Our Guides

Excellence in guiding is our goal. The lodge has a capacity for 10 guests, so during the busier seasons we have more than one guide available so we can give everyone the attention they deserve. We try to customize all our guiding to fit the interests of our guests so we do NOT have a standardized program. We try to keep groups to 5 or less participants and attempt to give all our guests some private guiding time if they desire it.

All our guides are highly qualified, experienced and have spent many hours in the immediate local area learning the the habits of the wildlife of Rio Tigre forests.

Abraham Gallo

Abraham, who has been walking the mountain trails of this peninsula for over 40 years, loves to share his accumulated knowledge of the trees, plants, birds, reptiles, frogs and mammals of the rainforest. His passion for birding and naturalist study started seriously, when he first met Liz, in 1996 and saw his first field guides. Within several years, he quickly became the foremost bird guide on the peninsula. Although, undeniably, his greatest expertise is birding, he also has enthusiasm and strong skills in amphibian identification, medicinal plants, tree identification and a well rounded understanding of general local ecology. He never tires of watching and observing all the activity surrounding the lodge.

In recent years Abraham and Liz have worked on an ongoing study of the Ecology and Distribution of the endemic birds of the Osa Peninsula, supported by Friends of the Osa, partnering with American Birding Conservancy. He won an Evergreen Grant for his work in 2008. In August 2009 he was co-author on a paper "Nest description of the Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager" that was published in the Wilson's Journal of Ornithology. Abraham and Liz, with Dan Lebbin, are currently working on a paper covering our work on the Yellow-billed Cotinga.

Abraham is working throughout the year

Stephan Lorenz

Over the past years Stephan Lorenz has traveled and birded extensively throughout North America, from the Darien to Bering Sea Islands, across New Foundland, south to Jamaica, and west to Baja. He gained experience with the majority of bird species found in Central America through numerous trips to Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama. Within the last two years he has been a naturalist guide for St. Paul Island Tours, Alaska, and Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge, Costa Rica. Before leading bird groups he worked on several research projects, including studies with the Smithsonian Institute, Max Planck Institute, Indiana State University, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His interests in birds and natural history led him to pursue a biology degree at the University of Houston and a Masters of Science at the University of Texas. His own research has focused on habitat selection and landscape ecology. He has published several papers on bird distribution and natural history and contributed to Birdwatcher`s Digest and Birder`s World. He is well versed in general tropical ecology and very familiar with the avifauna of the Osa Peninsula. His knowledge and enthusiasm about sharing the sights and sounds of the peninsula's diverse bird life makes for an enjoyable day in the field.

Stephan, back for his second season, will be guiding for Bosque del Rio Tigre from late December 2009 through late March, 2010

Liz Jones

Liz Jones was introduced to biology and birding by her mother at an early age, while living in Southern New Jersey near the Pine Barrens. She developed a passion for forests that never diminished through out her adult life, although study and birding were put on the back burner for many years of adulthood. In 1993, a spontaneous trip to Costa Rica re-ignited her interest in wildlife and birding and the strong pull of the forests lead her to the Peninsula de Osa and Dos Brazos.

She met Abraham in 1996 after purchasing property in Dos Brazos, her favored birding site. Together they got serious about studying the local ecology. Although Liz has traveled a bit in much of Costa Rica, her strengths are in the local flora and fauna. She studies most fields of natural history, but birding is her favorite pastime and occupation. A bibliophile, she loves to use the extensive natural history reference library she has created at the lodge. Other interests include local sociology, history and conservation.

For the first 7 years the lodge was open Liz did much of the guiding but, due to the overload of lodge management work in recent years, she rarely guides in the field. She still fills in occasionally guiding guests that need special attention due to health issues and helps guests around the lodge with spotting and identification.

Together with Abraham, she works on the endemic bird studies project, local natural history education and local conservation projects.

Liz is always around the lodge throughout the year.

Ulises Quintero

Ulises is a nephew of Abraham's and started working with Bosque del Rio Tigre sometime around the year 1999, when we started training him in guiding and birding. He speaks excellent English, is extremely talented in all fields of natural history and is an accomplished birder. Unfortunately he no longer works with us on a permanent basis but he does help out on some of his days off from the lodge where he currently works.

He volunteers time and helps with field work on the endemic bird studies project.