Diane McTurk was born at Karanambu soon after her pioneer father, Tiny McTurk, established a cattle ranch there. After living abroad, as well as in the capital city of Georgetown, Diane returned to Karanambu in 1983 and opened her home to eco-tourists. She also offered refuge to injured or orphaned wildlife, including the rare Giant Otter. Diane is well known for her warm hospitality, her adventuresome spirit, and her expertise with otters. Under her leadership, the Karanambu Lodge has become increasingly popular, and the Karanambu Trust increasingly active. Her friends call her the "otterly delightful lady of the Rupununi."

Andrea and Salvador first came to Karanambu as guests. Salvador was born and raised in Guyana and had known Diane for many years before he brought Andrea to Karanambu for the first time. Andrea had been a senior executive in the prestige cosmetic industry in Manhattan, New York for more years than she cares to admit. During their first visit together, Diane joined Andrea and Salvador in a visit to Iwokrama where they were making a presentation to the Toshoas (village council leaders) of the North Rupununi about the possibility of using natural ingredients found locally to make an organic skincare line — imagine!

The following year, Andrea and Salvador came back to visit their dear friend Diane for a 10-day visit and ended up staying for 3 months. It wasn't long after their return to the United States that Diane called them on Skype and suggested that they "make my home your home — for good!". It took them all of five minutes to decide, but they pretended to take 24 hours before they called her back and said, "YES!" In August of 2010, Andrea and Salvador packed up their lives and moved to Karanambu!