Megan Hollis
Founder, forest guideFormer park biologist with an M.S. in forest ecology from the University of Maine. Leads the forest and mushroom trips and still cannot walk past a lichen without stopping.
Our story
Four naturalists and a shop by the harbor
We started with one guide, one borrowed van and a Saturday mushroom walk. Twelve years later the idea is the same: small groups, real expertise, and leave the place better than we found it.
Why Natulivo
Most people walk past ninety percent of what is there.
Megan started Natulivo after years of watching visitors race up Acadia's trails to the summit view without once looking at their feet. The name comes from natura and vivo: living nature.
The idea was simple. Take people slowly through the best places on the Maine coast, put a hand lens in their hand and explain what they are looking at. Most guests leave knowing ten species they did not know that morning, and many come back in another season to see the same place change.
In 2017 we opened the shop on Harbor Lane in Bar Harbor, because guests kept asking where to buy the binoculars and field guides we used. In 2020 Caleb built the workshop in the back room so we could repair them as well.
12seasons guiding in Acadia and Downeast Maine
21,500guests since the first walk
84,000dollars given to Maine conservation groups
0serious incidents on any trip
The team
The people you will meet.
Every guide is a Registered Maine Guide, holds a current Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder certification and has passed a background check. Six seasonal guides join us from May to October.
Rob Pinkham
Marine guideGrew up on Mount Desert Island and spent 22 years hauling lobster traps before studying marine biology. ACA certified coastal kayak instructor and volunteer seal survey diver.
Priya Nair
Botanist, meadow and barrens guideStudied plant biology in Orono and surveys rare plants on the Downeast barrens for a state conservation program. Knows the local name for nearly everything in flower.
Caleb Teague
Shop and workshop managerTrained optician turned binocular repairer. Runs the shop, the workshop and the shipping room, and answers most of the phone calls.
What we stand for
Three promises we do not bend.
They cost us bookings sometimes. We keep them anyway.
Small groups only
Fourteen people at most on land, eight on the water. Bigger groups trample trails and nobody hears the guide.
Wildlife first
If an animal is disturbed, we move on. We do not bait, call or chase, and we do not publish sensitive sites.
Money back to the land
5% of every booking, not of profit, goes to Friends of Acadia and Maine Coast Heritage Trust for trail and land protection work.
Timeline
How we got here.
- 2014
First walk
Megan runs a Saturday mushroom walk in the woods near Ellsworth for nine people.
- 2016
To the sea
Rob joins and the first tide pool safaris start at Ship Harbor.
- 2017
The shop opens
A former sail loft on Harbor Lane becomes the field shop.
- 2020
Workshop
Caleb sets up binocular repairs and the online shop launches.
- 2023
Meadows
Priya joins and meadow days begin with three Blue Hill farms.
- 2026
Twelve seasons
410 guided trips a year and 6,800 trees planted with local land trusts.
Permits & partners
Who we work with.
We are members of, or donors to, the organizations below. None of them endorse our products.
National Park Service
We guide in Acadia National Park under a Commercial Use Authorization and follow all park rules on group size and closures.
Friends of Acadia
Business member since 2015. Our donations support trail crews and the Island Explorer shuttle that keeps cars off park roads.
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
We help fund island and shoreline protection and bring guests to two volunteer workdays a year.
Maine Audubon
Our guides submit every bird list from every trip to community science databases and the state bird atlas.
American Canoe Association
Our sea kayak guides hold ACA coastal kayaking certifications and follow ACA safety standards on every paddle.
Local farms
Three family farms host our meadow days and supply our picnic lunches, paid at full retail price.
Come and walk with us.
Join a group trip, book a private day, or just stop by the shop on Harbor Lane and say hello.