WILDLIFE TOURS, ENVIROMENTAL EDUCATION AND VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS!!!
My name is Karen Castillo Blanco and I would like to tell you how I end up being one of the few women who work as naturalist guides in the area of Manuel Antonio.
My family arrived in the Quepos area around 1940 looking for job opportunities at United Fruit Company. My mother remembers that my great-grandmother Josefa Soto had a Soda in the center of Quepos where the workers of the banana company eat and that my grandmother Carmen Blanco Soto made a living washing the workers' clothes. My dear mother Elvia Blanco Soto worked most of her life in hotels as a housekeeper or cook in resataurantes in the area and that way she provided us with food, shelter, education and her love for our family.
Currently, our family is made up of my mother, my four sisters and my brother Edwin Castillo who is now a Naturalist Guide, four nephews, three nieces and a niece granddaughter named Alaiia.
My first job was in the area of Manuel Antonio was at ten years old, I worked at the Lobster Restaurant next to the current Marlin Restaurant washing dishes on weekends with my mother.
I remember how amazing it was to take the bus at 5:00 am to go to work with my mother and how remote was the road to the public beach of Manuel Antonio.
My first visit to Manuel Antonio National Park was at 12 years old, on a trip that my sixth grade teacher did, it is one of the moments that I still have in my memory, I remember that the forest was so dense that I did not find the intersection to go to Manuel Antonio beach and we ended up walking the whole path of Punta Catedral to get to the beach.
When I finished my school I decided to take a basic accounting course, at school I liked math a lot and I found it very easy to take these classes. One day my teacher told me Karen I have a job for you, a Tourist Guide Association is looking for a person to help them with the collection of money.
At that time I worked at the Restaurante los Almendros in Manuel Antonio Beach as a waitress and decided to go to consult with the manager of the Association Mr. Miguel Gamboa in those years. I am honest I had many emotions when I took that step of consulting for work I was just 20 years old and did not have much experience in life.
Thanks to the opportunity that group of guides offered me in 2004, it was possible to organize the group of guides and coordinate the corresponding courses to obtain the Tourism Guide license granted by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute.
In this way I started as a naturalist guide on July 17, 2007 in a world full of information, training and passion. For me it is an honor to share and interpret the beauty of an area like Manuel Antonio with all the visitors that come to this place.
With almost fifteen years of work in tourism, my passion for the great biodiversity of Manuel Antonio National Park was the reason that allowed me to become a naturalist guide certified by the Costa Rican Tourism board.
The passion I feel for this National Park motivates me to participate in conservation projects, provide environmental education to schools and participate in volunteer programs.
My vision is to make Manuel Antonio known worldwide as one of the best tourist destinations in Costa Rica.
My mission is to raise awareness about the importance of the conservation of flora and fauna in the world, through a unique and unforgettable experience for each of the people who visit this jewel of the Central Pacific.
Currently, I am part of the Board of Directors of the Tour Guide Association Amigos del Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, an association that is responsible for organizing and training tour guides in the area of Manuel Antonio and the Board of Directors of the Regional Council of the Area of Central Pacific Conservation, council that makes the corresponding decisions on the conservation projects to be carried out in the national parks of the central pacific.
I can say that despite being a work dominated by men, I have managed to earn the admiration and respect of my colleagues in a world full of competition thanks to the respect and cooperation I have given to each of them.
My way of life is very simple God occupies the first place in my heart, my family the second and my work the third. My greatest motivation to help those who need it.
So, if you like my story and want to be part of it, it will be a pleasure for me to be your tour guide in Manuel Antonio National Park
Welcome to Manuel Antonio Pura vida!!!!
Kind regards,
Karen Castillo Blanco