Naturalist icon Naturalist

Roberta Schiess

Born and raised in the Galápagos, Roberta Schiess Bahamonde’s grandparents were among the first permanent inhabitants of Santa Cruz Island, arriving from Switzerland in the 1940s. Her mother is also a naturalist guide in the Galápagos, so this is a profession she has been exposed to her whole life, and she often accompanied her mom as she guided visitors. 

She spent an idyllic childhood running wild on her family’s cattle ranch in the highlands, fully immersed in her father's passion for agriculture. This led her to volunteer for the Israeli government at a big farm on a kibbutz to prove to herself this was indeed the direction she wanted to take in life. She loved it. Over her lifetime, Roberta has witnessed two major problems in the Galápagos: insufficient food production and the challenge of conserving the ecosystem in the face of pests and plagues present in the food that arrives from outside the archipelago. Because of this, she decided to work towards finding a sustainable way of farming in the Galápagos. During her career, she has had the opportunity to work at a vegan food processing company in Los Angeles, California, where she learned how important it is for farmers to find a way to add value to whatever they grow. In 2016, she earned a bachelor’s in agronomic engineering from EARTH University in Costa Rica, and in 2017 she applied to become a Naturalist Guide for Galápagos National Park. Her dream is that Galápagos will someday become fully self-sufficient and that agriculture will produce sustainable income for its people.

My upcoming expeditions

Galápagos Escape: An 8-Day Voyage

Nov 2 2024
Nov 7 2024
Jan 11 2025
Jan 16 2025
Jan 25 2025
Jan 30 2025
Feb 27 2025
Mar 8 2025
Mar 13 2025
Aug 23 2025
Aug 28 2025
Dec 13 2025

Peru and Galápagos Escape

Nov 8 2024
Jan 17 2025
Feb 28 2025
Aug 15 2025
Dec 5 2025

Galápagos Escape: A 7-Day Voyage

Nov 12 2024
Jan 21 2025
Mar 4 2025
Aug 19 2025
Dec 9 2025

Exploring Galápagos

Dec 13 2024
Mar 28 2025
Jun 6 2025
Jun 13 2025
Jun 20 2025
Sep 5 2025
Oct 17 2025
Oct 24 2025

Exploring Galápagos, Machu Picchu and Peru's Land of the Inca

Dec 13 2024
Mar 28 2025
Jun 6 2025
Jun 13 2025
Jun 20 2025
Sep 5 2025
Oct 17 2025
Oct 24 2025

Galápagos by Catamaran + Machu Picchu and Peru's Land of the Inca

Apr 4 2025
Apr 11 2025
Jul 18 2025
Jul 25 2025
Aug 1 2025

Galápagos by Catamaran: An Intimate Voyage

Apr 4 2025
Apr 11 2025
Jul 18 2025
Jul 25 2025
Aug 1 2025