Trust is the whole point.
Your Naturalist brings nature travel into one catalogue: guides, day trips, lodges, multi-day tours and expedition cruises. Find it here, then book the way that fits. Some experiences can be booked directly with us; others connect you with the operator or an affiliated travel advisor. Find the kinds of nature experiences that are hard to discover anywhere else.
Where each listing comes from
- Verified by us: Independent guides who applied, were checked, and are booked on this site. The badge on a profile lists which checks were completed and when.
- Booked on affiliates: Some day trips come from affiliated operators rather than from our guides. Those are marked, and you book and pay on the partner’s site under the operator’s terms. The link is an affiliated travel advisor’s referral link, so the advisor is paid a commission, not Your Naturalist.
- Catalogued from the operators: Lodges and multi-day tours we catalogued from the operators’ own sites and rate sheets. Some are booked here; some open on the operator’s booking page or go to the travel advisor as a request. The listing says which before you click.
- A directory, not a seller: Sailings selected for their wildlife programs. We do not sell them: you send a trip request, and the travel advisor checks dates and fares with the line and books under its terms.
How a guide earns the badge
- Identity: A government-ID check, verified electronically or by our reviewer, never self-attested.
- Background & expertise: Years guiding, regions worked, and specialty knowledge: the experience behind the profile.
- Licences & documents: Country-specific guiding licences and certifications, uploaded and reviewed against each country’s requirements list (ICT, SERNANP, MINTUR…).
- Naturalist sign-off: A working naturalist on our team reviews every application, and the badge itself lists exactly which checks were completed and when.
How money works
- Trips booked on this site are paid by card through Stripe; the guide never sees your card.
- Guide day trips are held in full until you travel; multi-day tours and lodges may release part of your deposit earlier to hold your space; always shown before you pay.
- Cancellation terms shown before you pay and on your booking confirmation.
- If a guide cancels, we return your payment in full to the card you paid with; how long it takes to appear is up to your bank.
- Anything booked on a partner’s site, on an operator’s site, or through the travel advisor is paid there, under their terms, and the lines above do not apply to it. The listing says so before you leave this site.
Reviews you can believe
- Only travelers with a completed booking can review.
- Guides can respond, never edit or remove.
- Specialty tags ("great ear," "found all targets") come from a fixed vocabulary; no keyword stuffing.
- Reported reviews are checked by a human moderator, removed only for cause, never for being critical.
Who runs this
- Your Naturalist LLC is a small, founder-run company. The founder also works, in a separate role, as an affiliated travel advisor under the name Longituda. When a listing hands you to the travel advisor, that is who you are dealing with.
- How the advisor is paid, and by whom, is on the disclosure page. Anything else, ask us.