The British Isles - A 40th Anniversary Cruise

Paul graduated in Environmental Science in 1995 and joined the Naturetrek team in January 1996. His keen interests in birds and travel began when aged seven and the intervening years have taken him to many parts of the world. Paul has always had a particular interest in North American wildlife, a fascination which led him to spend the second year of his degree course studying at Western Washington University near Seattle, where he developed a detailed knowledge of the Pacific North-west and its birds. He has also travelled widely in Europe and Africa, and spent three months backpacking around South East Asia from Borneo to Thailand. At present, Paul lives in Petersfield, Hampshire, only 30 minutes from the Naturetrek office in Chawton where he is based.

Tom has been fascinated by wildlife since childhood and it was at primary school that he set about learning all the British bird species and has been enjoying finding, watching and learning about them ever since. After completing a degree in Biology at Exeter University, Tom travelled extensively around the world in search of wildlife which included a lot of SCUBA diving and special encounters with Whale Sharks, Bull Sharks, Manta Rays and too many birds and mammals to mention!

After working for an environmental charity and at the fantastic WWT Slimbridge reserve as grounds warden, Tom was delighted to join the Naturetrek operations team in March 2013. Since then Tom has enjoyed leading over 50 tours around the world, while also managing the operations of a range of holidays. Whether it is finding Hawfinch in the Forest of Dean, Wallcreepers in the Pyrenees or searching for Jaguars in the Pantanal, any time spent in the field, finding and showing people wildlife is regarded as a real privilege and thrill. The tours Tom has led and manage are varied and range from weekends to the Forest of Dean and Somerset Levels to the wilds of Ardnamurchan in Scotland along with various birding and butterfly focussed European tours in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Albania and Macedonia with dedicated mammal-watching tours in Poland, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden. Big Cats are also a passion and Tom has spent time in the Brazilian Pantanal searching for Jaguars, India tracking Tigers, Chile for Pumas and Borneo in search of Clouded Leopard as well as exploring Guyana’s fabulous rainforests.

In Tom’s spare time he is happiest out in the field on his local patches around the Cotswolds in his home county of Gloucestershire. Tom is lucky to have an area of land he manages as a small nature reserve and a lot of Tom’s time is now spent trying to inspire his children Max and Harry to enjoy the outdoors and our wildlife.

Sara works full time in Naturetrek's busy office as the Website and Marketing Manager. However, by training, she is a Zoologist, graduating from Newcastle University where she was also the president of the university's Zoological Society. Prior to working at Naturetrek she lived and worked in British Columbia, Canada, as a wildlife rehabilitator caring for Black Bears, Coyotes, River 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, howling with wolves 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, finding Minke Whales, Otters, dolphins and eagles for her guests on a daily basis! She also spent her summers as the Senior Wildlife Officer on a ship in the North Sea, collecting sightings data on whales and dolphins, and delivering marine biology lectures to guests.

Always keen to be involved with media, Sara has presented on both live radio and TV, has had her writing and photos published in multiple wildlife and travel magazines and has worked as a guide for Ray Mears and TV film crews for several natural history documentaries. A keen cetacean spotter, Sara specialises in leading Naturetrek's cruises in the Hebrides, Indonesia, the Maldives, Baja California and Arctic, as well as our holidays in the Azores.