This is going to be quite a niche-specific article, so if you’ve stumbled in here and you aren’t interested in looking for and photographing reptiles and amphibians, the below list probably isn’t giong to be for you.
Over the years, I’ve done quite a few herping tours–from SE Asia to South America–as well as guided some myself. A lot of the people I follow on Instagram are fellow herpers, including a handful who are professional guides in various places around the world (Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia).
Some of these guides are expats who have immigrated to places like SE Asia and Central America, either with a strong amateur passion for herpetofauna and/or some kind of scientific background. Some are local people. Either way, these are folks who sell their wildlife and local geographical knowledge to enthusiasts like me for an opportunity to head out into the wild in search of reptiles, amphibians and anything else you are fortunate enough to illuminate with a flashlight beam.
Trying to decide on optics or outdoor gear for an upcoming trip? Checkout my detailed breakdowns of everything from boots to flashlights to snake gaiters and more.
Most of these people run their guiding businesses through Instagram (perhaps alongside a website). They post their finds regularly (some of them daily) and advertise upcoming tours.
I thought I would put together a short list of some of the accounts I follow and create a repository of social media-based guides in this insular little niche of ours. I hope this is a work in progress, where I add new accounts and opportunities as I encounter them.
It seems a growing number of people around the world are becoming interested in seeing, protecting and helping others find and photograph reptiles and amphibians–some of the most imperilled creatures on earth–as well as recognizing the economic opportunity that comes with the specialized local knowledge required to guide (especially people with few attractive economic opportunities in places like Latin America). I expect there to be more people and small businesses added to this list over time.
Southeast Asia is a place that I’ve been coming back to for years. I’ve spent many hundreds of hours herping the forests of Southern Thailand, Malaysian Borneo and West Papua Indonesia–on my own, with herping friends and as an occasional guide.
The diversity of habitats, the sheer number of species and the relative safety of Southeast Asian wild areas (compared to other places I have herped (like Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia) has drawn me back for the past 7 years, and I can’t foresee ever stopping.
Here are some of the best herping guides and tours in the region.
Orion Herp Adventure has been guiding fieldherping tours in Peninsular Malaysia, as well as Malaysian Borneo, for years, and they are a well-known guiding outfit in the region.
You can book both single-day and week-long trips.
Explore Herpetology is a collective of reptile experts and enthusiasts dedicated to providing the highest quality herping experiences in Asia. They cater to a diverse range of herpers, from enthusiastic first-timers to seasoned herpetologists in search of rare reptiles.
I’ve spent, cumulatively, around a year-and-a-half in Thailand over the last six years, and I’ve done a lot of herping. I like to think I’ve found and photographed a lot of species, but these guys are next level.
Spend a few minutes perusing their Instagram, and you’ll see what I mean. The sheer number, as well as the number of rarities they encounter all over the country, is insane.
They also go to places that no one else goes–particularly Narathiwat and Yala in the far south of Thailand.
Their tours to these places sell out quickly, and for good reason. Go out into the field with these guys, and you are all but guaranteed to have your mind blown by a crazy number of reptile, amphibian and invertebrate species.
You might also find yourself inadvertently participating in the discovery of a new species or a new range addition for a species. Explore Herpetology actively seeks opportunities to contribute to scientific knowledge, and past expeditions have resulted in significant discoveries, such as new country records, the rediscovery of species believed to be lost for decades, and substantial range extensions.
Another of Thailand’s most famous herping and general wildlife guiding outfits, if you go out with these guys, you are not only going to add some serious herps to your list, but mammals as well.
A lot of their tours are to the world-famous Kaeng Krachan National Park, which is around 75km from the city of Hua Hin. This is one of the best places in Thailand for both mammal watching and herping.
At first glance, Wild Palawan Expeditions (especially from their Instagram) Wild Palawan Expeditions does not look like a serious herping outfit. Most of their publicity is promoting their general tourist packages (a lot of which are centred around things like swimming with Whale Sharks in Palawan).
They do, however, organize some fairly rigorous herping trips around Palawan (one of the most forested areas of the Philippines), and regularly post stunners to Facebook herping groups.
Check out this gorgeous Schult’z Pitviper:
It’s quite difficult to find herping guides in India, especially herping outfits led by local biologists with so much experience in the field.
Ecophis Wildlife is run by Indian wildlife conservation biologist Yatin Kalki and wildlife photographer Vikas Kumar. They run expeditions throughout all of India’s most herp-rich regions, including the Thar Desert, Agumbe and Wayanad.
Field herping in Africa offers fantastic opportunities due to the continent’s vast and diverse ecosystems, which are home to an extraordinary range of reptiles and amphibians.
From expansive savannas and dense rainforests to arid deserts to isolated islands like Madagascar, supporting a rich variety of iconic endemics, Africa is one of the most difficult (logistically) but potentially most rewarding places to herp in the world.
