Andy cut his birding teeth in the YOC in primary school and later on coach trips run by his local RSPB group. Growing up with a love of mountains, sport, wildlife and adventure, he completed the Land’s End to John O’Groats bike ride at 16 and went on to study Aquatic Biology at Aberystwyth. This led to work in fisheries consultancy for a year after graduation and then travel to south-east Peru (Tambopata) in 1996 to work as a guide in the Amazon rainforest. He followed this with a year in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Between guiding commitments, he took the opportunity to travel around the continent, studying the birds, wildlife, culture and Spanish language. He joined Naturetrek in 1998, initially to combine tour leading with work in our Operations Department. Nowadays, as General Manager, Andy remains heavily involved in product development and tour operations and still manages to lead the odd tour occasionally. However he’s equally likely to be found analysing customer feedback, strategising, and grappling with industry issues, HR and online marketing. Away from the world of wildlife travel, Andy has exchanged his football boots for running trainers, remains a keen but occasional cricketer, and is a lifelong supporter of Watford FC.

David, the company’s managing director, began Naturetrek in 1986 with his wife, Maryanne. Although trained as a solicitor, David has always loved travel, mountains and wildlife. He has a wealth of experience in Europe, Australasia and Africa, and still more in India and the Himalayan countries, plus an extensive knowledge of their natural history. For two years he trekked independently through every region of the Himalaya, studying and photographing its wildlife. Since then he has written articles, contributed to books, and led and organised many treks there and in Africa. Other travels have taken him throughout South-east Asia and the Middle East. His interests focus on birds and mammals, and the history and culture of the Himalaya. He is also passionate about cricket, and has been a chairman, player (with his sons), supporter and Colts coach-manager at the Southern League club, Hambledon CC – the ‘Cradle of Cricket’. David lives nearby in a quiet corner of Hampshire, together with Maryanne and their sons, Thomas and Oliver.

Maryanne is a zoologist from Perth, Western Australia, who co-founded Naturetrek in 1986 with her English husband, David. Prior to her overseas travels she worked as an ecological consultant surveying the wildlife in some of the remote parts of Australia, including the Great Sandy Desert, Barrier Reef and central Australia. A keen walker, she has undertaken several extended backpacking expeditions through the wilderness regions of Tasmania and northern Australia, and was a member of the 1988 Royal Geographical Society's expedition to the remote Kimberley in north-western Australia where she studied the mammals. A keen photographer and writer, she has published articles in a number of walking and natural history magazines. Today, Maryanne, a director of Naturetrek, acts as the company’s responsible tourism officer. Like David and their sons, she is a keen cricket follower, supporting Hampshire, Australia, and Western Australia for whom her father played when she was growing up.

Katryn trained to join the Merchant Navy as a Radio Officer, but with the decline of the British shipping industry, globe-trotting was not on the cards so she went to work as an engineer for the BBC, travelling widely in England and Wales. After a little bit of self-reinvention she gained a maths degree from Reading University, and after bringing up her children entered the world of accounting, looking after a number of small businesses, before coming to NT. Katryn has a keen interest in wildlife, especially in plants as “they don’t move when you look at the book”. Katryn was involved for many years with her local woodland conservation group, undertaking activities such as coppicing, hedge laying, flora, mammal and bird surveys, charcoal burning and putting on moth and bat evenings. She lives in Hampshire with her family and enjoys bell ringing and gardening.

Gini came to work for Naturetrek in November 1997 after spending two years in the Falkland Islands where she was employed by the Falkland Islands Tourist Board. Apart from arranging tours of the Islands, including those for Naturetrek, much of her time was spent exploring with her twin daughters who were also fascinated by the abundance of wildlife there. They would spend countless hours watching the penguins’ antics, from the hilarious but cross-looking Rockhoppers to the aloof Kings who tried desperately to keep their chicks from playing with her daughters! Although Gini is now completely office bound, it doesn’t stop her dreaming of all the wonderful places we can send you to. Gini is the manager of our very busy reservations department which deals with all the bookings we receive and makes sure you receive all of the pre-departure information for your holiday! She also takes care of any of your insurance queries.

