Who are we?
Wanderlust is led by three good friends. We have grown up in the countryside and left to seek fortune in the city. Eventually we grew tired of city life and started looking for our true nature and roots with the help of the wilderness.
Hiking and organizing nature tours has never been a work for us but a fun part of our everyday lives.
Signe Ohakas
Co-founder | nature guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English, Finnish, French
I am a second-generation nature guide. In addition to spending time in the wilderness, my hobbies include self-development practices, backpacking trips in Southeast Asia and choir singing. My aim is that our adventure into the wilderness would leave you with a memorable experience and new knowledge. The more you learn about the wonders of nature, the more rewarding being in the wilderness becomes.
I have acquired my education in the field of business management and international relations. I have spent the majority of my professional career abroad working on diplomacy and development cooperation. My desire to be closer to our beautiful and untouched nature brought me back to Estonia. I have studied what is dearest to me – nature tourism in Luua Forestry School.
Phone: +372 5904 7065 | E-mail: [email protected]
Reimo Mürgimäe
Co-founder | nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I will be your guide during the adventures through forests, bogs and across the islands, so that you could tune out and enjoy the beautiful Estonian wilderness. If I am not on a bicycle trip, I am busy with a band rehearsal or beekeeping not far from Viru bog. During winters, I snowboard in the mountains and hike on snowshoes in the bogs.
I acquired my education as a nature guide in Luua Forestry School. Previously I have studied business management and finance and worked in the financial sector for many years.
Phone: +372 5622 6502 | E-mail: [email protected]
Tiina Klooster
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English, Finnish, Russian
My favorite way to travel is with a kayak. While adventuring on rivers, lakes and the sea, you can discover a whole new world, which is very easy to fall in love with. When you are on the water, you forget everything else and you can enjoy pure presence and a better connection with your companions and the surrounding nature. Kayaking offers endless opportunities to learn and develop. If you have a fear of water, I will be happy to help you overcome in a safe environment.
Come and let’s discover the charms of Estonian waters together!
E-mail: [email protected]
Fred Taik
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I spent the majority of my twenties on self-searching in Asia, New Zealand and Iceland. During that time, I understood that the one place where I feel most alive is in the wilderness and hiking trails. After returning home I began my educational journey in Luua Forestry School.
I have previously studied Asian culture and my everyday work comprises organization of cultural events. The more time passes, the more I want to spend my days on bicycle trips, multi-day mountain hikes and on our beautiful bog landscapes.
E-mail: [email protected]
Jaana Ahlberg
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
As a tour guide, my aim is not the mileage. My aim is to help you find peace while hiking and to learn to observe and notice the surrounding world.
One of my major interests is biodiversity in cities and in nature. In Tartu, I promote sustainable living in community gardens and a repair shop called Paranduskelder, and partake in the development of townscape as a landscape architect. If I had unlimited time in my hands, I would roam through every secret place, learn to speak every language in the world and would just study endlessly the ways the living world works.
E-mail: [email protected]
Liisi Preedin
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
Probably not a single day passes in my life where hiking does not play a role – be it hiking as an activity, generating new ideas for hikes and preparing hiking routes or simply dreaming of future hikes and remembering the previous ones. The biggest part of my heart belongs to mountains but in my home country I am most fascinated about bog islands, old railway dams and exciting cultural historical places. What I love the most are multi-day and longer exploration hikes as they
enable me to switch off completely from the rest of the world and be in the moment.
In addition to hiking and guiding, I work as a landscape architect in Tartu. In 2020 I graduated from the greatest school in the world – Luua Forestry School – on nature tourism.
E-mail: [email protected]
Sirja Ohakas
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English, Russian
Growing up in the countryside I was interested in nature since childhood. Books on plants were my favourite literature during adolescence. In my youth I spent holidays hiking in the wilderness of the “vast homeland” – Soviet Union: Putorana, Kamchatka Peninsula up to South-Kuril islands, sometimes also leading the groups. Later I have backpacked in South-East Asia and India-Nepal. As a volunteer I have organized sports and nature events for children. Now I love to spend time with my grandchildren – expand their horizons, hike together and explain to them the fascinating functioning of nature. I wish to share this enthusiasm also with others.
By education I am an agronomist and work for the Estonian Crop Research Institute. Some years ago I graduated as a nature guide from Luua Forestry School.
E-mail: [email protected]
Marju Potter
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
My passion is camping food! Above all, I am annoyed by the waste and reckless consumption of food. This is why hiking and cooking food by the campfire in ascetic conditions offers me enormous satisfaction. I am driven by the longing for the authenticity of nature – the worse the weather and the harder the trail, the more memorable the experience!
I am an architect by education, but currently working as a graphic designer. In addition to passionate cooking, I see a creative approach to problem solving and a keen eye for details as my strengths.