MatVanGeo Wild Expeditions specializes in leading participants through remote landscapes to discover and study a diverse range of herpetofauna, including reptiles and amphibians. With over 15 years of expertise, their team conducts expert-led tours across Africa and Asia, emphasizing the exploration of unique habitats and species often overlooked in favor of more familiar wildlife. These expeditions offer participants a deep dive into the lives of creatures like Cape Cobra & Black spitting cobra, Black & green mambas, dwarf adders (10 species) and tortoises (14 species; highest diversity in the world), alongside other captivating reptiles and amphibians.
In South Africa, MatVanGeo Wild Expeditions takes explorers to regions such as the Northern Cape, Durban, and the Western Cape, searching for species like the Albany adder (Bitis albanica) and investigating various ecological niches. The trips include night drives and collaborations with local snake catchers, providing an immersive experience in the natural world. Each journey is meticulously organized to ensure thorough exploration and documentation of the encountered biodiversity, offering participants unforgettable wildlife adventures and comprehensive understanding of these unique species.
You can find Mat at www.MatVanGeo.com and @MatVanGeo on FB, IG and YouTube.
The first place I went when I began working remotely back in 2016 was Colombia. It was a place I had always fantasized about–its Pacific, Amazonian and Andean valley wet forests; its Orinoco wetlands and mountainous Caribbean coast.
I have also herped Costa Rica and Panama, Mexico, Guatemala, and Ecuador. I’ve spent cumulative years of my life in Central and South America, and the abundance and diversity there are unsurpassed anywhere else in the world.
Here are some of the best herping guides in the Americas.
Ichi Wildlife Tours offers bespoke birding, mammal watching and herping tours in Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo, Mexico.
If you’re looking to see regional endemics and access places like Calakmul, these are your guys.
It’s hard to come across herping guides in Mexico. This is a place where you really need a lot of local knowledge to navigate the very complicated social and political landscape, and much of the country is probably not safe to herp.
These guys plan expeditions to places like Lacandon in Chiapas, Michoacan, Veracruz and other parts of the country with incredible herp diversity but quite a ways off the beaten path.
Indigo Expeditions is run by conservation biologist Rowland Griffin, someone with extensive experience throughout Guatemala (particularly in the Maya Biosphere Reserve).
If you are looking for herps in Guate, there really isn’t a better herpetofauna authority.
CR Wild is definitely the biggest herpetofauna guiding small business in Costa Rica and is quickly becoming one of the bigger ones in Central America.
Led by Spanish Anthropologist César L. Barrio-Amoró, they now organize trips to Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico, as well as both Atlantic and Pacific Slope Costa Rican herping expeditions.
They’re another group of guys who really put in the hours and seem to find nearly all of the superstar species everywhere they go. Like other outfits on this list, they also contribute to conservation and furthering scientific knowledge and understanding when and where they can.
Wildlife Journey’s CR is led by Costa Rican wildlife photographer Jean Bonilla with a focus on both birds and herps.
Herping Expedition CR is run by Costa Rican wildlife photographer and guide Andrey Solís. It is based out of Saripiqui in Heredia.
Wildlife By Luis is run by Costa Rican wildlife photographer Luis Acuña, who is based out of Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula.
He’s definitely a generalist, which you can clearly see from his Instagram profile, but like most Costa Rican guides, they have a very good knowledge of their country/region’s gorgeous herpetofauna.
Bushmaster is a team of expats (South African Gary Kritzinger and American Wendy Nolastname), with a passion for conservation and Costa Rica’s herpetofauna. They run fully customizable private and group tours that you can tailor to your specific nature and wildlife passions.
Go Herping Panama is a biologist-led, conservation-focused herping tour operator. They are one, if not the only Panama-based tour company that specializes in Panamanian herps.
Located in Cerro Punta, a small town in Panama’s hyper-diverse Chiriquí highlands, just one hour from the David International Airport and a short drive from some of the best birding and wildlife observation in all of Central America, Tamandua manages a 100-hectare private reserve in the Talamanca Mountain Range.
While primarily a birding outfit, Tamandua’s fully licensed local guides are a wealth of knowledge and experience across Panama’s animal groups, including the country’s insanely diverse reptiles and amphibians.
Founded in 1999, the Canopy Family operates a network of ecolodges nestled within Panama’s most biodiverse regions. Specializing in exceptional birding and natural history experiences, they offer bilingual guiding services and are passionate about and knowledgeable of Panama’s abundant wildlife.
Their dedication to immersive experiences extends beyond their lodges, exemplified by a live webcam capturing the action at the Canopy Lodge’s fruit feeder, offering enthusiasts a remote glimpse into Panama’s rainforest. Combining Panama’s rich historical heritage with exceptional birding opportunities, the Canopy Family offers tours based out of the iconic Canopy Tower, appealing to history buffs and birdwatchers alike.
These tours cater to diverse nature and wildlife interests, ranging from extensive 14-night explorations of Central Panama’s birding hotspots to comprehensive 20-night packages encompassing varied ecosystems, including the lowlands of Darién. For butterfly enthusiasts, specialized tours focus on Panama’s remarkable butterfly diversity, guided by experts who lead excursions into prime butterfly habitats, and for reptiles and amphibians, experience tours led by renowned herpetologist Dr. Stephen Mullin.