Simon has had a keen interest in wildlife and the outdoor life since childhood. This led him to study for a degree in Zoology with Marine Zoology at the University of Wales in Bangor, a base from which he spent a great deal of time walking in the stunning surroundings of Snowdonia. After graduating, Simon spent five months in Colorado working on a project to record the breeding success of Peregrine Falcons in river canyons ... a study that involved ample opportunities for intrepid river-rafting expeditions in search of his quarry! A summer spent carrying out ecological surveys all over England was followed by a range of projects overseas. Amongst the latter, Simon helped to start up a radio-tracking project in Hungary to monitor breeding Barn Owls for the Hungarian Barn Owl Foundation. He also spent time in Mexico, where he worked as a field assistant helping to collect data for a PhD project. This involved him spending his days in a canoe amongst the mangroves recording the behaviour and feeding ecology of Black Howler Monkeys (though at times it included learning the hard way what Howler Monkeys deposit from the tree-tops!). Both these projects gave Simon valuable field experience and, on returning to the UK, he worked at Marwell Wildlife before joining Naturetrek's busy Sales and Reservations team in 2013. Simon lives locally, has a passion for walking and photography, and an ambition to travel next to Africa in search of wildlife.

Annie still has strong memories from the Naturetrek holiday she took many years ago and these in themselves are a testimony to proving how passionate the team are about the experiences they share with our clients.  Her previous roles have always been within a service industry, her first at Harrods, the epitome of customer service. Her passion for the natural world, inspired by her primary school teacher who would stop lessons to make the class identify the first fieldfares or bring into the classroom an egg box full of stinkhorns (still an evocative smell today!) results in her family now exploring woodlands, beachcombing and even overwintering young hedgehogs. Annie has always enjoyed seeking out the wilder places, slightly off the tourist trail, from Alaska to Zambia and many countries in between.  Now her family travels are not yet as far flung, mainly Europe and the four corners of the UK.  However, she is always actively encouraging her children to have an interest in nature and to develop the patience required to gain maximum results, whether this be sitting watching hares locally or dolphins off Mull and of course hunting out stink horns!  

For nearly thirty years Lesley worked within the airline industry, during which she was fortunate to have been able to explore many parts of the world. Her exploits have included a Tuk Tuk challenge across Sri Lanka for the ‘Flying Start’ Comic Relief charity, travelling from Russia to China on the Trans-Siberian train and several safari trips in East Africa, all the while looking out for the local wildlife and savouring the greatly varied cultures. 

It was on a visit to the Galapagos Islands where she fell in love with the diverse wildlife, and a spark was ignited to become more involved in travel that was dedicated to wildlife, and to work for a company where sharing and helping to preserve these precious destinations was paramount.

Closer to home in Hampshire, she is a keen walker, especially of the UK’s coastline, and volunteers for the Basingstoke Canal Society, where she educates visitors about the canal wildlife.  

Whilst she has visited many places in the world, her wanderlust hasn’t been quenched, and she still thrives on continuing to explore far flung corners of the globe in search of fascinating culture and, of course, wonderful wildlife!

Paul was one of the first members of staff to join the Naturetrek team. He graduated in Environmental Biology from Plymouth University in the summer of 1995 and, after travelling in South East Asia for the rest of that year, joined Naturetrek in January 1996. He now works as operations manager and lives in the village of Greatham in the heart of the Hampshire South Downs with his wife Emma and two boys. Paul spends much of the year based in our Chawton office and looks after an ever-growing portfolio of Naturetrek holidays, ranging from a long weekend in the New Forest to three weeks in New Zealand. He is still let out occasionally, however, and leads a couple of tours a year. Paul's interest in birds developed at an early age and has since broadened into a love of all wildlife. He has travelled widely, having visited all seven continents, but still looks for any excuse to return to western Canada and the polar regions, his favourite destinations.

It would be hard to find someone with a more knowledgeable understanding of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma and Bhutan than Rajan. Born and raised in India as a member of one of Kashmir’s prominent families, he has excellent connections and uses them extensively to experience the full gamut of what the country has to offer. Rajan has travelled throughout India and the world, and has worked in the travel industry for the past 24 years, nine of which were based in India. His passion is logistics and complex itineraries which, through his intimate knowledge and in depth comprehension of the idiosyncrasies of the Indian subcontinent, he can ensure flow effortlessly. His vivacious and bubbly personality, as well as his profound understanding of the traveller’s requirements, are a major asset to the company. Rajan graduated in Business Studies and also has a diploma in Travel and Tourism from Delhi University. He has led many Naturetrek groups to India and always been lucky in seeing Tigers!

