Mélida Barbee

Mélida Barbee was born in Guatemala in 1972. In 1973 her family moved to Costa Rica where she has established her permanent residency and citizenship. Meli attended the Country Day School in San José and graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on tropical regions.

Mélida worked as an international adventure guide for over 10 years. She lead international participants of all ages on surf safaris, mountain biking, sea kayaking, rafting, and trekking adventures primarily in Costa Rica and the USA. Over the years, Mélida recognized the need for outdoor programs that inspire greater outdoor appreciation, environmental awareness and conservation for Costa Rican young adults. Soon her passion for the outdoors, lust for adventure and work with national conservation efforts inspired the creation of Adventures Under the Sun. Gradually, AUSun programs have become more multicultural as they are opened to the international marketplace.

With six years of experience as an extreme athlete in Costa Rica, Meli integrated physical activities as a key element to AUSun adventures. She trains and competes heavily in triathlon, marathons, ultra-marathons and adventures races, including the well re-known ECO CHALLENGE Fiji 2002. These physical challenges and the training it has taken to accomplish these have had a big impact on Meli's personal life, her values in life and her health and life style. This impact has encouraged her to try and influence younger generations to become more physically active in the technologically and media influenced world we live in today.