Nuqui, on the isolated Pacific Coast of Colombia, is somewhere I first went back in 2018 and have been dying to go back ever since.
Nuqui Herping is a relatively new, community and family-based small business run by local Chocoan people with a passion for herpetofauna and conservation.
They post on Instagram almost every day, and it’s back-to-back stunners (especially the dart frogs and harlequin frogs). The entire Pacific Coast of Colombia, from Buena Ventura to Bahia Solano, is dart frog heaven (especially for endemics), and Nuqui is no exception.
I already pointed one Spanish herper friend in their direction this past July, and he was very happy with the experience.
One thing to note, if you’re considering heading out with these guys, is the language barrier. I’ve communicated over Instagram chat with Nuqui Herping a few times (in Spanish), but I’m not too sure about their level of English. One of the great things about herping, though, is that it’s a universal language. Excitement (and shared Latin names, of course) transcends language barriers.
Birding and Herping is a Colombian wildlife tour company based out of Quindío specializing in herpetofauna, birds and mammals.
A wholly-owned Colombian enterprise, they pride themselves on involving local communities, keeping conservation at the forefront of all their tours and their intimate knowledge of the local terrain, flora and fauna in all the places they visit.
They also have an extensive network of connections throughout the country and can help arrange tours to pretty much anywhere.
Herping in Colombia is primarily focused on frogs, although where there are frogs, there are other herpetofauna, so I’m confident that you would likely be able to customize your tour to suit your primary interests and targets.
Another community-based Colombian Pacific Coast herping outfit, these guys are based out of the slightly more northern community (59km from Nuqui as the crow flies) of Bahia Solano.
Like Nuqui, it is also quite isolated, reachable either by slow ferry or a charter flight.
These guys also find a TON. Think of the most gorgeous endemic dart frogs from the Colombian Pacific and the most stunning coral mimics of the Chocó-Darién ecoregion, and these guys find them on a seemingly regular basis.
As with the Nuqui Herping guys, I’m not too sure what kind of language barrier you can expect with Herping Bahia Solano Tour.
Diego Rocha is someone I’ve wanted to go out herping with for a while but have never had the time while I’ve been in Colombia.
He’s based out of my absolute favourite part of Colombia–Putumayo–and while he’s not specifically a herpetofauna guide (although he does concentrate primarily on frogs), he’s someone with a good knowledge of both the local terrain and the local wildlife across all animal groups.
Colombia is one of those places where you can’t just wander the forests on your own for obvious security reasons, and you typically need someone with both local knowledge and local connections to access private land with significant patches of forest and wetlands on it.
The Colombian Amazon is just a mess when it comes to safety and deforestation, so having someone like Diego as a guide and resource is invaluable.
This is another herping (although it also offers birding and mammal-watching excursions) outfit in a part of Colombia that offers big Chocó-Darién herpetofauna rewards but requires some serious local knowledge to do safely.
Urabá is in the northern part of the Antioquia department, bordering the Caribbean Sea where Panama meets Colombia. Getting here is not easy, but the finds (as Uraba Nature Tours clearly shows) can be well worth the effort.
Get in touch with them via their Instagram page, linked to in the title at the beginning of this section.
Maybe one of the most well-known herping tour guides and outfits in the world, Tropical Herping is the project of Ecuadorian biologist and world-renowned wildlife conservation photojournalist Lucas Bustamante.
They organize trips all over the world, from Borneo to Madagascar to Belize to Sri Lanka, and it’s been a dream of mine to one day join them on a tour.
Tropical Herping is a conservation-first business model that funds its projects and operations via tourism. It is definitely going to be the most expensive experience on this list, just FYI, but the company, their photography and their reviews speak for themselves if you’re a serious herper.
Since 2016, Photo Wildlife Tours, a team of biologists and naturalists, have provided a unique service, not only capturing wildlife but also sharing insights into their behaviour. Your participation in their trips actively contributes to various conservation programs they champion.
Dendrobird Peru specializes in both birding and herping with a specific focus on Peru’s phenomenal dendrobatid (dart frog) species, while also offering the option for custom tours.
Owned and run by Angel Del Castillo, a Peruvian guide based out of Tarapoto, Peru, Angel has more than a decade of experience guiding naturalists and photographers in search of Northern Peru’s immense anuran and bird diversity.
Offering both herping expeditions and primate safaris, Latin Wild Expeditions is run by Brazilian wildlife photographer and videographer Rafael Guadeluppe.
Suriname is the most forested country on earth and a herping mecca. This is a place where rainbow boas, emerald tree boas, anacondas and the craziest Amazon tree boa morphs are common occurrences (as far as the Amazon basin goes.).
A difficult country to get to, Herping Suriname is the brainchild of environmentalist and herpetofauna enthusiast Dick Locke who has been herping and exploring the jungles of Suriname for over a decade.
I will be building this list out over time, so it will continue to grow.
If anyone has recommendations for herping tour additions or perhaps would even like to be added themselves, feel free to let me know so that I can grow this into as comprehensive a resource as possible.
Hope you managed to found something of use here. Happy and safe travels!
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