Mikel

Guide

My name is Mikel, which is 'Miguel' or 'Michael' in Basque, a language I've spoken since birth. I'm 55 years old, happily married, and a father of three young adults.

I have a rather diverse background and have held various jobs: engineering, meditation, philosophy, and several languages. I am a Tai Chi - Chi Kung teacher, interested in holistic health, transpersonal development, and I devote my free time to expressing my musical curiosity.

I am a product of the fascinating world I lived in as a child. When I wasn't in school, I spent most of my time in my family's farmhouses, between the sea and the mountains, watching my grandmother María make cheese, curd, sausage, preparing the freshly slaughtered lamb, gathering chestnuts and mushrooms in the forest; or fishing octopus, crabs, prawns, and conger eels with my grandfather Ramón.

I am a storyteller. I suppose my passion for guiding through my land and telling stories comes from my childhood, from everything that reached my ears and that I listened to spellbound: stories of my people, their places, traditions, and ways of life; and how they laughed (and cried) at the joys (and sorrows) that accompanied them.