The path to Dragonfly Expeditions of everybody on the team has been shaped by their life’s journey.  This is probably true the most for Bernardo Carrillo who was born in Ecuador, but by the time he was 18 had already lived in Los Angeles, Quito, Colorado, Louisiana, Abu Dhabi, Cyprus, France, Switzerland and Boston!  Graduating from Northeastern University in 1992 after double-majoring in Economics and Political Science, he was able to secure his first job at the ITT Sheraton in Boston in a very tough job market.  But within a year, his dream of helping protect the environment while creating a profitable enterprise had him launch the eco-tourism company Eco Voyager together with a business partner.  By the mid-1990s Bernardo chose to take a full time position with Saga Holidays in Boston – temporarily shelving his entrepreneurial pursuits, while his business partner decided to continue the company on his own in Miami for another 3 years. In 1998 Bernardo’s old business partner decided to sell the business, at which point Bernardo re-connected with his old dream, so he bought the company back and also relocated the headquarters back to Boston. After six years of continued growth and expansion with more offices in Latin America, Bernardo moved the company and his family life to Miami in 2004 to be closer to his operations in South America.  Due to its rapid growth, he decided to sell parts of Eco Voyager in 2006 and 2007, but the following recession resulted in him becoming the Managing Director for Maupintour in 2009 (but not before a brief encounter with Dragonfly Expeditions).

After leaving Maupintour a year later, he finally joined Dragonfly Expeditions where he gained a new appreciation of discovery of the unknown right here on US soil – something he had missed out on after sending travelers to remote places during his whole career.  He is enamored with Florida, because it is the first place he is allowed to experience from the “inside” perspective.  He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and son, as well as volunteering for several causes.  Bernardo currently handles the Dragonfly Expeditions finances, but is equally involved in the business development process of our multi-day journeys and as a business partner in the geographical expansion of the Earth Lion Expeditions brand which ventures beyond the realm of the Caribbean Basin.  The balance of being happy and being part of a successful entrepreneurial venture while working for a great cause is what makes him feel at home on our team – and coming to the office at the Biltmore Hotel does not only feel like a vacation, it also brings him full circle from the first hotel job that started him on his journey in the travel industry!