Benjamin Ayala

Ben is a German-Ecuadorian naturalist guide who grew up on San Cristobal, the eastern-most island of the Galápagos Archipelago, home to the political capital of the province.

He was raised on the small Pacific island by his mother, herself a naturalist guide, but would frequently travel to Germany to visit his mother’s family there. This dual upbringing gave Ben a passion for travel to faraway places to explore both the natural world and different cultures. The more he travels, however, the more he comes to appreciate and cherish his home islands and their unique and magical natural environment.

He currently splits his time between working as a Galápagos National Park naturalist guide and an ocean wildlife conservationist. His work as a conservationist with international NGOs has led him on adventures as varied as confronting the whale poachers of the Antarctic coast to collecting illegal drift nets in the high seas. Defending the oceans, from which his home, the Galápagos Islands, were born and depend, is his great passion.

In his free time, he enjoys photography, free diving, sailing, and surfing.