Sri Lanka at Night
Guyana
Wildlife at Leisure
Book now to secure 2025 prices!
Tours that take the strain out of enjoying Europe’s flora and fauna! Tours under this banner will be based in just a couple of good quality hotels, and will have direct flights. And most importantly, field trips will be kept to a maximum of six or so hours giving you plenty of time to relax before and after.
Marrakech is our gateway to the majestic scenery of the High Atlas Mountains. The little hamlet of Imagira is our base, set in the valley above Asni on the route up to the famous Tiz n’Test Pass. From here we’ll explore hillsides decorated with creamy Narcissus bulbocodium subspecies pallidus above richly coloured fields full of Lupins, Cladanthus, Silenes, Muscaris and Lavandulas where Clouded Yellows, Moroccan Orange-tips and Greenish Black-tips will provide a feast of colour for our cameras. At the ski resort of Oukaimeden pretty Romulea bifrons forms colonies in short turf where Crimson-winged Finches feed by melting snow, and descending we’ll stop to photograph White Storks at the nest, and the dazzling colours of Moussier’s Redstarts will keep us enthralled. We’ll visit the gorgeous Berber village of Imlil under the shadow great Mount Aksoual in Toubkal National Park. Cherry blossom drapes the village, the sinuous line of the streams picked out by walnut groves from whence the calls of Levaillant’s Green Woodpeckers seem always within hearing. Flocks of Alpine Chough play in cheeky flocks about the village whilst on the slopes above are golden Narcissus jeanmonodii, rare ivory-white Narcissus watieri, and Colchicum triphyllum. We’ll spend an afternoon enjoying the sights of exotic Marrakech after a spot of birdwatching on the N’Fiss reservoir where Squacco Herons, Ruddy Shelduck, and various waders, wildfowl and terns congregate during migration, as do mixed flocks of Yellow Wagtails. Endemic Tristram’s Warblers and Atlas Geckos inhabit the drier warmer Sahara-facing slopes where we’ll find Chapman’s Green Hairstreak and Moroccan Hairstreak. Here are an assortment of often beautiful toadflaxes, notably stripey Linaria ventricosa and climbing Linaria sagittaria and the striking bushy purple and yellow Polygala baetica.
Barbary Falcons patrol the rocky gorges where we’ll find Dipcadi serotinum and the little iris Gynandris monophylla whose blooms need many hours of daylight to awake them. There are so many unusual flowers; there’s the amazing little daisy Anacyclus depressus subspecies gelidus whose innocuous looking flowers make one gasp when turned over, so pure and bright is the scarlet on the underside. There’s pink-hued Anacyclus pyrethrum, elegant Rhodanthemum atlanticum, pretty Bellis caerulea, an orange-red form of Anagallis monellii, and the chunky wine-red heads of Anthyllis vulneraria reuteri.
South of the High Atlas lies another world, truly Saharan, yet distinctively Moroccan: the gravel deserts of Boumalne Dades and the fantastic sand dune systems of the Erg Chebbi. We offer a seven day pre-tour to explore this amazing region. En route we’ll visit North Africa’s highest pass, the Tiz-In-Tichka where we’ll search for Levaillant’s Green Woodpecker and African Blue Tit. Reaching the edges of the Sahara we’ll explore the stony reg desert of the Tagdilt Track in search of Cream-colored Courser, Thick-billed Lark, Greater Hoopoe Lark and Temminck’s Lark as well as Lanner, Maghreb Wheatear and the majestic Desert Owl. Our hotel in Merzouga has spectacular views of the desert dunes of the Sahara and amid this iconic landscape we’ll look for sought-after birds such as Egyptian Nightjar, Brown-necked Raven, Desert Sparrow, African Desert Warbler and both Crowned and Spotted Sandgrouse. We’ll not ignore desert flora, full of strange and wonderful plants such as Crotalaria saharae and the spectacular Astragalus gomboeformis. Returning to the Atlas we’ll visit the ksar at Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, before returning to Marrakech where you can relax for a day before joining the main tour, or explore the old quarter and the impressive Jema-el-fna square which is an unbelievable experience for any visitor.
Dates and Prices
7th March - 14th March 2026 (8 days)
Book now to secure 2025 prices! Dates are provisional and will be confirmed by July 2025.
Optional Tour Extensions
Merzouga’s Saharan Desert Pre-tour
2nd March - 8th March 2025 (7 days)
* doesn't apply if you're willing to share and a room-mate can be arranged
Birds, Flowers, Butterflies and Mountain Landscapes.
One leader for a group of up to 6, two leaders up to the maximum group size of 12.
All flights. All accommodation, transport and meals in Morocco. Services of your leaders. Please note: drinks, tips, and items of a personal nature including travel insurance, are not included.
Flower, bird and butterfly checklists are available.
The elegant Sel d’Ailleurs in the quiet little hamlet of Imagira is less than an hour up into the mountains from Marrakech Airport. We’ll have the entire 8-roomed privately-owned hotel to ourselves for the week. The setting is beautiful, amid quiet gardens, with migrant warblers and redstarts flitting through the olive trees every morning. The rooms are spread around the gardens and each comes with comfortable beds, tables, chairs, a sofa, and heating, the latter can be useful at this time of year!
During the Pre-tour the first and last nights will be at the Miostello, built in an ancient riad completely renovated in 2019, located within the walls of the old Marrakech Medina. This design hostel (we’ll be staying in the hotel rooms, not the hostel rooms!) is in the lively and safe Bab Doukkala district, known for its authentic and traditional shops, where you can still experience the true soul of the Medina: markets of fruits and vegetables, artisans, bakers, pastry chefs, butchers and local restaurants, always open and crowded at any time day and night. Despite the liveliness of the area, the hotel is in a small and quiet “derb” (Moroccan word for “neighbourhood”) inhabited by local families, where children still play on the street. There’s a fantastic terrace and panoramic solarium, where you can enjoy a unique view of the entire old city with the Atlas Mountains on the background. We’ve a night in Boumalne Dades at the aptly named Riad Dades Birds. This guesthouse owes its existence to the birds that frequent the area. A lovely place built and finished in traditional Moroccan style and very well placed for the birds! Our two nights at Merzouga will be in La Kasbah Charme Dunes d’Or. Situated in the open Saharan desert, this is a large traditional Kasbah. Inside its majestic walls lie beautiful courtyards and an outdoor pool. The rooms are large and comfortable. The scenery – outrageous! Moving back west we’ve one night in Ouarzazate at the Hôtel Complexe le Fint Ouarzazate before returning to Marrakech for the last night of the pre-tour.
All rooms have en-suite facilities.
No more than two or three miles in any one day, and always at a slow pace, ideally suited to photography. Though the area is mountainous much of the fauna and flora is visible from, or close to, the roads.
UK direct return flights are from London Gatwick or Manchester* to Marrakech. Indirect routes from regional UK Airports* may be available.
*These routes may incur a supplement.
Warm and sunny for much of the time. Rain is possible, usually as short-lived showers or thunderstorms, and it can be cool, or even cold, in the highest areas. On the Merzouga pre-tour it can even get a little hot!
Contact us to check if there is availability for the number of places you require. Click on the ‘Book this Tour’ button on this page to be taken to the online booking form or contact us and we will send one to you which you can complete and send back to us. You will receive confirmation of your place, and then a detailed information pack will be dispatched to you about twelve weeks before departure. This will contain up-to-date health information.
