Founded by siblings John Cahill and Sunshine Soledá de Vries, Xikanel Birding is a growing network of bird guides based in Cobán, Guatemala and Risaralda, Colombia. Our team offers in-depth knowledge of the places we guide. We partner with local services to provide authentic experiences while responsibly benefitting local communities and conservation efforts.
John Cahill
Founder & tour leader
Birding asince age 5, John is one of the top birders in Guatemala, completing two national Big Years before graduating from high school. Having seen the birds of Guatemala, John took the logical next step: mastering birding in Colombia, the most biologically diverse country in the world. Today, John and actively participates in the leadership of Guatemala’s birding community.
Michelle A. Tapasco
Marketing & logistics
Michelle started birding at age 7 in Colombia’s Western Andes. She has a pretty incredible life-list, including some of the most sought after ultra-endemics Colombia has to offer. Michelle’s family runs one of the most remarkable birding lodges in the country—Montezuma Rainforest. Michelle currently studies forestry engineering in Guatemala.
Max A. Noack
Tour leader
eBirder and conservationist in Guatemala. Max and his family own two nature preserves in the central highlands: Finca Las Nubes and RNP Chajbaoc. Dedicating his time to ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration, Max has a keen interest in ancestral crops, which he considers the key to fighting deforestation and hunger in the Verapaz region. Max serves as an eBird reviewer for Guatemala.
Sunshine de Vries
Tour leader & Logistics
Sunshine , living Chicago, Illinois and Cobán, Guatemala. In Chicago, Sunshine is a teacher and playworker and co-founder of Wild Onion Play Collective, a nature play-school.
The Xikanel Network
Over the course of 20+ years, John and Michelle have conjoined a network of birders, ecotoursim workers, conservationists, and local communities across both Guatemala and Colombia; a network of people with the aligned goals of place-based bird conservation and socially-responsible travel. Thanks to this extensive network, we are able to offer some of the finest birding experiences in the region.
Xikanel 