Tom has been fascinated by wildlife and the natural world since childhood. At primary school he learnt all the British bird species, and he’s been watching and enjoying them ever since! Trips to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge further fuelled his passion for birds and, when Tom’s family bought 10 acres of land, he created his very own nature reserve on it! After gaining a degree in Biology from Exeter University, Tom set off in search of some of the planet’s incredible wildlife, first travelling slowly around the world, and then returning to Australia. As well as seeing a wonderful variety of the world's birds on his travels, he also spent a lot of time beneath the surface of the ocean – scuba diving in Thailand, Australia and Fiji. Two of Tom's many highlights were getting close to mighty Bull Sharks and swimming alongside gigantic Whale Sharks. Since returning to the UK, Tom has worked in various schools running wildlife clubs and also worked at WWT Slimbridge. Tom joined Naturetrek in 2013 and now manages a diverse portfolio of tours to a wide variety of destinations including Brazil, Borneo, Guyana, Jamaica and several European countries, focusing primarily on birds and mammals. Tom has also now led over 40 holidays to 30 different destinations for Naturetrek, from spring birding trips to Spain, France, Portugal and Albania to dedicated mammal-watching tours in Poland, Finland and Sweden amongst other countries. The world’s ‘Big Cats’ are another of Tom’s passions and he regards time spent in the Brazilian Pantanal searching for Jaguars and India tracking Tigers as some of his most exciting recent wildlife adventures. In any spare time Tom is happiest out in the field working his local patches around the Cotswolds in his home county of Gloucestershire, and he enjoys sharing his passion for the natural world whenever possible.

A love of the outdoors began at an early age for Kerrie, when the school holidays were spent at her Swiss grandparents’ flat, walking (in summer) or sliding (in winter) through the mountains. Kerrie’s love of alpine flowers and mammals exists to this day, and her passion for wildlife and the environment led to a degree in Biology at Durham, followed by a Master’s in Sustainability. Degrees successfully gained, Kerrie took off for Madagascar where she spent three months working on a conservation project – chasing snakes, chameleons, butterflies, and lemurs through the forests (to identify them!), and eating enough beans and rice to last a lifetime. Kerrie joined Naturetrek in 2012, and now looks after a diverse portfolio of holidays to East and West Africa, Madagascar, numerous spring birding and botanical holidays around Europe, our collection of tropical cruises … plus a few other destinations, from Mexico and Monterey Bay to Mongolia! Kerrie lives just over the border in Surrey with her husband and young daughters, and ventures abroad to recce new destinations and lead our tours whenever she can.

David joined Naturetrek in 2016 and is our resident astronomy expert. His enthusiasm for astronomy started at an early age when he learnt the constellations by locating the planets, galaxies and nebulae with his telescope. As an undergraduate, reading Mathematics and Physics, he took courses in astrophysics and became chairman of the university’s Astronomical Society. For the past 15 years David has worked in the travel industry and, during that time, he has organised and led many astronomically themed tours. He has seen nine solar eclipses and spent many nights viewing the spectacular Northern Lights from northern Iceland – one of his favourite places. David has travelled to 70 countries on all seven continents, combining his love of wildlife and star-gazing; during a recent winter trip to Norway (looking for Orcas and Humpback Whales) he saw in the New Year with a spectacular Northern Lights display as a backdrop. David works in our busy Operations department, where he manages a portfolio of astronomical and wildlife tours to many destinations including those focusing on seeing the total solar eclipses in Antarctica in 2021, Indonesia in 2023 and Mexico in 2024.

Georgie has been captivated by wildlife and travel from a young age. As a teenager she was lucky enough to visit a number of wildlife hotspots including South Africa, Sri Lanka and the rainforests of Borneo. During her gap year she worked for a conservation project in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park monitoring elephant herd movements. She then spent some time in Australia before returning to the UK to study Zoology at the University of Southampton. After graduating, Georgie headed for South America where she worked for a conservation organisation in Peru’s Manu Biosphere Reserve. She then found Naturetrek and worked in our busy Reservations & Customer Support Department for a couple of years, before moving across to our Tailormade holidays team which she now manages. Georgie continues to enjoy wildlife travel in both her personal and professional life and most recently her travel adventures have taken her to such far flung countries as Rwanda, Zambia, Canada, Belize and back to Australia – a country that she has a particular passion for!

