Destinations
2025
- Morocco
- Extremadura
- Crete
- Menorca (April)
- Lesvos
- Spanish Pyrenees (May)
- South of Salamanca
- Picos de Europa
- Algarve & Alentejo
- The Gambia
2026
News
Picos de Europa, June 2025
"Could write a book" was one comment as we collected holiday highlights. The mix of lovely meadows, abundant butterflies (59 species) and lots of birds, including close to the hotel in Boca de Huérgano, all help to explain why this holiday has run four years in a row. The high alpine experience of Fuente Dé is always enjoyed, and this year all the 'star' birds showed, including rock thrush, alpine accentor and snowfinch. Ibex is a mammal we don't usually see but did find this year; chamois are more reliable. More photos on Facebook. Holiday report here: Picos de Europa 2025.
Trumpet gentians, Duke of Burgundy, Black-veined white moth.
Ibex (Pau Lucio)
South of Salamanca, May 2025
Honeyguide's second South of Salamanca group had weather more akin to an English spring than what you might expect in Spain, yet still found a great deal of the area's wildlife, often around the villages characteristic of the area, including our base at Salvatierra. Birds of prey were especially rich, including Montagu's harrier, black vulture and booted eagle. Other birds included bee-eaters, hoopoes, golden orioles, large numbers of nightingales and more. The 'wonderfully quiet, rich countryside' had a huge range of flowers, including champagne orchids. There was enough sunshine for some 20 butterfly species. Holiday report: South of Salamanca 2025.
Top: male Montagu's harrier; Ornithogallum concinnum. Below: panoptes blue, hoopoe at Salvatierra. Photos by Vega Bermejo.
Spanish Pyrenees, April/May 2025
The group reports "a wonderful and very successful week" with guide and host Peter Rich in the Spanish Pyrenees. Unusually, the holiday started in a new place for Honeyguide, with two nights in Olite, a "very attractive historic town", visiting tablelands/steppe ("amazing landscape" though the special birds were elusive) and the wetland at Laguna de Pitillas where there were red-crested pochards, black-necked grebe, purple heron, black tern, stilts and plenty more, including a booming bittern. The main part of the holiday was based at Casa Sarasa in Berdún, featuring various visits into the lowlands and highlands of the Pyrenees.
Egyptian vultures, black-winged stilt, alpine marmot. Photos and quotes above from Honeyguider Everard Daniel.
Menorca, April 2025
The weather was kind, there was a great variety of flowers, invertebrates, local birds and much more on this lovely island, just a little slow on migrant birds in the western Mediterranean (e.g. compared with Crete). The group met GOB Menorca and the story is told in Honeyguide and GOB Menorca, a blog. Ivan Nethercoat's photos are here on Flickr and there are many more photos on Spring in Menorca 2025: a photoblog, on Chris Gibson Wildlife. Holiday report here: Menorca 2025.
Audouin's gulls (Ivan Nethercoat)
Crete, April 2025
Judging by the fields of wild flowers, Crete had a wet winter, with spreads of colour as well as individual species that impressed. These included 25 species of orchids and perfect timing for tulips on Omalós Plateau and Spili 'Bumps'. Bird migration was steady, including collared flycatcher, bee-eater, golden oriole, turtle dove, marsh sandpiper, a very confiding little stint in Plakias for several days and a big flock of purple herons. Bonelli's eagles showed on five days, and we saw two golden eagles over Omalós. Photos on Facebook.
Cistus creticus, eastern dappled white, bumblebee orchid.
Morocco, March 2025
The winters are dry around Atlas Kasbah, near Agadir, more often than not, though this year's Morocco holiday had a twist: rain arriving in March. Fortunately for the Honeyguide group, when rain fell it was in the evenings and nights. Flowers were affected, though more came out during the week. There were as many birds as ever, not least reliable Moroccan specialities at our base such as bulbuls, house buntings at Moussier's redstart. One of the star birds in this area is also one of the rarest in the Western Palearctic: the northern bald ibis. They are getting easier to see as conservation efforts - supported by Honeyguide - help their numbers increase; 177 pairs in 2023 is a recent count. Other highlights included African green toads, taking advantage of recently flooded areas, the whole Atlas Kasbah experience, including the 'tea ceremony' and Moroccan cookery course, and friendly people everywhere. More photos on Facebook and on Flickr by Mervin Nethercoat. Report here: Morocco 2025.
Cistanche phelypaea; bald ibis and Moussier's redstart (Mervin Nethercoat).
African green toad, with toad spawn.
