La Nava & Steppes Wildlife Tour
Join us on our final trip of the year to Northern Spain where you’ll observe the open ocean during the great migration of cetaceans and seabirds. From the great whales to Shearwaters and Skuas the thrill of seeing these animals in their natural environment is a truly memorable experience. We will then head in to Spain for some wonderful birdwatching around the areas of El Cerrato and La Nava. This fantastic area of Spain in October offers some fantastic birding and is sure to please all from the casual to the most experienced wildlife enthusiast.
Sunday October 5th
1515 – 1530 Millbay Docks, Plymouth. Meet the Tour Guide, Paul Burley, in the Terminal Building to the right of the Brittany Ferries’ Counter . He will have a chat with you about the crossing and then give out your Boarding Card and when boarding commences around an hour before departure you will proceed to the ship and may go directly to your cabin. We will be setting off from Plymouth and crossing the English Channel towards the Ushant on the north western tip of France. We will be hoping to see Great skua, Manx shearwater, Kittiwake, Gannets and more. We will also be looking for Common dolphins, Bottlenose dolphins, Harbour porpoise and Minke whale as these animals are frequently seen in these waters throughout the year.
Monday – Thursday
We sail into the Bay of Santander in mid-morning and expect to be disembarking at 1400(Spanish time which is one hour ahead of GMT). You will walk off the ship, then through the Customs & Immigration part of the Terminal and then through the Terminal exit and find Lupefer, the Spanish coach, waiting. Once everyone is accounted for we set off through Santander and head southwards through the Besaya Valley and thence towards Palencia. A comfort stop will be made en route. We expect to arrive at our 5* hotel, La Posada La Casa del Abad ( phone 0034 979 768 008) in Ampudia around 1800 .
Our local Guide, Fernando Jubete, will come to the hotel to say hello and go over the programme for the next few days The hotel has a swimming pool for your added pleasure. Dinner will be at the hotel for the next three nights.
Tuesday Villamediana. Tierra de Campos and La Nava wetland.
We leave the hotel after breakfast and drive to the county of Tierra de Campos where we explore the cereal pseudo-steppe for the observation of steppe birds such as calandra lark, crested lark and high densities of birds of prey species such as red kite, common buzzard, common kestrel, hen harrier and lesser kestrel. At lunch time we visit a bar in Fuentes de Nava. In the afternoon we travel to La Nava wetland. In this shallow lake we can expect to see birds such as the marsh harrier, white stork, black-winged stilt, penduline tit, bluethroat, etc. As this is a migratory season, we can expect to see a good number of forest passerines, waders and gulls. We return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
El Cerrato. On the third day we leave the hotel after breakfast and travel to the county of El Cerrato. First, we visit to the village of Alba de Cerrato to follow a path through an area of gypsiferous slopes and a valley with pasture-quejigal. At lunch time we will take refreshment in a Baltanás bar. Our afternoon exploration starts from the village of Antigüedad, where our stroll will take place through an area of Mediterranean woodland with Spanish juniper, holm oak and Portuguese oak. Target bird species for the day: Spanish imperial eagle, booted eagle, Eurasian hoopoe, Iberian magpie, thekla’s lark, spectacled warbler, Spanish sparrow, etc. We return to the hotel for dinner and overnight
On Thursday we return to Santander to catch the 1600 sailing and we will once more be crossing through the Bay of Biscay to look for sea birds and cetaceans.
Keep your passport to hand and don’t stow it away in your luggage!! Remember, the cruise is part of the holiday and is there to be enjoyed. Paul takes over the Guiding aspect for the crossing to England.
Friday
Around 0600 we’ll be sailing through the Ushant Islands which lie off the Breton coast which you’ll be able to see quite close by. We expect to be on berth at 1100 at Plymouth . Sterling and Euros are accepted on board ship. Please confirm on Invoice your dietary requests – if any!
Parking If you need information about car parking in Plymouth please advise and details will be sent.
Finally, please note that our Spanish Guide will be in total charge during your time in the region and if the situation demands he will make amendments to the programme on an ad hoc basis. Your complete satisfaction is his and our aim at all times.
4-berth cabin(for two) £120 : 4-berth outside Cabin (for two) £180 –
NB These prices are for the cabin, not per person :
( There are no 2-berth outside cabins).
Departure Date October 5th 2025
Cost £715
Single supplement £145
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