Costa Rica - Guides

Ultimate Wildlife Eco-Tour

Your guide is your gateway to the world of the rainforest; you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll learn things.
Wild Planet Adventures' guides are naturalists, biologists or leaders in their field. As wildlife specialists, we know that your guide is the difference between a good trip and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Our guides have been specially chosen both for their personality and interpersonal skills as well as their extensive naturalist knowledge and exceptional abilities to spot wildlife.

Legendary Master Guide Koky Porras

Koky Porras

The legendary master naturalist Koky Porras is our Head Guide in Costa Rica. Koky's amazing ability to accurately call birds to him has made him the "guide of choice" for scientists researching Monteverde's famous quetzals and bellbirds. Koky has also helped to train many of Monteverde's world-class guides. The cloudforest where Koky has lived his whole life is widely known as the hardest place to guide in all of Costa Rica. Here it requires extremely sharp eyes to spot wildlife because the foliage is more dense than anywhere else in the country. In addition, many species have slight differences in their appearance with as little as 150 meters of elevation change, so it requires an enormous amount of experience to identify birds and wildlife instantaneously. Koky's fascination with the symbiotic relationships in nature is as contageous as his love of laughter.

Rayner Araya

Biologist & Naturalist Guide

I grew up in the forest where I spent my time exploring and discovering nature, playing with poison dart frogs, ants, butterflies, beetles and many other jewels, soon I became fascinated about natural history and science. Since very early in life I Knew I wanted to spend my time doing something that involved nature.
I think I was very lucky because I happened to be in one of the hotspots for biodiversity and international conservation efforts, this combined with the educated and friendly Costa Rican people make a suitable destination for travelers from all over the world.
As a Naturalist Guide I get to share my passion for wildlife and conservation and I get to explore many different ecosystems constantly in my trips.
I went to school for Tourism and Biology, I think this makes a great combination to work in the always growing tourism industry. Before working as a Naturalist Guide I worked for OTS, a worldwide known organization dedicated to Tropical Biology Research which is featured in Wild Planet Adventures' Ultimate Wildlife eco-tour. It was here that I met Josh Cohen and began guiding for Wild Planet Adventures.

I love traveling and travelers, I truly believe that by traveling and being exposed to different cultures, languages and life styles we become more tolerant, we learn to accept our differences and that can only make the world a better place!

Josh Cohen with Jack Hanna

Josh Cohen

Wild Planet's director, Josh personally hand-crafts all of Wild Planet's itineraries to reflect his own love of wildlife and the transformational power of nature. The Costa Rica Ultimate Wildlife itineraries remain his favorite after guiding them for nearly a decade. A dedicated wildlife enthusiast and conservationist, his keen eyes and love of nature still make him Wild Planet's most requested guide.

Trip Finder | About Us | Why Us | About Eco-Tourism | Call 1-800-990-4376