Ottos Tours Team

MANAGEMENT

Andreas Zmuda (born 1962)

Company founder, a native Berliner, has lived in South America and the Caribbean for almost 20 years. In spring 1992, Andreas went to Venezuela in order to spend some months secluded and completely isolated from any civilization with the Pemon Indians in the vast jungle of Venezuela and English Guyana. During his trip, he experienced wonderful encounters with these fascinating people and gained deep insights in their culture, traditions and way of living, as well as the South American flora and fauna. He learned the Spanish language, simultaneously got his pilot license and decided to settle, first in Venezuela and later Colombia, Ecuador and the Caribbean Robinson Island of Tobago. Being a native German, in the meantime he has known almost all countries of Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea like the back of his hand. Nevertheless, he still is steadily on the road to explore new destinations and to personally guide quite a few tours or organize some large special events for TV stations worldwide.

María Teresa Torrealba (born 1968)

Company partner and learned manager in tourism, she was born in Caracas, but has spent a large part of her life in Puerto La Cruz / Venezuela. Then she moved to England for some time, and several years to the Caribbean island of Tobago. Finally in 2002, she came to Quito and took on her position as office head. Since then Maria Teresa is in charge of organizing our tours in Ecuador, Venezuela and the Caribbean.

OTTO'S TEAM IN QUITO / ECUADOR

Juan Pablo Paltán (born 1980)

Also Juan Pablo Paltán, manager in tourism, is a part of our organization in Quito. He is responsible for the organization and cost calculation of our tours, guaranteeing their smooth realization. He loves to spend his free time together with his family and watching the soccer games of his favorite club “El Nacional”.

Rosario Guamaán (born 1983)

Rosario has been working in our Quito organizational department since November 2009. At Otto‘s Tours she is in charge of cost calculation and the smooth realization of our tours in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. In her free time, Rosario loves to dance and play soccer, unless of course she is in a soccer stadium cheering for her favorite team, Deportivo Quito.

Gaby Saltos (born 1979)

Gaby joined our operations team in Quito in April 2011. She decided to study and work in tourism because she loves Ecuador – especially its nature, culture and people and this way she can get to know her country even more. She spent much of her life living in the Amazon region, but since graduating from university, she has worked in many of Quito's museums and cultural attractions. Besides travelling, Gaby loves Ecuadorian art and history.

Kim Melanie Lonny (born 1984)

Since March 2011 Kim is supporting our marketing team in Quito. She is in charge of servicing our in-booking operators, processing of incoming orders, the elaboration of new tours and the smooth realization of our tours in Ecuador and Venezuela. She completed her studies of Tourism- and Event Management at the EBC Düsseldorf as well as Business Management at the University of Sunderland. Kim gained her first professional experience in hotels in Spain and Costa Rica.

Angelika Köhler (born 1980)

Angelika has been supporting our marketing team in Quito, Ecuador, since December 2010. It is her responsibility to capture new tour operators, and there especially the development of new markets and the amplification of our clientele in the English-speaking market (UK, U.S.A., Canada, Benelux, Scandinavia, Australia etc.). After her studies of tourism at the Harz University in Wernigerode, she had worked for some years with a broker for gift experiences in Germany.

We also rely on the active support by our two Ecuadorian staff Catalina Rubio (photograph) and Susana de Jara. Catalina is responsible for accounting while Susana is professional tax consultant who assists us in all tax-related issues.

OTTO’S TEAM IN CUZCO / PERU

Rocio Alatrista (born 1969)

Rocio is a long-standing manager in tourism, since 2004 she has been conducting our country office in Cuzco / Peru. The native Peruvian is in charge of smoothly operating and realizing our Peru tours, as well as performing ongoing quality control of our local contractors. Apart from Peru travels, our office in Cuzco is also responsible for the organization of our unique Amazon tour “Myth Amazonia”, which starts at the source of the Amazon in Peru and, passing through Bolivia, leads to Brazil and its jungle metropolis Manaus.

Maria Moreano (born 1968)

Since many years Maria has been working in the tourism field. The born Cusceñerin joined our team in Peru in 2008. Maria is in charge of the organisation and purchasing of all trains, flights and busses. Furthermore she supports her colleagues with the reservation of hotels and excursions.

Erika Nicole Espinoza (born 1984)

Erika has been with Otto’s Tours team in Cuzco since 2005. Therefore she is one of our colleagues with the longest seniority next to Rocio. She is responsible for the calculations and the perfect organisation of the tours. During her free time she is practicing for her dancing performance at the festival of the virgin of Candelaria in Puno.

Sheila Palomino (born 1987)

Since March 2011 Sheila has been working for Otto’s Tours in Cuzco. The born Cusceña has studied tourism, information technology and systems. Furthermore she loves interior design. At Otto’s Tours she is supporting our team in accounting, operations and reservations.

