Mireya Mayor: Pink Boots and a Machete

Dr. Mireya Mayor—hailed by The New York Times as “The Female Indiana Jones”—is a world-renowned primatologist, explorer, and Emmy Award-nominated TV host. What she is not is typical.

As National Geographic’s first female wildlife correspondent, Mireya launched her TV career, reporting from remote locales where she conducted field research.  Since then, she has hosted dozens of documentaries, including her series Wild Nights with Mireya Mayor (Nat GeoWILD), Mark Burnett’s Expedition Africa (History Channel), and the current hit series, Expedition Bigfoot, (Travel Channel).  Mireya grew up in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, overprotected by her Cuban immigrant parents, so, when she won a Fulbright Scholarship that would send her packing a machete, and hiking into the jungles of South America, it would be her first camping trip.