In 2021, I started studying at Luua Forestry School as a nature guide in order to combine hiking gourmet, genuine emotions and moving in nature into a combo that can be shared with you!
E-mail: [email protected]
Anu Kookla
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I know how foggy pine forests smell, the Emajõgi River tastes in summer and where is the best view on Estonia. It is so because in addition to my job as a nature guide, I am also a SUP-instructor and a watch tower enthusiast.
Creativity plays an important role in my life. I am a designer by education, who not only reads but also binds and illustrates books. What I create is often inspired by nature. That is why I enjoy most of all journeys of discovery, be it on my plant-rich windowsill or in a deep bog. A hike is perfect for me if I can share it with others. See you on the hike!
E-mail: [email protected]
Paula Solvak
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I have been fond of hiking since high school, and it gained momentum at the university while I was studying biology and geography. I started organizing hikes after graduating as nature guide from Luua Forestry School. Living in a place with a very picturesque and diverse nature – Karula National Park – I wanted to share this beauty with others. Due to my great interest and love of nature and diverse hiking experience, I also organize hikes elsewhere than South-Estonia. My favorite style is hiking by foot, as there are plenty of opportunities to get off the trail, for adventure and for discovering and feeling nature.
E-mail: [email protected]
Kaidi Jõesalu
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian
I started hiking and sharing my knowledge on nature more than 10 years ago in my job with the State Forest Management Center. During these years, most of Estonia’s hiking trails have become familiar to me besides the travelling done in more faraway places.
In addition to childhood exploring, I have acquired a large part of my knowledge on nature while studying gardening at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. In 2021 I started my studies at Luua Forestry School as nature guide. All this in order to make you feel comfortable and safe while hiking with me.
What I love most are multi-day hikes, when you can take a break from the daily routine and comfort zone, and experience something new and exciting that brings a smile to your face. It is so true that being in nature makes us each a better person!
E-mail: [email protected]
Mihkel Tanissaar
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I feel most comfortable on the water and I invite everyone to enjoy the silence and freedom that can be experienced while gliding on the waves in a kayak. Lakes, coastal seas, winding rivers offer views and experiences that remain unattainable on dry land.
It is great to see the emotions that beginners experience when making their first rowing strokes and realizing how simple and natural this movement is. I also enjoy the fatigue I feel by the campfire after a day of hiking. In these moments, the best ideas for new hikes come.
Adventures, hikes and travels are an integral part of my life. Sometimes I pack my backpack for several months and go to explore the wider world. So far, my favorite destinations are in Southeast Asia, where local culture, food, warm weather and the sea keep calling me back. In the meantime, I take shorter hikes in my country and as job I help companies and individuals furnish different areas with furniture.
E-mail: [email protected]
Gen Mandre
Rappelling instructor at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I live in a flat country and I am a climber – good joke 🙂. I am a designer by profession, working as a landscape architect and designing furniture. Exciting challenges and nature have always fascinated me. I have been climbing for more than 11 years now, and because of that, I got to touch the rock in many different places.
I started climbing while living in Denmark, another very flat country. When I came back to Estonia, I looked for climbing training in Tartu and now I am part of the Estonian climbing community. My great wish is to make climbing as popular in Estonia as it is in Denmark, for instance.
E-mail: [email protected]
Riivo Masing
Nature tour guide and survival instructor at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English, Spanish
I invite you to wander, to discover secret paths, to note the imperceptible and to learn survival tips that anyone who picks mushrooms should know.
My nature education began to take root in the 5th grade, when I had to go to summerschool in nature education 🙂 Later I studied environmental protection and finally acquired the specialty of hiking guide at Luua Forestry School.
I started to deal with survival more seriously when I was a conscript in the Narva-Jõesuu Sissikompani, and I have continued it later as a member of the Estonian Defense League.
I share with you my own experiences, knowledge and skills about how to move in nature, where to find water and food, so that you don’t panic if you get lost. So that you can feel the joy of exploring new places with peace of mind.
E-mail: [email protected]
Tõnis Taul
Nature tour guide at Wanderlust
Languages: Estonian, English
I like being in nature and being active. What drives me forward is curiosity – who is staring at me from under the carpet of moss, or how high is that rock on the horizon anyway? When I get enough of being active, I sit down and play some instrumental music.
I am a musician and I am also involved in all kinds of active activities – rock climbing, flying, hiking. I graduated as a recreational activity instructor at the Tartu Vocational College in order to learn how to pass these activities on to others. You can find me at Ronimistehas in Tartu, where I guide climbers or set climbing routes.
And of course you can find me here at Wanderlust, where I’ll help you have a good time in nature.
E-mail: [email protected]