January 2024

‘After a relaxing night at an island resort, our Maldives cruise got underway, departing from an anchorage near Male and heading to the southern atolls for a week filled with some amazing wildlife encounters’ writes Operations Manager and tour leader Alison Steel. ‘A number of the reefs had excellent coral growths and formations, with many different fish and marine species to be seen. Despite the slightly breezy conditions, we were able to find five species of cetacean – Spinner, Common Bottlenose, Indo-Pacific Bottlenose and Striped Dolphins, as well as Short-finned Pilot Whales. Some of the Spinner Dolphins showed very acrobatic behaviour, including fast spins, leaps and bow riding; however, it was our Striped Dolphin experience that was particularly memorable. It had been a fairly quiet afternoon for sightings and we were about to head in when splashes were spotted about a mile away. This pod of around 70 animals was particularly energetic, with some huge jumps out of the water resulting in resounding splashes, showing off their bellies that were blush pink from their exertions. Once anchored for the night, there was still more to see, with fruit bats flying from some islands, then both Whale Shark on a couple of nights and Manta Rays on another night coming right up to the back of the boat, where the lights were attracting in aggregations of plankton. It’s a unique and memorable experience to be in the water after dark with these wonderful, large sea creatures!’

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February 2024

‘This short, but very successful, 5-day holiday to northern Iceland thankfully produced the aforementioned targets in the tour title, plus a wonderful array of other highlights, whether that be geological or wildlife!’ writes tour leader Matt Eade. ‘Our base at Lake Mývatn was well positioned to circumnavigate the frozen expanse, which is locally translated as ‘Midge Lake’, but no signs of these in the –15° temperatures! Before we had even really started, we were lucky enough to see two Humpback Whales at Akureyri, while other group highlights were some excellent Aurora formations on our second evening, large flocks of Barrow’s Goldeneye along torrent rivers, a Gyrfalcon taking out a Goosander mid-air, and a surprise Short-eared Owl and Merlin. However, perhaps the best was saved until last, when a day of biblical snow blizzards thankfully cleared to allow us to find some splendid flocks of the stupendous Harlequin Duck! A dip in the nature baths, the ever-impressive fumaroles and a landscape unmatched were also firm favourites, not to mention the excellent lunches and group camaraderie throughout!’


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January 2024

‘Two Naturetrek groups left the UK for the warmth of the Caribbean, with the first group arriving on 12th January’, writes tour leader Dave Jackson.

‘Daily excursions included birdwatching with local guides and a visit to an extinct volcano followed by an amazing culinary experience at the hotel’s Emerald Farm, where we had our lunch prepared as we sampled craft beers brewed on the premises.

Both groups had excellent views of all five endemics including St. Lucia Warbler, St. Lucia Oriole and St. Lucia Pewee. Other highlights included Rufous-throated Solitaire, White-breasted, Scaly-breasted and Pearly-eyed Thrashers. St. Lucia Parrots were seen from Des Cartier’s viewpoint and from the Millet Bird Sanctuary trail, where St. Lucia Black Finches were observed feeding on coconuts.

Pods of Fraser’s Dolphins fed close to the surface during our cetacean-watching cruise, with the same catamaran crew taking us up the coast to Castries for an aerial tram ride through the rainforest, where all three hummingbird species were seen.

We enjoyed exceptional hospitality at the award-winning Anse Chastanet Resort, with evening entertainment provided by several artists including homegrown country singer LM Stone, a steel band and a jazz guitarist playing the songs of George Benson and Dave Brubeck.

There were plenty of activities during leisure time including snorkelling, yoga, exploring the surroundings or watching the comings and goings of tame Lesser Antillean Bullfinches, Bananaquits and Grey Tremblers from our rooms.’


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November 2023

‘This was another successful and enjoyable tour to Oman’ writes tour leader Andy Smith. ‘We travelled the length of the country from Muscat in the north to Salalah in the far south and experienced a fantastic range of landscape and scenery, some great birding and a nice taste of Omani culture.

Along the way, we encountered a good selection of the regional bird specialities and enjoyed a number of surprises. The rich wetlands produced an excellent variety of waders, gulls and terns, from Terek Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers, Pin-tailed Snipes and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas to Saunder’s and White-cheeked Terns, mighty Pallas’s Gulls and amazing Crab Plovers. Raptors were impressive too and included Eastern Imperial, Steppe, Greater Spotted and Bonelli’s Eagles, Crested Honey Buzzard and Barbary Falcon; whilst an absolute highlight for many in the group were some wonderful views of a pair of Verreaux’s Eagles cruising past a breathtaking mountain viewpoint near Salalah.

Desert species were represented by the likes of Chestnut-bellied and Spotted Sandgrouse, Cream-coloured Coursers, Hoopoe Larks, Arabian Babblers and seven species of wheatear, whilst a couple of pelagic trips brought Red-billed Tropicbirds, Persian and Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Jouanin’s Petrels and Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel. Elsewhere, colourful Blue-cheeked and Arabian Green Bee-eaters, Indian Rollers and Arabian Sunbirds added to the fun and we also made some exciting, unexpected discoveries including, most notably, a flock of Sociable Lapwings on a ploughed field on a farm way out in the Empty Quarter.

We also saw a nice range of insects and plants and some great reptiles, including diminutive Rock Geckos and a False Cobra or Moila Snake. On one memorable starlit evening, we visited a Green Turtle nesting beach and got close to nesting females and brand-new hatchlings. All this and lots more in good company and fine sunshine – a great trip indeed!’

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January 2024

‘Sun and plenty of warmth from the word go dispelled the wet and windy weather in the UK, as we made the short journey from Banjul to Mandina Lodges in the Makasutu Cultural Forest’ writes tour leader Neil McMahon. ‘Positioned at the edge of the forest on a mangrove-dominated creek of the broad River Gambia, we spent the week exploring the area by canoe, boat, vehicle and on foot.

Birds very much dominate the natural history in this part of the world but who could ignore the endearing honey-coloured fruit bats flying around night and day, the fast-flying and ornate butterflies, geckos of various sizes and even a few huge Monitor Lizards and West African Crocodiles. Mammals included three species of primate, a Marsh Mongoose and even a Genet.

The mangroves were the hiding places of Mangrove Sunbird, the stunning and noisy Yellow-crowned Gonolek, the mysterious Tiger Heron and the simply huge Goliath Heron! Giant Kingfishers were particularly numerous and seen daily around the lodge, often at the same time as the gaudy Blue-breasted Kingfishers, show-off Pied Kingfishers and the diminutive but very special Malachite Kingfishers. White-throated Bee-eaters came to splash-bathe in the swimming pool, and water put out for the birds attracted doves, weavers, finches, sunbirds and the very common but handsome Western Plantain-eaters.

Ospreys fished the creek, Hooded Vultures and kites sat in tall trees or simply twirled the blue skies in ever decreasing circles and the Mandina Lodges kitchens enticed us with aromas of good food at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

All too soon we had to say good-bye to the rollers, sunbirds, turacos and bee-eaters and make our way back to the UK, loaded up with very special memories and wildlife encounters from this popular and very friendly nation.'

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