Claudia Morales Segovia (born 1984)

After her internship at Otto’s Team, Claudia has now been supporting our team in Cuzco since October 2010. She studied tourism management and is our expert in the hotel business in Cuzco.

Cora Brandl (born 1989)

Cora joined our team in Cuzco in July 2011. In her daily work she supports Andreas and Kim with the handling of requests and bookings of our operators as well as the elaboration of new tours in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. In Germany she studied tourism management at the University Deggendorf. Furthermore, Cora gained her first working experiences at a German non-profit company which promotes Germany as a tourist destination nationally and internationally.

A SMALL SELECTION OF OUR TOUR GUIDES

Furthermore many free-lance tour guides belong to the team of "Otto's Tours". Usually we hire professional native, and - without exception officially acknowledged - tour guides who mostly have a university degree in tour guiding, stand out for their excellent insider knowledge and lead our clients entertainingly to the highlights of their respective countries. With their great commitment and warm guiding they bring our groups nearer to the special hospitality these countries have and provide valuable insights into the different cultures. Some of our tour guides have migrated from their home countries to their respective guest countries, now the home of their dreams. They know and love the country of their choice and have worked as tour guides for many years.

Pamela Dumet Paredes

Pamela was raised in Quito and loves the nature, mountains and art. Working as a tour guide provides her with the possibility to give the tourists an understanding of the Ecuadorian culture and way of life as well as getting to know different cultures. Pamela is dynamic, flexible and has enjoyed her work as a tour guide since 11 years.

Efraín Centeno

Efraín was born in Quito and studied tourism in Ecuador. For a couple months he has lived in Germany to improve his German. Efraín is charismatic, flexible and always in a good mood. He appreciates the variation in his work as a tour guide while getting to know different people from all over the world and he loves to give them an understanding of the culture of his country.

Jacobo Andrés Larrea Yanez

Jacobo as Quiteño-born has dedicated himself to his passion as a tour guide for 12 years. His life centres on the mountains. To expand his skills as a mountain guide, he has travelled many countries such as Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. Futhermore he has studied German and English. His motto is that a personal service turns a journey into a unique adventure.

Jane Silva

Jane is a cheerful person who loves her country and especially the nature. She has turned her hobby travelling into a career. Therefore this allows her to meet people of different cultures and to enjoy the beautiful flora and fauna of Ecuador every single day. Since 2003 Jane has accompanied our tours through entirely Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.

Marco Antonio Malpartida,

Marco our tour guide for English and German-speaking groups in Peru, is humorous, honest and dynamic. During his tours, he especially likes the areas of ecotourism, mountain biking, hiking and mountain climbing. Marco Antonio is always ready for any sportive adventures. Thus it can be no surprise that, after his studies at the Instituto Nacional de Cultura in Spain, he went to Vienna to improve his German language skills and attend courses in mountain rescue. Since the beginning of 2007 he has worked in the team of Otto’s Tours.

Guillem Garcia Llach

Guillem as Spanish-born and son of a German mother, has been living in Peru with his own family for many years. His father is shaman and he himself is skilled traditional healer. Therefore he has an excellent knowledge of the flora of the rain forest. With his friendly character he accompanies our clients during their tour “Myth Amazonia”.

Wilner Araujo Perez

The Peruvian, who was born in Cuzco, has lived and studied several years in Germany. However, he decided to return to his home country in 2004. As a guide of the expedition “Mythical Amazonia”, he is known for his love of life and adventure and his organizational skills.
The clients appreciate his calm and charming way of explaining the specialities of this tour which he has already guided about 20 times.

Tony Espinoza Moreano

Tony has been working for Otto’s Tours since 2007. He is responsible for the smooth organization of the tour “Mythical Amazonia”. The clients are always very happy with him taking care of everyone and everything – he takes them for walks as he knows the jungle very well, he cooks and takes care of every single detail (the equipment, beds etc.) during this special tour. In his free time Tony likes to play soccer.

Patricia Cony Herrera Mendoza

Patricia was born in Cuzco. She gained her first professional experience working in the hotel management before she decided to become a tour guide, She is an expert in telling the history of Peru and Cuzco. Furthermore she is an enthusiastic hiker and has been working with Otto’s Tours for many years.

Fernando Masters Lambo

Fernandowas born in the deepest jungles of Venezuela, completely isolated from civilization in a village of Pemon ethnic group. Besides his mother tongue, the native language Arekuna and Zamarakoto he also speaks Spanish, Creole and English. A friendship with a German family gave him the possibility to stay in Germany, where he studied extensively the German language. This enabled him to work as a tour guide for us. Fernando loves to give our tourists an understanding of his country and is known for his excellent knowledge of the Pemon culture.

Roeland Schürmann

Roeland has been accompanying our clients through Venezuela for two years. After his studies of hotel and tourism management in the Netherlands, he moved to Venezuela which is now his second home country. As a tour guide he loves the nature as well as the contact to people of different cultures because he can bring them closer to the country and people and as well use his knowledge of different languages.