ABOUT THE WILD TALES
The Wild Tales is a Guyana-based expedition and wilderness training company built around local knowledge, Indigenous partnerships and real experience in the rainforest. We connect guests with the people, cultures and wild landscapes that make Guyana extraordinary.
our story
The Wild Tales grew from a long-standing connection to Guyana’s rainforest and the people who know it best. What began through jungle survival training and expedition work developed into a Guyana-based company focused on remote travel, practical skills and meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities.
Our roots are closely connected to Bushmasters UK, founded and led by the late Ian Craddock. Anders Andersen, Lionel James and other members of our wider team worked with Bushmasters as survival instructors and expedition leaders in Guyana, gaining experience across jungle training, remote expeditions and field operations.
Following Ian’s passing, The Wild Tales was created to continue that spirit of practical rainforest training and expedition travel while developing a company rooted directly in Guyana. Today, our work combines Indigenous knowledge, experienced expedition leadership and modern safety systems across survival courses, bushcraft training, remote expeditions, fishing journeys and other wilderness experiences.
For more than a decade, members of our team have guided visitors through Guyana’s rainforest, rivers, mountains and savannahs. Every journey is shaped by the people and places we work with, rather than by a fixed formula for adventure tourism.
Our partnerships with Indigenous communities are central to how we operate. Local guides, instructors, boatmen, trackers and community members bring knowledge that comes from generations of living and travelling in these environments. Our role is to build expeditions around that expertise while supporting local livelihoods and creating opportunities for visitors to experience Guyana with greater depth and respect.
Our Home
Guyana is more than the place where we operate. It is where much of our team lives, where our partnerships are rooted, and where our work has grown over many years.
Our journeys take us through rainforest, rivers, savannahs and mountain country, often far beyond the main roads and established tourism routes. These are environments we return to again and again, working alongside communities, guides and instructors who know them through lived experience.
Some members of our team were born in these regions and carry knowledge passed through generations. Others arrived through expedition work, survival training and years spent travelling across Guyana’s interior. What brings us together is a shared respect for the landscape and the people who call it home.
We believe the best way to experience Guyana is not to rush through it, but to travel with patience, curiosity and respect. That means listening to local knowledge, adapting to the environment, and understanding that every river, forest trail and community has its own rhythm.
Meet the team
Anders Andersen
Expedition leader, survival instructor & founder
Anders Andersen is the founder and lead instructor of The Wild Tales, bringing a background in expedition leadership, wilderness medicine, survival training and remote field operations.
Having lived and worked for several years in Guyana, including extensive time in the Rupununi, Anders previously worked as a survival instructor with Bushmasters UK and has since led expeditions, jungle survival courses and field operations throughout Guyana.
His wider international experience includes expedition and humanitarian work in Africa, South America, Iceland and other remote environments. Today, he works alongside Indigenous instructors and expedition specialists to develop safe, immersive journeys throughout Guyana’s rainforest, rivers and mountains.
Lionel James
Survival Instructor and Expedition Leader
Lionel James is a Makushi instructor and expedition leader from Surama Village, with more than 25 years of experience travelling, guiding and teaching in Guyana’s rainforest.
His knowledge began through family and community traditions, learning the forest through hunting, fishing, travel and everyday life before later working professionally on survival courses and expeditions.
Lionel has worked alongside international expedition teams, including Bushmasters UK, and has supported journeys across some of Guyana’s most remote regions. He is also a highly skilled craftsman, preserving and teaching traditional techniques including bow-making, natural materials and practical rainforest skills.
Joe Trevorrow
Expedition Leader
Joe Trevorrow joined The Wild Tales after first experiencing one of our expeditions as a guest and later becoming part of the expedition team.
Originally from the United Kingdom and with a background in the Royal Navy, Joe brings calm leadership, practical field experience and a strong interest in the natural and cultural history of the places we explore.
His interests in archaeology, geology, biology and remote travel make him particularly suited to exploratory expeditions, where curiosity and adaptability are as important as physical capability.
