After graduating with a biology degree from the University of Exeter in 2013, I took advantage of a unique opportunity to work as the assistant manager of an ecolodge in Belize, before returning to the UK and joining Audley as a Latin America specialist in 2015.
Over the last decade, I’ve travelled extensively in Central and South America, exploring all 20 countries through a mixture of Audley research trips and independent backpacking trips, experiencing spectacular hikes, colonial architecture, paradisiacal beaches, flavourful cuisine, and charismatic wildlife.
Away from work, I enjoy playing football, running, playing piano and improving my Spanish.
Start planning your tailor-made trip with Tomas
-
01993 838 92501993 838 638
- Make an enquiry
Q&A with Tomas
What’s the best local dish you’ve tasted?
A Belizean dish that really blew me away is rice and beans with fried snapper. Although this may sound a bit basic, in reality it’s truly fantastic, with fluffy white rice cooked in coconut milk, kidney beans flavoured with coriander, freshly caught snapper seasoned with garlic, a generous helping of Marie Sharp’s habanero pepper sauce, and a couple of thin slices of caramelised plantain. The perfect accompaniment to this typical dish is the Belizean national beer, Belikin, which comes in five versions; regular, light, stout, chocolate stout (Christmas) and sorrel stout (Easter).
What's your most vivid travel moment?
One travel experience that definitely stands out is the morning I woke up at sunrise to venture out onto the deck of my room at El Remanso, an ecolodge in Costa Rica’s megadiverse Osa Peninsula. Whilst I was enjoying sweeping views across the rainforest canopy with a freshly brewed coffee in hand, a troop of spider monkeys began launching themselves, using their prehensile tails, from tree branch to tree branch only metres in front of me, just as a pair of scarlet macaws soared overhead, painting the sky a palette of red, yellow and blue.
Which book, film or artwork captures Colombia the most?
The film ‘Colombia: Wild Magic’ (‘Colombia: Magia Salvaje’) is a cinematic documentary that showcases the stunning biodiversity and spectacular landscapes of Colombia, and is a must-watch for lovers of the natural world. Featuring 38 species across 20 distinct ecosystems, it demonstrates the astounding biological richness of this vast country.
