Management and Administration

Jose Luis Troconis

Jose Luis is the owner and founder of Natoura. He is an excellent mountain guide who has travelled extensively throughout both North and South America. Few Venezuelans have such a comprehensive knowledge of the country than Jose. He warmly welcomes travellers from anywhere in the world with his ‘mi casa es tu casa’ (my home is your home) attitude and his great attention to detail ensures that every trip is a successful one.

Renate Reiners

Renate was born in northern Germany and was part of the team from the very beginning as the managing partner with her husband, Jose Luis. Renate studied marketing in Germany and is in charge of administration for Natoura, among other things. She is the sales agent for Germany and speaks Spanish fluently as she has lived in Venezuela a long time, where she also brought up her family; Renate brings her European warmth and efficiency to the running of the office. She does her best to ensure that visitors experience ‘the variety this beautiful paradise has to offer and the warmth of the people which makes your visit a special one’.

 

Elisa Bravo

Elisa has completed her studies in business administration and has been the administrative assistant at Natoura since April 2009 and works closely with Renate on the accounts. Elisa is in charge of all the payments and uses the Tourplan system, like all the Natoura team. As well as her administrative duties, Elisa helps out with the Natoura book-keeping. Elisa is committed to ‘making payments promptly so that visitors never experience any inconvenience on arrival at their destination’.

Operations, Sales and Marketing

 

Derwis Guillen

Derwis was born in Caracas but moved to Merida when he was very young. He studied tourism at IUTE and has gained a lot of experience since joining Natoura in 2004. Now he is in charge of operations, maintaining the company database on a daily basis and is one of our sales agents.

Carolina Tenias

Carolina has been one of our travel agents since March 2005. Born in El Tigre, in Anzoategui state in eastern Venezuela, she has called Merida her home since 1972. Carolina is a professional  radio announcer whose voice is recognised across the airwaves in Merida. She studied the History of Art at the University of the Andes. She is fluent in English and has been teaching Spanish for almost twenty years to travellers who want to be able to communicate with the locals. For Carolina ‘making Venezuela a country easy to like but difficult to forget, and ensuring that visitors return home happy’ is part of her success.

Yraima Serrano

Yraima graduated in modern languages from ULA in Merida and speaks English and French fluently. She has worked at Natoura since 2009 and is one of our travel assistants, in charge of sales. She has experience in the tourism sector, not only with Natoura, but has also worked in a hotel in the Dominican Republic, in public relations and as a sales representative for a travel company.

Ticketing Agency

Tammy Hidalgo

Tammy is a Superior Technician in Tourism and studied air traffic at the Antonio Jose de Sucre military base. She has been a member of the Natoura team since December 2009 and is in charge of the  domestic and international ticketing agency and takes good care of the clients who come into the office. She is extremely enthusiastic about the ticketing agency, enjoys issuing tickets and ensuring that clients leave the office happy with her services; she not only handles the Amadeus reservation system very efficiently, but is also very enthusiastic about its capabilities.

Rosci Villarreal

Rosci was born in Merida and graduated from the Instituto Universitario Tecnologico de Ejido. She studied at the Air Traffic Training Centre at Santa Barbara Airlines where she worked as a sales agent and in the air traffic, health and safety and administration departments. With 9 years’ experience, Rosci joined Natoura in August 2010 and, together with Tammy, is in charge of the administration for all our client’s tickets. She organises every aspect of travel within the country or overseas, whether for leisure or business trips; arranges air travel, vehicle rentals overseas, travel insurance negotiations and finding comfortable accommodation in each location on your trip.

Our guides

Veronica Crepinsek

Veronica was born in Caracas but attended university in Vienna, Austria. Veronica has a long and distinguished professional career, which includes over 20 years in the travel industry. She speaks three languages, English, German and Spanish, and works as a representative for Natoura meeting new arrivals at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, as well as providing informative guided tours throughout the Caracas area.

Carlos Moya Guzman

Carlos is a Venezuelan with a passion for travel.  He is a bilingual guide specialising in the region south of Lake Maracaibo, the Andes, the Sierra de San Luis, Morrocoy National Park, the lower llanos in Apure, Mochima National Park, Caripe, the Orinoco Delta and Canaima National Park. He has worked with Natoura as a bilingual guide and driver since 2002. He is an enthusiastic guide interested in ecology, flora and fauna and at some stage in his career would like to work in Africa, Australia and the rest of South America. Carlos is sure to offer ‘the quality and convenience for those who seek adventure’.

Victor Davila

Victor is a graduate in Modern Languages from ULA, where he specialised in English and higher education. He is one of our most experienced guides, with qualifications in rescue techniques. As part of his rescue work he is a lecturer at the Instituto Universitario de Tecnologia Bomberil in Merida. He has been a guide for Natoura since 1998. His kindness and extensive experience ensure a safe trip for all the clients he accompanies.

José Ramón Sánchez

Jose Ramon has 8 years’ experience as a mountain guide and has made more than 80 ascents on various routes in the major mountains of the Sierra Nevada. He is a literature student at the University of the Andes, bilingual guide (Spanish and English) and is a member of the Association of Mountain Guides of Merida State (AGMM).  He actively participates in the AGMM training programme for new guides and keeps up-to-date with his own mountaineering and climbing skills, mountain rescue techniques and first aid. He has participated in expeditions in Venezuela and overseas as well as on various search and rescue missions up in the mountains. Jose, with his local knowledge and great sense of humour, will ensure a memorable experience in the high mountains of the Venezuelan Andes.

Javier Toledo

Javier is a native of Caracas but has lived in Merida for a long time. Javier studied English in England for five years and gained a degree in tourism from the Antonio Jose de Sucre Institute in Merida. Javier has been travelling throughout the Andes and Llanos since 1992 where his experience and knowledge is well known.