HOLIDAYS IN DOÑANA

Joy for your senses

First day: Our guide will meet you at the hotel of your choice in El Rocío to give you a welcome pack, present you the programme and show you a bit around the village. Then we will have a first contact with Doñana´s nature along the marshes of La Madre, next to the village.

Second day: in the morning  we  will walk across  the  old forest of El Acebrón,  a climax wood  with ash and cork trees, a paradise for passerines.  The short trail cut through the thickest riverbank forest along La Rocina Stream, there is nothing more similar to a rain forest in the region. Also very good for flowers.

In the afternoon  we  will take another short  walk along La Rocina Stream. A series of hides built along the southern bank will allow us to look over its reed beds and ponds and search for waders, wildfowl and raptors. The last section of the trail here is specially good for mammal tracks and aromatic plants

Third day: in  the  morning,  a  pleasant excursion by land rover through  the northern Mediterranean woods in the National Park.  The pine wood of Coto del Rey, good for flowers, mammals and birds. Azure-winged Magpie, Hoopoe, birds of pray and passerines are common. We will also have a good chance to see the Iberian Lynx, the most endanger species of wild cat in the world.

Then we will go through a very well preserved patch of the natural cork oak forest on the way to the marshes. One of the best places in the area for raptors, including maybe the Iberian Imperial Eagle.

After that we will keep moving into the park and across the Northern Marshes now, a route throughout the wilderness of Doñana: Herons, Geese,  Booted Eagle,  Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, etc. All year round you will be able to expect unforgettable  encounters.

Fourth day: in the morning we will visit  the south of the national park. A 4hour/70km route to get a general taste of the main ecosystems of the park. You will be taken along 30 kms of sandy beaches up to the Guadalquivir River mouth and shown around the pine woods there. You will see the small traditional settle village of La Plancha and then driven along the edge of the marshes. To finish we will drive through the famous mobile sand dunes, still push by the wind towards the marshes at an average rate of 3-6 metres a year.

After lunch we will spend a while visiting El Acebuche, the main national park visitor centre. A short trail through bush land and pine woods and along a series of hides looking over a lagoon. 

Fifth day: Herons,  wildfowl,  Osprey,  but especially waders will be the purpose of our full-day excursion to Odiel marshes, the second most important wetland in the region. On the way we will stop at several coastal lagoons.