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Slickrock Adventures - Our Staff in Belize
Belize Adventures on a Private Island

Outdoor Adventure Belize Tours: Our guides are top professionals - among the best in the business, commonly with 10 years experience or more, and much of that in Belize tourism. All are expert sport instructors who are also knowledgeable about the local culture, history, and ecology we encounter, and they are enthusiastic about sharing their expertise. Our Belizean guides provide valuable insight into the local culture and environment, too. Getting to know them is a highlight of every trip! Most importantly, all of our guides are simply great people and fun to be with. Find out for yourself why our guests tell us our staff is the best they have met on any adventure kayaking tour.

Above photo taken in April of 2008, on an Adventure Island at Glover's Reef trip. From left: Martin Ramirez (island groundskeeper), Aurora Roches (head cook), Neri Chi (Belize Adventure Week trip manager and guide), Victor Myers (island trip manager), Joelle Bienvenue (island trip manager), Laverne Garcia (cook), Lucy Wallingford (Slickrock owner), and Mario Perez (island guide). Photo by Michael Tobia.

CULLY ERDMAN 
As founder of our company, Cully has extensive experience leading kayak trips with an emphasis on instruction and participation. An avid adventurer, he has led numerous expeditions and has been featured in shows on ABC, ESPN, TBS and Discovery. With 35 years of guiding experience, he has extensive knowledge to share. Cully was named one of the top 100 Paddlers of the Century by Paddler magazine in their year-end 2000 issue. Cully spends every summer at The Gorge and often instructs in our windsurfing school.

LUCY WALLINGFORD
Lucy joined the company in 1986. As Vice-President and office manager, Lucy was involved with the development of our Belize programs from their inception. She guides at Glover's Reef and is responsible for our renowned menu. An avid backpacker, she spends her spare time hiking the desert terrain near Moab, Utah.

CHARLIE WOODWARD
Charlie is both a manager and a guide for us. He spends most of his year in Idaho. He works as a geologist, community college teacher, outdoor educator, and outdoor adventure guide. He also designs and installs renewable energy power systems-- solar, wind and hydro--through his own business. He discovered sea kayaking and warm-whitewater on a trip to New Zealand in 1990. This is Charlie's ninth year of guiding for us in Belize.

MARY AVILA
Mary is our Belize City manager. She does everything! A Belize City native, she is the perfect person to locate all of the hard-to-find items we need for the island. Everyone who visits us meets Mary, she runs our home base where our boat is docked. This is Mary's sixth year of working with us.

NERI CHI
A native Mayan, Neri has been guiding inland with us for nine years. He is a U.S. trained river guide, having worked for Bill Dvorak during the summer of 2001, guiding on the Arkansas and Dolores Rivers in Colorado and the Green River in Utah. He specializes in the natural and environmental interpretation of the jungle and is an expert in Mayan history.

MARK HOPKINS
Mark Hopkins has been guiding since 1988 and started out leading sailing and canoeing trips in Maine. Since then he has worked as a guide and instructor in Jackson Hole, New Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and Alaska - where he also worked as a commercial fisherman. Now based out of Oregon, he spends part of the summer running sea kayak trips in the San Juans and has another career running his own graphic design business. This will be Mark's eighth winter working for Slickrock in Belize and enjoys putting Marie Sharpe's hot sauce on every meal he eats while there, and slaying bonefish during his off-time.

VICTOR MYERS
 Victor spends his life outdoors kayaking, biking, climbing and snowboarding. He has been guiding professionally as a sea kayak instructor in Alaska since he was eighteen and has also worked as a climbing instructor in the Red River Gorge. While pursuing a degree in photojournalism he worked as a bike mechanic and raced mountain bikes on the weekend. This is his seventh season with us in Belize. When he's not assisting others on their vacation, he is off to paddle in wherever there is water and gradient. Look for him living in a van down by a river near you.

JOELLE BIENVENUE
Joelle is from Quebec, Canada where she comes from a background of adventure tourism. Since 2000 she has been working as a sea kayak guide in Quebec and British Columbia. Her passion for travel and the environment ensures that her guiding is particularly inspiring and she is always ready to try something new and exciting. She discovered Belize five years ago while studying Spanish in Central America. This is her fifth season with Slickrock.

MARIO PEREZ
A longtime guide, Mario is of Mayan descent and was originally from Guatemala. His extensive training with other outfitters in Belize and an interest in his surrounding world has developed his wide knowledge of natural history, cave archaeology, cave biology, and cave geology. He is a member of a team of cavers that is doing a Belize cave survey and mapping each year. He is also a member of the National and International Rescue Team for Belize. He also has studied medicinal rainforest plants, and the natural resources of Belize. Although this is only Mario's first season with us, we are excited at how much has added to our program already.

JOSE GARCIA
Jose is our newest guide at Slickrock, having just come on board this December. From Armenia Village, (one of the prettiest spots in all of Belize), Jose has been guiding in Belize for seven years and has great knowledge of the country's local culture, flora, and fauna. His love of nature has helped him quickly learn the reef ecosystem on the island, where he will be working as an assistant guide with us this season.

APOLITICO SALAM
This is Apolitico's tenth season with us, he originally came out to help with the rebuilding after Hurricane Mitch, and he was such a fantastic addition to our island family that we wouldn't let him leave. A Mayan from the community of Silk Grass, Apolitico is our groundskeeper and caretaker. His weekly lecture on the Mayan people is a huge hit. We truly could not do what we do without his help. All of our guests enjoy trying to beat him on the volleyball court!

AURORA ROCHES
Aurora joined us nine years ago, and is now our head cook. She is incredible! We love having her out on the island with us. She is from Dangriga, Belize. When not on the island, she spends her time raising her family. She loves working for Slickrock and plans to spend many more years working with us and she hopes all the guests love the food.

LAVERNE GARCIA
Laverne has worked with us out on the island for five years. You will love her cooking! She comes from Hopkins Village, a Garinagu community. She speaks Garifuna, Creole, and English.

MARCY NORALES
Marcy is now on her third year with us. We are so glad she has joined us. She is doing a fantastic job helping Aurora and Laverne in our dining hall. Marcy is of Garifuna, and from Dangriga, Belize. When not on the island she enjoys helping her friends with new hair styles and experimenting with new recipes.

MARTIN RAMIREZ
Martin originally came to work with us two years ago to stand in when Apolitico took a rare week off. He takes such good care of the island grounds, that we get him out to the island as much as we can. Martin is of Mayan descent, and from Silk Grass, Belize. He is a fantastic addition to our team!

PHOTO CREDITS TOP TO BOTTOM: MICHAEL TOBIA, NORM SHREWSBURY, BRET BLOSSER, LUCY K. WALLINGFORD,  UNKNOWN, MICHAEL TOBIA, JOE FITSCHEN, BROOKS DAVERMAN, MADS MODEWEG, CULLY ERDMAN, CULLY ERDMAN, CULLY ERDMAN, JOE FITSCHEN, CULLY ERDMAN, CULLY ERDMAN, CULLY ERDMAN, VICTOR MYERS.

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