Blue iguana warden leaves a lasting impression

When it comes to living life to the fullest, Alberto Estevanovich is an example for us all.

The Costa Rican native, who has been the head warden of blue iguanas at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park since 2009, is retiring from his job, but is certainly not resting on his laurels.

Since moving to Grand Cayman in 1970, Estevanovich has worked in a number of professions, from hospitality to restaurants and conservation. Everywhere he goes on the island, people recognise his smiling face. He has clearly made a lasting impression on the community.

Before coming to Cayman at the young age of 26, Estevanovich had already travelled extensively. He left Costa Rica when he was 19, settling down in Germany for a while before visiting and working in other European countries. On this journey, he acquired bar skills in clubs and gained hospitality experience through small hotels in Spain. By the time he returned home, he had picked up his fair share of foreign languages. This, coupled with his bartending knowledge, proved to be an advantage when he applied for a job at the Galleon Beach Hotel in the Cayman Islands, which was advertised in a Costa Rican paper.

The manager of Galleon Beach at the time – David Mitchell – hired Estevanovich, and so began the latter’s love affair with Cayman.

“Some of my best times on the island were at Galleon Beach,” Estevanovich said.

He was the bar manager there for “six or seven years” before moving right next door to the Holiday Inn (now the site of The Ritz-Carlton resort), where he took the post of beverage and nightclub manager. Many who were on the island in those days will remember the Wreck of the Ten Sails room in the hotel, which became known for its live music and, in the early ‘90s, Coconuts Comedy Club. It was one of the hottest spots in Cayman.

After a decade of working on Seven Mile Beach, it was time for a change. Estevanovich reconnected with Mitchell, who hired him to run the airport lounge at Owen Roberts International Airport before the well-known Hungry Horse first opened.

“I stayed there for a while,” he said, “and then I went home [to Costa Rica] for a bit.”

In the time that followed, he would spend a couple of years in the Turks and Caicos Islands before coming back to Cayman to work as bar manager at Grand Pavilion (which was a hotel at the time), and to join the crew at the legendary Durty Reid’s bar, owned by the unforgettable Reid Dennis. Estevanovich even owned a nightclub for a short period – the Islander – located in a now-demolished building on Lawrence Boulevard. He isn’t quite sure when that was, but I personally remember being in my late teens, trying to get in there with him at the door. I won’t reveal the year either.

It had been fun, working in bars and socialising with patrons, but he had another passion in his life – conservation. When at home in Costa Rica, Estevanovich worked with volunteer organisations that protected marine life and wildlife parks. It therefore seemed the right fit for him to follow that calling here, which is how he ended up at the Botanic Park in 2009, looking after the endangered blue iguanas. It was the right decision at the right time.

“I love conservation and I love this planet,” Estevanovich said. “[The blue iguanas] changed my life. I love those animals; they changed everything for me.”

A particularly proud moment was when he was able to take Prince Charles on a tour of the park when the British Royal visited with his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in March 2019.

“I had a great time with him; it was a great conversation,” Estevanovich said, adding that the prince was very interested in learning about the iguanas.

Now that he has retired, Estevanovich is planning to visit his daughter in London, and to spend some time in Costa Rica, continuing his conservation work.

“I’ll be working with turtles and in jungles,” he said, happily. He obviously doesn’t miss the bar jobs and prefers the patrons he encounters now. “The good thing about these animals is that they don’t talk back at you,” he laughed.

He also wants to travel more. After living in Germany, Spain, Greece, Italy and the Canary Islands, places like Asia, Australia and New Zealand are beckoning.

That being said, he will definitely be coming back to Cayman at some point. “I love this island. I have two homes: here and Costa Rica,” Estevanovich said.

At the Botanic Park, there is now a blue iguana named after him. Alberto the blue will be awaiting his return.