Leo Garrigues

Leo (Leonardo) lives in Guadalupe in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, with his partner Karol.

A birder since the age of six, Leo has been accumulating natural history experience all his life. After studying Biology and Forest Engineering at the National University in Costa Rica, Leo has been guiding birding and natural history tours for many years. Thanks to the influence of his father Richard Garrigues (author of Birds of Costa Rica), he became interested in birding from a young age, and as his brothers and sister are also birders, he grew up in a birdwatching family. Being out in the field searching for birds has been his main interest in life for a very long time.

Leo has an extraordinary knowledge of the birds of Costa Rica and how to find them for his group members. His dogged determination to track down difficult specialities is remarkable, so our Birdquest groups could have no better guide in this wonderful birding country.

Leo also has extensive knowledge of the birds and birding areas of Mexico, the rest of Central America from Panama northwards, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

Leo has worked as a local guide in several famous birding lodges including Rancho Naturalista in Costa Rica, Wild Sumaco and Tandayapa in Ecuador and Cristalino Jungle Lodge in Alta Floresta in Brazil. He has travelled in many different regions of the Andes in search of birds, including numerous endemics and other specialities that inhabit remote and difficult corners of this majestic mountain range. Visiting remote areas has always been a major interest for Leo, and that has encouraged him to travel to areas like Cerro Pirre in the highlands of Darien in Panama and the Sucunduri River deep in the Brazilian Amazon.

When he is not guiding or birding for his own pleasure, it is very likely that Leo will be studying ornithological topics, unless of course there is a good football match on the TV featuring one of his favourite teams, Barcelona and Deportivo Saprissa!