Vivian Smith
Expedition Leader & Fishing Guide
Vivian Smith is an expedition leader, survival instructor and fishing guide from Rewa Village, with extensive knowledge of Guyana’s rivers, rainforest and wildlife.
His field experience includes survival training, remote expeditions and television productions, alongside years spent travelling and fishing the waterways of Guyana’s interior.
Vivian combines practical rainforest knowledge with exceptional fishing experience, making him an important member of both our expedition and remote fishing teams.
Ray Chin
Bushcraft Instructor
Ray Chin is an experienced bushcraft instructor and wilderness practitioner with a long-standing background in practical outdoor skills and expedition travel.
As the founder of Back to Wilderness, Ray has built his teaching around hands-on bushcraft, traditional skills and learning through direct experience in the field.
His wider outdoor experience includes long-distance trekking, paddling and remote travel, while his work with The Wild Tales focuses on jungle bushcraft training alongside Indigenous instructors in Guyana.
OUR INDIGENOUS PARTNERS & GUIDES
Across Guyana, our expeditions and courses are made possible through collaboration with Indigenous guides, instructors, boatmen, trackers, cooks and community partners.
Their knowledge comes from generations of travelling, hunting, fishing and living within the rainforest, rivers, savannahs and mountain regions where we operate.
These are not simply support teams brought in for individual trips. They are partners in how routes are developed, how guests experience the landscape, and how traditional knowledge is shared responsibly.
Together, we combine local knowledge with expedition planning, logistics and modern safety systems to create journeys that are both genuinely immersive and rooted in the places we travel.
Our Values
Five principles shape how we work with guests, communities and the environments we travel through.
Authenticity
Real environments, real skills and real cultural exchange, without staging the wilderness or simplifying the experience.
Collaboration
We plan and operate alongside Indigenous guides, instructors and communities, recognising local knowledge as central to every journey.
Respect
We travel carefully, listen to local knowledge, and treat communities, wildlife, traditions and landscapes with the respect they deserve.
Safety
Remote travel is backed by trained leadership, preparation, communications, medical planning and clear expedition procedures.
Responsible Tourism
Our journeys are designed to support local livelihoods, strengthen community partnerships and leave a positive impact where we work.
Community Collaboration
Collaboration with Indigenous communities is central to how The Wild Tales operates in Guyana. Our expeditions, courses and tours are developed with local guides, instructors, boatmen, trackers, cooks and community partners who know these landscapes through lived experience.
These partnerships help shape routes, logistics, cultural visits and the way guests experience the rainforest, rivers, savannahs and mountain regions we travel through. Local knowledge is not an added feature of our trips; it is fundamental to how many of them are made possible.
We aim to create direct economic opportunities through guiding, transport, accommodation, meals, village fees and other locally provided services, while supporting the continued practice and responsible sharing of traditional knowledge.
Each partnership is different. We work with communities according to local arrangements, permissions and priorities, and we believe responsible tourism should create value for the people who live in the places guests have come to experience.
For our guests, this means travelling with greater context and understanding — not simply passing through a destination, but experiencing Guyana alongside people who know it as home.
What Makes Us Different
Local knowledge, experienced leadership and expedition systems built for remote travel in Guyana.
ACCREDITED TRAINING OPTIONS
Selected skills courses include recognised certification, alongside practical rainforest training delivered with experienced local and international instructors.
DIRECT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Our expeditions work directly with Indigenous communities, guides and local service providers, creating income through tourism and long-term collaboration.
PROVEN FIELD EXPERIENCE
Our team brings years of experience in survival training, expedition leadership, remote logistics, fishing and wilderness operations in Guyana and abroad.
Cultural Exchange
Guests travel alongside people who know these landscapes as home, creating opportunities for learning, conversation and cultural understanding.
Expert Leadership
Expeditions are led by experienced instructors and guides, supported by preparation, communications, medical planning and structured field procedures.
Indigenous Knowledge
Local knowledge shapes our routes, training and understanding of the rainforest, rivers and mountains where our journeys take place.