Robin Smith

Annual family holidays to the Isles of Scilly, along with an insatiable appetite for wildlife documentaries fuelled Rob’s early passion for the natural world. In his early adult years Asia proved a huge draw (before and after studies in Environmental Science), with several years spent teaching English in Himalayan locations of both Nepal and India, and at every available opportunity, searching out the region’s wildlife. Back in 2013 Rob joined the Naturetrek team, having previously spent 5 years working at Asia-centric travel companies. During his time here he launched and managed the tailor-made division, which he quickly turned into a great success, sending our private clients all over the world in search of wildlife. Over the years Rob has travelled and led tours to many wonderful destinations, with highlights including birding the vast Mongolian Steppe, cruising the Galapagos Islands, scuba diving in Raja Ampat (while bagging the rare Red Bird-of-paradise!), birding and mammaling throughout Amazonia, rainforest expeditions in Sumatra, tracking African Wild Dogs in Botswana, snorkelling with Basking Sharks off Land’s End, and many others. In 2017 Rob moved to Colombia to start a local birding and wildlife operation. Since then he has developed, and often leads, several of Naturetrek’s tours there, including an endemic birding fest in Colombia’s spectacular Magdalena Valley, as well as a mixed-focused birding and cultural tour. He has also pioneered tours which go in search of Colombia’s rare and endemic primates, as well as other elusive mammals including Giant Armadillo, Mountain Tapir and Spectacled Bear. When not out leading Rob enjoys wildlife photography, visiting unexplored corners of Colombia (while adding new species to his impressive Colombia bird and mammal lists), running and watching test match cricket.