Sophie has been fascinated with wildlife since she was a young child, encouraged by her dad. At college she jumped at the opportunity of travelling to Belize, where she experienced rainforest and coral reef ecosystems. This sparked a strong interest in conservation and responsible wildlife travel, encouraging her to study for a degree in Environmental Science, first spending time working on the beautiful island of Fiji on a marine conservation programme. Sophie went on to study for a Masters in Biodiversity Conservation, leading to a seven year career in ecological research and consultancy.

Sophie has travelled extensively during her career, presenting her research at international ecology conferences in Europe, Utah and Australia, always taking the opportunity for some wildlife spotting along the way! She travels to some incredible wildlife destinations in her personal life, including the Masai Mara, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, the Florida Everglades, the rainforests of Borneo and the spectacular reefs of the Philippines, as well as undertaking a self-guided sea kayak adventure around the Swedish archipelago. In her free time Sophie works with a range of conservation groups, undertaking surveys and practical conservation, as well as delivering ecology training courses. She is at her happiest immersed in nature, sharing this enthusiasm with others, or planning her next trip! She joined our Tailormade team in the Autumn of 2019, and loves using her years of travel and wildlife expertise to create bespoke wildlife holidays all over the world for our guests.

Rhiannon has always been interested in wildlife and has spent her holidays traveling all over the British Isles - from the Outer Hebrides, to Land’s End and the south of Ireland, watching an abundance of birdlife, seals and dolphins and exploring vastly different habitats along the way. She has recently returned from The Bahamas, where she became particularly fond of sharks, Green Turtles, flamingos and hummingbirds!

After gaining a degree in Law at the University of Southampton, she took a gap year to return to her first passion, wildlife and conservation, and volunteered in Grenada, the Caribbean. Here, she trained as a diver and assisted with conservation efforts to protect the fragile coral reefs, including lionfish containment. She also helped protect nesting Leatherback Turtles by taking part in night patrols and collecting vital data on these magnificent creatures, as well as counting eggs, moving nests and deterring poachers.

She joined Naturetrek’s busy Operations team in March 2019, and is very excited to be working in the wildlife travel industry! After growing up in our neighbouring Georgian market town of Alton, her interests also include volunteering at the nearby Chawton House, which was previously owned by Jane Austen’s brother, Edward, and welcomes visitors to visit its library and gardens.

Alison grew up with a fascination of the natural world and enjoys exploring new places. During her zoology degree she spent her summers working on a variety of conservation projects, including 2 months studying hummingbirds in Ecuador and monitoring bats, tarsiers and coral reef systems in Indonesia. She has a bird ringing permit and is often up early on weekend mornings to mist net with a local group. Starting work for Naturetrek in 2015, she is now responsible for looking after a number of UK, Eastern Europe, Uganda and Papua New Guinea holidays, and also leads the occasional tour, such as Japan, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria and the UK. Some of her recent travel highlights include gorilla trekking in Uganda, finding owls in Sweden, photographing puffins on the Farne Islands and ‘dancing’ cranes in Hokkaido, visiting a brown bear hide in Romania, discovering stunning views in Montenegro and Uzbekistan, seeing Wallcreeper for the first time in Bulgaria, watching eagles and otters on Mull, as well as exploring parts of Papua New Guinea.

Dan is an experienced herpetologist and keen all-round naturalist. He enjoys birding and getting outdoors in Hampshire, especially in one of his favourite ‘patches’ near his home in the New Forest.

Dan has worked with reptiles and amphibians in many countries around the world and he is experienced at finding and documenting rare and endangered species. He first began searching for frogs and newts when he was a one year old! Since then, Dan has spent time working in wildlife conservation in the Caribbean, Mauritius and its islets, Bolivia, New Zealand and the British Channel Islands. His fascination with herpetofauna and passion for travel tie in well with his interest in macro photography, at which he is now extremely skilled! His photography has been published in books and magazines, including National Geographic.

In his role Dan manages our herpetology tours and assists with the operation of a wide variety of tours to Brazil, Europe and Asia, amongst other destinations.

Matt was first introduced into natural history by his father, who regularly took him to observe the badgers only a few miles from home in Seaford, East Sussex. At the age of seven, Matt then took a keen interest in birds, where regular weekend trips to famous RSPB reserves in the south-east were a common theme, and gave rise to a life-long interest in natural history.

Before the age of 30, Matt was proud to have landed on all seven continents, the last of these being Australasia, where a month-long trip to Papua New Guinea in 2019 just so happened to be one of Matt’s ornithological highlights to date – perhaps even surpassing laying eyes on seven species of penguin on an Antarctic adventure back in 2016.

