian National Training Institute and an expert carpenter (he made a marvelous wooden plane for my child), but Carlos runs outdoor education programs nationally and internationally for a national non-governmental organization that specializes in outdoor and environmental education (www.opepa.org), manages the logistics for scientific expeditions for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (www.stri.si.edu), as well as runs interpretive trainings as the country representative of the PUP Global Heritage Consortium (www.pupconsortium.net). As our country representative, in fact, he is specializing in one of our most advanced interpretive tools, the facilitation of community-based interpretive frameworks. This involves not only facilitating community workshops, but helping them write interpretive themes about their heritage, identify universal processes that created and continue to shape the heritage, and identify a site’s essence. This is not easy work. While at one moment he gives a presentation to the director of Colombian National Parks, Julia Miranda, the next moment he is on the distant Pacific coast of Tribuga, where he works with partially-literate local guides. Instead of giving them a model written format as we use in other countries, Carlos created a new approach. Since they all have cell phones, he recorded a model tour in audio format which the locals found much more engaging than a written format. I’ve never seen or heard of this done anywhere else.
He has evolved from an extraordinarily well-rounded guide to a well-connected mover and promoter of interpretation, education, outdoor safety, and community development throughout Colombia. On top of that, he’s one of the sweetest guys I know and have the pleasure of working with.”
Terry Lawson Dunn, Founder
EcoTripMatch.com