Enoc Espinoza Villalobos has lived in the Osa and Golfito region his entire life and  currently serves as the Vice President of the Sierpe Tourist Guide Association (ASOGUISI). He is also the manager of the Corcovado Cooperative for Rural Community Tourism Entrepreneurs (COOPETURIC RL).

Today, Enoc is working on improving both the infrastructure and equipment of COOPETURIC members in Osa communities (Sierpe, Progreso, Puerto Escondido, and Rancho Quemado) and three Golfito communities (La Palma, La Tarde y El Territorio Indígena de Alto Laguna).

He is a firm believer that unity, optimism, and the desire to do things better every single day are fundamental values, but considers them insufficient without the existence of alliances with other actors, such as foundations, governmental entities, and other community-based organizations. Unity is what allows them all to be successful in their endeavors.

Enoc’s family business is called Sierpe Azul Tours, born out of the need to improve their quality of life. Although it began with very limited financial resources, it was propelled by a desire to excel and put to use over 10 years of experience in the tourism industry. The day-to-day has been filled with obstacles, which have been overcome with patience and persistence and have allowed the family to remain in business for the past five years. They offer the following tours, among others:

• Corcovado National Park excursion
• Tour of the COOPETURIC private reserves (optional: Corcovado tour)
• Mangrove boat tour
• Kayak tour of the mangrove within the Terraba-Sierpe wetlands
• Snorkeing at Caño Island
• Visit to the Boruca Indigenous Region
• Visit to the Alto Laguna Indigenous Region
• Tour of Pre-columbian Spheres

In Enoc’s opinion, the work being done by INOGO in the region is extremely important because it promotes community development by empowering its members through training and initiatives that enable communities to acquire the tools necessary to strengthen local development.

Currently, globalization and free-trade policies translate to small communities being at the mercy of large-scale developments that exclude them, even though they are the ones who have lived their entire lives within the environment and have had a starring role in its protection.

For Enoc, the development in Osa and Golfito should be done on a small scale while protecting and respecting nature, where communities play a fundamental role in managing this development. For this reason, he wholeheartedly shares INOGO’s philosophy because it speaks the same language as the local people.

You can contact Sierpe Azul Tours by phone at +(506) 8363-2515, via fax at +(506) 2786-6614, by email at sierpeazul@gmail.com, or you can visit their Facebook page.