What can i say about Mariuxi that hasn't been said?  She is amazingly enthusiastic, extremely knowledgeable and loves sharing her knowledge and insights in the Galapagos with the people she's guiding.  Having her as a guide truly made our experience in the Galapagos exceptional!

I was on a 7 day Celebrity Cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Mariuxi has helped us experience the most incredible and AMAZING trip of a lifetime! She thought us about the islands history, volcanos and all the amazing animals and plants of the Galapagos Islands. She is very passionate about what she does and she is the most wonderful and knowledgeable naturalist guide I’ve ever met.   She is very punctual, very experienced and was lovely to tour with her because we learnt so much about the Galapagos. Our entire group enjoyed her in depth knowledge about the islands history and the animals that lived on the islands. During her tours we saw many animals including giant tortoises, sea lions, sea turtles, lava lizards, marine iguanas, land iguanas, Darwin's finches, Frigatebirds, Blue-footed boobies, Flightless cormorants, Waved Albatross, Penguins and Sally Lightfoot crabs. We even saw a sea lion give birth to her baby.

Mariuxi is like a human version of a Galapagos Encyclopedia. She pretty much knows everything about the Galapagos Islands. I highly recommend everyone to tour the Galapagos Islands with her because she is the very best guide you can find out there!

I had a wonderful learning experience during my week exploring the Galápagos Islands.  One of the main reasons was because Mari was an exceptional guide. First & foremost, she is incredibly competent and extremely knowledgeable.  Her explanations about the Galápagos flora & fauna were always thorough and very interesting. She was always prepared to answer anyone's question, and she always provided clarity when I or others wanted to know more. 

 But even more impressive, was Mari's passion & enthusiasm for life and the creatures of the Islands. Only Mari displayed this genuine love for what she does. It is clear that she is completely dedicated to her job as a ship's naturalist, and I will be forever thankful that I was fortunate to get Mari as my guide for many of the island excursions. Her enthusiasm was contagious! 

I also enjoyed sitting with Mari at some of the meals. She continued to answer questions from me and the other passengers in her friendly, sincere manner. 

Bravo, Mariuxi Prieto. You made this adventure so very meaningful, and one that I will never forget!!

Xoxo Lisa Conti

It was our great fortune to have Mari as our tour guide on our recent 8 day Galapagos Expedition. From the start at our muster drill we realized Mari meant business. She comanded respect. We wanted to be on her zodiac!!! and what a treat for us that Mari was our guide. She lives and breathes excitement of the animals and nature of her home. We too live in a tropical climate, but never cared too much for birds. Mari's enthusiams was LIFE CHANGING!!! Yesterday we were on our boat and commenting on all the birds and we could just hear Mari being so excited. She was brought to tears by a snake and overjoyed by each new mother and baby animal we saw. It was like she was seeing the animals for the first time. Her amazement and awe was contagious. We too felt like we were witnessing a miracle, over and over. Mari had unbelievable knowledge too. She took her profession so seriously that she was always quizzing us as she wanted to make sure we truly learned something. At the end of the day (and the begining) Mari ate with us and became our friend. When we were on Santa Cruz and the store we wanted to shop in was not open, Mari called the owners and asked them to open for us. She truly knew everyone at every place we went. As a travel agent, I've seen many guides, but none with the passion and enthusiam that Mari had. She truly changed our perspective of nature. I'll never take for granted a bird again and always imagine her jumping up and down with so much excitement shouting for joy the species we just withnessed. She's a gem. The best of the best!! A true passionate professional. 

Mari was our guide on our recent trip to the Galapagos and she was truly outstanding.

Her enthisiasm was infectious and her knowledge of the islands was truly extensive.  She made the history of the Galapagos live for us and we looked forward, each day, to seeing the wildlife through her very knowlegeable eyes.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Galapagos and the whole exoerience was hugely enhanced by having Mari as our guide.

She is also a very thoughtful and nice person with whom we liked mixing.

She has definitely made us want to return.