Who are we?

We are a small and highly experienced tour operator, owned and operated by husband and wife team Heather Blenkiron and  Marc Patry. They moved to Galapagos just three weeks after getting married, working for the Darwin Research Station / Galapagos National Park Service from 1998-2002.  Marc had been hired to start up the largest ever ecological restoration project in the history of Galapagos.  While there, Heather was asked by the Canadian ambassador to act as the embassy representative in the islands and worked on improving the visitor experience at the Darwin Station.   

Heather & Marc 1998, in Galapagos

Marc had been involved in organizing trips to Latin America as part of his previous job - and it was no surprise that people he had led on trips in that capacity approached him to organize trips to Galapagos. The first such trip he organized was in 1999 - marking the birth of CNH Tours. 

After their time in Galapagos, they moved to Paris for 11 years, where Marc took on the job of Programme Specialist at UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, in charge of natural World Heritage sites in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the implentation of conservation projects throughout the world.   

In Paris, while balancing the needs of their growing family, Heather took over the fledgling operations of CNH Tours and gradually built it up from a small hobby business to what it is today.  In 2014, they moved to Nairobi where Marc served as UNESCO's culture programme expert for East Africa. Two years later, Marc left UNESCO and he and Heather moved back to Ottawa, joining Heather at CNH Tours.

Our senior associate, Kelsey Bradley, (below) lived and worked in Galapagos from 2010-18; for the last four years she was the Darwin Station fundraising manager, forging ties with the tourism sector.  By pure coincidence, Kelsey is an Ottawa native.  She moved back to Ottawa in 2018 and joined our team then, providing invaluable support to both our sales and management efforts. 

We also have Galapagos-based expedition cruise advisors, Daniela Aguirre (below) and Tina Fitter, (further below) helping our guests find an ideal trip - Daniela is a naturalist guide with several years of experience working on a variety of ships and UK born Tina moved to Galapagos in 1995 - spending many years working with the tourism industry there. 

Daniela on Fernandina Island

Tina on pahohoe lava


CNH Tours maintains very close relationships with the Galapagos community – few if any Galapagos agencies know the islands as intimately as we do. 

In Quito, CNH Tours counts on the full time support of both Mercedes Mugueytio (pictured below) and Tannya Torres.  Mercedes is our extension expert - able to help our guests consider / plan and book pre or post extensions in Ecuador, while Tannya is our "proposals" colleague. Based our our guests' particular interests, she will scour all ship availabilities and assembled detailed proposals for their consideration. Both have been in the Galapagos / Ecuador travel business for over 25 years.  

   
Mercedes inspecting a volcanic lake on the mainland


OUR POLAR TEAM
We also enjoy the support of two very much appreciated Polar experts.   Danna Walker (our Polar Destination Expert) has many years of experience in the tourism world at both poles.  Danna guides us in terms of what trips to offer at the poles and maintains our excellent network with partners at both ends of the planet.  Danny lives near Whistler, British Columbia. 

Danna Walker - ready for the Arctic



Kathy Haesevoets is our Antarctica Travel Advisor - her focus is on heping people plan and book their Antarctica adventures.  A real outdoor enthusiast, Kathy lives in Victoria, British Columbia. 

Kathy Haesevoets - keen on Antarctica