S3 E5: Claudia Diaz, Wild About Colombia

We are joined by Claudia Diaz, from Wild About Colombia, at her home in Bogota.

Claudia and Robin Smith founded Wild About Colombia in 2017 and the company quickly developed a reputation for high quality and adventurous mammalwatching trips.

Claudia talks about a career which has taken her from marine biology in Mexico’s Gulf of California back to her native Colombia, via studying conservation in the UK. She describes her passion for involving local communities in ecotourism and runs through some of the particular difficulties she and Rob faced in bringing not just ecotourism, but mammal tourism, to a country emerging from 60 years of conflict. From navigating travel insurance company red zones to trying to persuade birding guides that some clients prefer to walk past megabirds (some clients like Jon for example), she describes a challenging but rewarding journey through an extraordinary country.

There are several trip reports featuring Wild About Colombia on mammalwatching.com including reports from Jane Kempler, Venkat Sankar and Jon.

Charles talked about a New York Times article on freeze dried bats which is here (though it is behind a firewall).

Cover art: Claudia Diaz.