Although birds are the main cause of Matt’s travelling, it is often the case that mammals and other wildlife steal the show. Superb, and at times, personal encounters with Africa’s big five are high on his list, and being bitten on the boot by a Fer-de-lance snake in the Guyanan rainforest was perhaps one of his most adrenaline-fuelled occasions. Travelling has taken Matt to some very remote regions in search of the globally threatened species. This has included searching for Hooded Grebes on a remote Patagonian plateau and venturing to the seldom-visited Huon Peninsular in Papua New Guinea for the Emperor Bird-of-paradise!

Having only joined Naturetrek in 2020, Matt has already led a tour to the Somerset Levels and completed a successful ‘recce’ trip to southern Nepal. Past tour leading has included private trips to several regions within Papua New Guinea, which isn't the easiest location in which to operate a holiday!

After studying Travel and Tourism at college, Hayley worked in insurance for 17 years. However, after having children she decided to return to her first passion – travel – and she joined our busy Reservations & Customer Support team in 2016. Hayley has visited many countries in Europe and, with friends and family in the USA, she visits the eastern seaboard regularly where she enjoys watching bears (Shenandoah National Park, Virginia), dolphins and other wildlife. A recent trip to the Maldives – where Hayley snorkelled with rays and saw a Black-tipped Reef Shark nursery – has ignited her interest in tropical destinations; the rainforests of Costa Rica and seeing Red Pandas in the wild are next on her wish list! At home in Hampshire, she enjoys walking on the South Downs and along local beaches, as well as family trips in her camper van.

Julie was born in West Sussex and brought up in a farming family. Her childhood was very much spent close to nature and wildlife. Since then most of her working life has been spent in the travel industry, with a break to raise her family. Julie loves the outdoor life and gardening is a particular passion. She has visited several European countries, and she particularly enjoys the floral and cultural aspects of a place when travelling. After many years spent living in the north of England, Julie moved back south to Hampshire and joined the Naturetrek team in 2005. She arranges the flights for a very wide range of tours, including all those to northern and eastern Europe, Africa, central and South America, parts of Asia and Australasia. 

Realising at school that Spanish was easier to learn than French, Barney went onto develop a great interest in all things Iberian and Latino, after a gap year in South America teaching English in Paraguay and travelling to its neighbouring countries, including a week in the wilds of the Pantanal. He went on to read Latin American Studies at the University of Essex, spending a year in the Yucatan Peninsula, where he discovered just how amazing Mexico is! With a background of working for specialist tour operators he has been fortunate enough to have travelled to places such as Chile & Easter Island, Guatemala & Belize, Egypt, Syria and Oman. However, the most amazing travel experience was in Namibia, searching for the bountiful and wonderfully preserved rock art and spending time in Etosha National Park, with a Black Rhino lumbering out of the bush right in front of the vehicle. Just as happy laid on a sunbed reading a crime thriller, as hurtling down the slopes on a snowboard, he’s keen to reinvigorate his interest in natural history at Naturetrek, having grown up with many a day spent at an RSPB reserve. He performs a variety of roles including Private Groups and industry compliance.

Inspired by the countryside of County Durham in which she grew up, natural history documentaries, and such authors as Jack London, Sara developed a passion for wildlife at a young age. She went on to study Zoology at Newcastle University, also becoming President of the university’s Zoological Society. After graduating, she worked in British Columbia, Canada, as a wildlife rehabilitator caring for bears, Coyotes, otters and Raccoons on a daily basis. When she wasn’t providing medical care to injured wildlife she could be found hiking in the mountains, photographing wildlife and avoiding bears (usually successfully). On her return to the UK she moved to the Scottish Hebrides, where she spent three years working at sea as a wildlife guide. She also spent her summers as the Senior Wildlife Officer on a mini-cruise ship in the North Sea, surveying whales and dolphins and delivering evening lectures to guests. Always keen to be involved with media, Sara has presented on both live radio and TV, is regularly published in wildlife magazines and has worked as a guide for Ray Mears and TV film crews for several natural history documentaries, as well as working on the BBC's 'The One Show'. She now manages Naturetrek's website and marketing and specialises in leading our cruises in the Maldives, Scotland, Azores and Indonesia. Outside of work and wildlife, she enjoys running, photography, writing and planning her next overseas adventure.