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Feel free as a bird with this programme tailored for nature lovers. We have prepared an exclusive four day programme where you’ll enjoy watching, whether from solid ground or from a sail-boat, wetland species, species from La Almoraima or from the forest areas. To sum up, this package is much more than bird-watching –it’s an all-embracing experience that will allow you to discover the unique area around the Hotel Castellar.
Bird-watching: a taste of freedom
Few experiences can be more rewarding for amateur nature lovers than enjoying direct contact with the animal world in its most natural state. Listening to, watching, touching and studying animals in their habitat, making the most of a unique region that bridges two continents and hosts a wealth of animal life. The spectacular sight of millions of migratory birds seen from a vantage point that is closer than anywhere else in the world. The unexpected sighting of a dozen cetacean species at sea, and their hunting manoeuvres as they work in collaboration with human beings. Little-known landscapes and mysterious wetlands, natural parks and reserves with birds and mammals living free. Spending time with them, walking side-by-side with them and capturing each of their movements on camera. Experiencing them just as they always should have been – free. Enjoying nature and learning about it with expert scientists, biologists and professional naturalists, people who show us their work and share their knowledge as they and we together enjoy some of the wildest and most protected nature in Europe.
Few experiences can be more rewarding for amateur nature lovers than enjoying direct contact with the animal world in its most natural state. Listening to, watching, touching and studying animals in their habitat, making the most of a unique region that bridges two continents and hosts a wealth of animal life. The spectacular sight of millions of migratory birds seen from a vantage point that is closer than anywhere else in the world. The unexpected sighting of a dozen cetacean species at sea, and their hunting manoeuvres as they work in collaboration with human beings. Little-known landscapes and mysterious wetlands, natural parks and reserves with birds and mammals living free. Spending time with them, walking side-by-side with them and capturing each of their movements on camera. Experiencing them just as they always should have been – free. Enjoying nature and learning about it with expert scientists, biologists and professional naturalists, people who show us their work and share their knowledge as they and we together enjoy some of the wildest and most protected nature in Europe.
Exclusive bird watching in Southern Europe
We have two different four-day standard programmes, depending on the season (whether the birds are migrating or not).
Migration season:
March, April, August and September.
Day of arrival:
Welcome and a talk on the Strait’s ornithology, its preservation and specific characteristics. Behaviour guide for the bird watcher and materials (digital and printed) handed out.
1st day:
- 08:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Route alongside the La Janda lake –migration of soaring birds.
- 16:00: Picnic lunch, provided by the Hotel Castellar, at the observatory. Visit to one of the wetlands around the observatory –Palmones, in the western natural area and the Los Lances beach, on the eastern side).
- 20:00: Arrival at the hotel and free time.
2nd day:
- 08:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Boarding of the exclusive sail boat for Hotel Castellar clients: cetacean and seabird sighting.
- 16:00: Picnic lunch from the Hotel Castellar. Trip to the “Foggy Forest” (Canutos and coastal areas of the Strait).
- 20:00: Arrival at the hotel and free time.
3rd day:
- 08:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Migration of soaring birds and other representative species.
- 14:00: Return to the Hotel Castellar and lunch. Free afternoon.
4th day:
- 07:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Visit to the Almoraima estate and to scientific bird banding with a research team, until 12:00.
- 12:15: Arrival at the hotel and late check-out.
Bird watching throughout the rest of the year
January, February, May, June, July, October, November and December.
Day of arrival:
Welcome and a talk on the Strait’s ornithology, its preservation and specific characteristics. Behaviour guide for the bird watcher and materials (digital and printed) handed out.
1st day:
- 08:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Boarding of the exclusive sail boat for Hotel Castellar customers: cetacean and seabird sighting. Picnic lunch from the Hotel Castellar. Trip to the La Janda lake.
- 19:00: Arrival at the hotel and free time.
2nd day:
- Departure at 06:00 – 08:00 (according to customer preference).
- Trip to the Sanlúcar de Barrameda wetlands.
- Picnic lunch from the Hotel Castellar at around 13:00h – 14:00.
- Trip to the Cádiz Bay / Chipiona Natural Park.
- Return to the hotel at around 18:00 – 20:00 (according to initial time of departure).
3rd day:
- 08:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Trip to the “Foggy Forest” (Canutos and coastal areas of the Strait).
- 14:00: Return to the hotel for lunch. Free afternoon.
4th day:
- 07:00: Pick up and departure from the hotel. Visit to the Almoraima estate and to scientific bird banding with a research team, until 12:00.
- 12:15: Arrival at the hotel and late check-out.
Included in the programme:
Bird guide, fact sheets on cetaceans and birds of prey in flight, expert banding scientist, meals and insurance.
