RAFT's Hosts & Guides

David Miller (left in picture below). David was brought up in Sussex, a neighbour of Dick Warren. He trained as an accountant, earning a pittance before working for a major accountancy firm in Canada and eventually being transferred to Brazil. After an internal reshuffle, he left the firm and eventually set up a successful consultancy business. About this time, he heard of some forest which was up for sale and after investigating it, he had no doubts of its value and bought it. This eventually became Sitio Bacchus. Bulldozers had to be brought in to expand the old hunters' paths into roads and the top has to be taken off a small hillock for a plateau on which to build the house. This was completed in 1974. David has also worked in the travel business, handling large groups of visiting Americans, and in publishing. After the production of Miller and Warren's 'Orchids of the High Mountain Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil' in 1996. David has been working full-time on the next ambitious project: a book on the 'Orchids of the Organ Mountains' which is a comprehensive study of the whole mountain range and is now nearing completion.

Izabel Moura Miller (centre in picture above). Izabel is the organisational power behind the trips, coordinating transport, catering and providing a superb cuisine. She is also a fine photographer and has accumulated a vast library of pictures of orchids and their habitats from the Organ Mountains. It has become tradition to offer guests a slide show so they may enjoy seeing some of the orchids on slides which are not in flower at the time of the visit. Izabel was also a champion archer and worked for some years in publishing where she and David met.

Dick Warren (right in picture above). Dick grew up in Sussex and after an unambitious school career, made a failed attempt at office life in Smithfield. In the 60's. he returned to study and graduated in botany, going on to a Ph. D. in plant pathology, specialising in potato blight. After 7 years in research, he was invited by David to visit Sitio Bacchus where he quickly decided to employ his research techniques in growing orchids from seed. He founded the Equatorial Plant Company and. during visits to Brazil, started to write up descriptions of the orchids found. These rather crude attempts formed the basis of the books. He also worked for some years as a freelance indexer of scientific and medical textbooks. In total he has spent over 3 years in Brazil.

Chris Dobson. Chris is from Runcorn and when not dashing off to Brazil or Thailand, works as a driving instructor. He was, for many years, an accountant with the Manchester Ship Canal. He is interested in history and knows much about the canal, Runcorn and has successfully researched the historical connections between Aigburth in Liverpool, the Harrison family and the 19th. century Brazilian orchid collectors. He has been guiding visiting groups around the forests for eight years.
Helmut Seehawer. Helmut is a retired Lufthansa pilot who has spent many years studying the Pleurothallids in Macae and the Organ Mountains and has produced a series of beautiful water colours showing these plants in all their microscopic glory. A selection of these were shown at the RHS London International orchid Show in 2004 and awarded a coveted silver-gilt medal..

Carlinhos and Madaleine. Carl and Madaleine have worked at Sitio Bacchus on and off for almost 30 years. As a teenager, Carl worked on building the house, the trout tanks, the pheasantry, the water supply and general maintenance. He is most at home in the forest where he is the guide, path-cutter, orchid spotter and safety officer. Madaleine is an experienced
hotelier and caterer and your comfort as well as your meals are in her and Izabel's capable hands.