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Butterflies of Morocco's High Atlas Mountains
Tour Code: MAR02An 8-day holiday in search of the butterflies of the High Atlas Mountains. A wealth of other wildlife, mountain walks, spectacular scenery and the colourful culture of the Berber people are amongst other tour highlights.
£1,995 (Inc flights)
£1,795
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
Our trip centres in the High Atlas, a beautiful mountain range that is as high as the Alps and stretches for 700km across Morocco. From our base at Ouirgane, a little village in the heart of the High Atlas foothills, we’ll make day trips to look for many of the butterfly species special to the country including Moroccan endemics such as Vaucher’s Heath, North African endemics and localised subspecies such as Green-veined White. We’ll be hoping to find about 45 species during our trip, including as many as six of the eight Moroccan endemics. There are many birds of interest in the High Atlas and we’ll also find time to look for species such as Levaillant’s Green Woodpecker and Crimson-winged Finch, as well as enjoy leisurely picnic lunches and the splendid scenery around us.
- Nearly 100 species of butterflies have been recorded in southern Morocco and the tour is timed for maximum diversity
- Very reliable warm weather & sunshine, ideal for butterflies!
- Targeting species that are endemic to the massif including Atlas Blue, Berberia Graylings and Silver-lines
- Chance of other invertebrates including the endemic Atlas Goldenring and Barbary Featherleg
- Visit Toubkal National Park, with its larger mammals including Mouflon and Cuvier’s Gazelles
- Single-centre holiday with pool
- Atlas Flycatcher, Moussier’s Redstart, Tristram’s Warbler & Seebohm’s Wheatear
- Enjoy colourful flowers in the High Atlas
- Tasty traditional Moroccan & French food
- Led by an expert naturalist guide
Grading
Whilst the pace will be generally slow, some trails are on unmade roads and tracks in the mountains.Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
A hotel set in large grounds with a swimming pool and spectacular views. The comfortable rooms all have private facilities.
- Food:
All included in the price starting with dinner on Day 1 and ending with breakfast on Day 8
Dates & Prices
2025
Tour Leader: Martin Pitt
Martin has had an interest in wildlife since an early age and, although he worked in development and consultancy across the globe, he has always kept this interest going. He has been leading tours for Naturetrek, both in the UK and overseas, since 2017.
Primarily interested in birds and mammals, his time living in the Middle East (a year in the UAE and 2 years in Israel) gave him a deep love of desert ecosystems. More recently, he has spent an increasing amount of time focused on butterflies and dragonflies. He is the author of the ‘Crossbill Nature Guide to Southern Morocco’ and as of 2023 he is also the Bird Recorder for Hampshire.
Martin has led a number of tours, including day trips and weekends in Hampshire and the adjacent areas, as well as tours overseas including Austria, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Spain and Uzbekistan.
2026
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Who can fail to be delighted by butterflies – the intensity and variety of their colours, their delicate beauty and fascinating life cycles? Our tours allow butterfly-watching enthusiasts to observe marvellous species all around the world. Sadly, butterflies are in decline in many regions. To help prevent the loss of these beautiful creatures, our butterfly holidays make a direct contribution to their conservation.
Naturetrek Butterfly Tours
- We offer an excellent range of dedicated butterfly holidays
- All tours are led by a Naturetrek butterfly-watching expert
- Although butterflies are the main focus of our butterfly tours, we also take time to observe other wildlife
- By booking one of our dedicated butterfly holidays you will automatically be making a contribution to their conservation.
Here’s a selection of our dedicated butterfly tours:
Although we include butterfly-watching in many of our holidays, we offer a wide selection of dedicated butterfly tours, including:
- The Cevennes – we look for butterflies in the Massif Central
- Butterflies in Normandy – we go in search of some of Normandy’s 160 species of butterfly
- Sweden's Butterflies & Dragonflies – Sweden is home to Large Blue, Apollo, Scarce Copper and many more species
- Butterflies of the Dolomites – we explore sheltered valleys and butterfly hot-spots in the Italian Dolomites
- Sri Lanka - A Butterfly Tour – seeking Sri Lanka’s dazzling tropical species
- Butterflies of Morocco's High Atlas Mountains – a search for the butterflies of the High Atlas Mountains, with a wealth of other wildlife and mountain walks in spectacular scenery.
Naturetrek & Butterfly Conservation
As a top category ‘Gold’ corporate sponsor of Butterfly Conservation (BC), we donate around £1,500 annually to the charity. As well as this, since 2002 we have donated 10% of all income generated by our annual programme of butterfly tours that we run in partnership with BC, and give BC membership to all non-members joining the tours.
Our specialist recommends...
"I'd recommend Naturetrek's Butterflies of South Africa holiday. On this butterfly holiday we look for butterflies in the Wajkkerstrom (montane grassland), which supports a wonderful diversity of species. Closer to home I'd suggest our Butterflies of Hungary tour, or Butterflies of Croatia for unspoilt landscapes and a density of butterfly-life rarely seen in western Europe now."
Tom Brereton - Operations Manager
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Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
Enquire
Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