Extremadura, March 2025
The rain in Spain, like nearby Morocco, was also encountered by our group in Extremadura in March, though only some of the time and there were fine days at the end. It didn't seem to dampen the group's spirits, who were able to enjoy the usual wonderful range of birds with Martin Kelsey as host and guide. Highlights included hundreds of naked man orchids (the weather will have helped the flowers), a confiding woodchat shrike, an aerial dogfight between a black vulture and a Spanish imperial eagle, and the various distinctive landscapes, including dehesa. More photos, by David Bennett, on Flickr; here is the Extremadura 2025 holiday report.
Rock bunting and pink butterfly orchid (Martin Kelsey).
Aerial dogfight between a Spanish imperial eagle (left) and a black vulture (Martin Kelsey).
Bird mural at Saucedilla (Martin Kelsey).
Have I got old news for you? . . . News 2024 . . . News 2023 . . . News 2022 . . . News 2020-21 . . . News 2019. . . News 2018 . . . News 2017 . . . News 2016 . . . News 2015 . . . News 2014 . . . News 2013 . . . News 2012 . . . News 2011 . . . News 2010 . . . News 2009 . . . News 2008 . . . Back to top of this main news page
Honeyguide's Air Travel Organiser's Licence 2025-26 here (Honeyguide's 32nd renewal).
Gola Forest now UNESCO
Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest has been named a new UNESCO World Heritage site for its global importance to wildlife.
More information on the RSPB's website here (July 2025)
Though not a place that our groups go to, there is a Honeyguide connection through our Carbon offsets. These have supported Gola Rainforest National Park since 2013.
That's eight payments so far, the first of which was for three years of carbon credits, with a two year gap for the 'Covid years' when there were no flights.
That eighth payment was in late July 2025. The July 2025 purchase was for 43 tonnes of carbon credits through Stand for Trees. The cost was £19/tonne x 43 tonnes = £817. The certificate looked the same as in recent years, so they kindly sent another: the original certificate is here and the new one is pictured below.
Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA): the UK government is introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme for all visitors to the UK. An ETA is a digital permission to travel and if you’re not a UK or Irish national, you may need one to enter the UK. What you need to know: From 2nd April 2025, all visitors who are not UK or Irish nationals will be required to purchase an ETA before they travel to the UK. More information on gov.uk
This is the current advice (March 2025) on the foreign travel advice pages of gov.uk: "New Schengen entry requirements The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is expected to start in October 2025. It is not currently in operation. The European Union will inform about the specific start date of the EES before its launch. Read more information on the EU Entry/Exit System".
Blogs 2025
On the Honeyguide blogspot.
Buxton Heath & Holt Lowes July 2025
Poker Wood, Honeyguide social July 2025
Thorpe Marshes at its colourful best July 2025
Hickling, Honeyguide social July 2025
No show for ‘Big Yellow’ bee orchids in drought year June 2025
Honeyguide and GOB Menorca April 2025
Signs of Spring April 2025
Cruise to N Africa and Iberia, February 2025
Red-necked grebe at Thorpe and Whitlingham
Conservation donations from Honeyguide in 2024
Blogs list continues on News 2024, News 2023, News 2022 and News 2020-21
Bermuda buttercups
Blog by GOB Menorca and photos via Honeyguide's Facebook.
GHIC/EHIC
Following on from the passport notes below, a reminder that any EHIC/GHIC has an expiry date. Cards can be renewed free of charge online via the NHS website.
Less widely known is that you can get temporary cover for emergency treatment abroad with a Provisional Replacement Certificate. In this way, if you do not have a UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) or UK European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and need emergency treatment abroad, you can still get help with paying for your treatment.
GHIC
Passports
You may have seen a recent news story about travellers finding that their passport was not still in date when they thought it had some months to run e.g. here on the BBC’s website. This is due to the passport’s ten year life span being counted from the issue date.
Under the "10-year rule", for the EU your UK passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you enter the EU country (ie the "date of issue"), and be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave (ie the "date of expiry").
Honeyguide booking forms request that you note passport issue and expiry dates, so we may spot when there is a problem – this happened earlier this year. In the end, it’s up to any traveller to be sure that their passport is valid.
Honeyguide holidays without flights
Honeyguide wildlife holidays are offered with flights, linking with offering ATOL-protected flight inclusive packages.
Holidays without flights for a large group would bring logistical challenges, as well as being outside the ATOL framework.
However some Honeyguiders have chosen to join a group without flying, out of preference or for practical reasons.
This blog - Honeyguide holidays without flights - pulls together several discussion strands and ideas on this potentially wide-ranging subject.
