Wildlife holidays with a difference...

Spanish Nature

Who is Spanish Nature?

• The slogan of Spanish Nature is “travelling together as friends”.
• We (two men in our late fifties) have chosen this slogan because, we want to do bird watching trips (more as a hobby than for a living), and share the pleasure it gives us with our clients.
• We want our clients to feel comfortable during every moment of our tours because, we also want to feel comfortable! That’s why we like to take it easy, enjoying the quality in all our details such as accommodation, food, transport and guiding knowledge.
• Even the price of a trip is a comfortable one, not based on huge profits, but enough to pay for all the costs and to cover initial expenses (just compare our accommodation and costs with anybody else).

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More about tours with Spanish Nature

Spanish Nature through it’s sister company OrniRonda has been leading guided tours since 2003. Initially our tours concentrated on the areas Serranía de Ronda and Sierra de Grazalema. Birdwatching formed the basis of our activities, but we have also catered for walkers, botanists and those with a general interest in wildlife. In more recent times, we have also led groups on scenic and photography tours.

Requests to offer alternative destinations from our own clients had been the initial driving force behind our recent expansion into leading and organising tours to other countries and multi-destination holidays in Spain.

As a company, we have never been driven by the need for increasing our profit margins. Our general philosophy has always been to make sufficient in order to provide for a living. At the same time, we have prided ourselves in giving an excellent level of service and exceptional value for money. Another of our founding reasons for starting a guiding company was the need to preserve and conserve important areas for wildlife. For example, the prime motivation for our tours in the Serranía de Ronda and Sierra de Grazalema is to introduce the concept and importance of the development of tourism into the argument of conservation. So we also needed to be able to ask ourselves what we might be able to achieve by leading tours to other destinations.

Through our efforts in developing tourism directly related to the environment, we have not only introduced an economical argument for protecting and conserving important areas, we have forged links to local communities and introduced new income potential. By applying these same principles to other areas, whilst at the same time offering a service with a difference, we now feel able to justify plans to expand our operations.

The Tours

We hope the brief explanation above gives you an idea of our company and goes someway to assuring you we are not ‘profit’ motivated. We believe very strongly in offering tours, which are not only environmentally friendly, but also produce sustainable tourism. Benefiting not only the client, but also local interests and important wildlife habitats. 

If birds are your main interest, then these tours are definitely for you. Of course so many other things of interest are also contained within the tours, for example culture, history, flora and fauna. We aim to make each of our days on tour a relaxing and enjoyable experience. The prime objective is to give you plenty of birds and wildlife, whilst at the same time give you a holiday where you will not require another just to get over this one!!

We will always try and start our day after giving ourselves time to enjoy a relaxing breakfast. The travel time each day will be kept to a minimum so we have more time to enjoy the wildlife and not suffer from travel fatigue. Always our aim will be to arrive at our accommodation in good time for recuperation before dinner. The accommodation we will provide, is the best available in the areas of our tour. So enjoyment, extremely good accommodation, planned and easy paced days are the key to our different approach to these holidays. Every hotel and birding area has been inspected and approved by us prior to any final tour arrangements. We travel our routes, inspect lunch stops, visit areas of reported outstanding beauty and only then plan our tour itinerary before offering the tour to potential clients.

Our tours never degenerate into a mad rush to ‘tick’ vast amounts of species. Local knowledge and good guiding results in plenty of species and reduces the time taken to find even the most elusive of birds. In fact, by allowing more time in each day for observing birds, rather than time wasted covering huge distances, we have a greater potential to see more.

Our guides and leaders are selected not only for their field-craft, but also for their ability to interpret the wildlife to expert and beginner alike. Their passion and enthusiasm for the subject of the tour will help you get the best from your holiday with Spanish Nature.

If excellent food, accommodation, wildlife and a thoroughly relaxing holiday are what you require, then whatever the destination, we are confident our tours are made for you.

We also welcome enquiries from groups or individuals wanting a tailored holiday especially organised to suit their own requirements. Destination or species specific, then please feel free to contact us.

Our company catchphrase ‘Travelling together as friends’ is not just another play on words; we believe it to be true!

The Guides

Pieter Verheij is the CEO of Spanish Nature and a well known nature photographer. Pieter's enthusiasm for his art is a real bonus to budding photographers on our tours. Always ready to spend time with those seeking help with their own interests in photography, our tour parties have always been enhanced when accompanied by Pieter.

Together with Peter Jones, Pieter is the founder of Spanish Nature and his philosophy is very simple 'enjoy everything while you can'. His main interests are photography, travel and nature, an ideal combination for organising our tours!

Pieter writes "One of the reasons for setting-up Spanish Nature was to share my travel experiences and apply the many don't do aspects I have suffered when accompanying organised nature tours. The very first thing was to ensure we tailored our tours to be relaxed and enjoyable; everything else was then a case of paying attention to details. On my travels with many nature tour operators I nearly always returned exhausted and needing another holiday to get over the experience. Of course getting up an hour or two before daybreak and returning to just about adequate forms of accommodation maybe some people's idea of what to expect from a nature holiday, but it has never been enjoyable for me! Spending hours on end chasing from one good site to another is both boring and tiring. So it has been important to me to establish guidelines for our tours which provide good standards of accommodation, time to enjoy nature and above all ensure you, the client, return home relaxed and enriched from your experience".

Peter Jones is co-founder of Spanish Nature and is a Biologist and Naturalist. Peter has been involved in many environmental projects and has had several published works over many years. Peter has a passion for birds, having also been involved in scientific research into birds for over 36 years, but his interests also extend to flora and fauna. Peter is well known to many who have already been guided by him in many different countries.

Peter writes "Having been frustrated on many occasions trying to conserve and preserve important areas by presenting scientific evidence to support environmental impact surveys, I am convinced we can make a much greater impact on conservation of important areas, using tourism as an economical argument against unwanted forms of development/speculation. The fact, that I also enjoy sharing my experience of nature with our clients and love visiting new places, makes guiding with Spanish Nature a very real privilege". 

Mick Richardson our guide specialising in the Granada / Sierra Nevada area of Spain. Along with Peter, Mick guides in specialist areas for day tours in Spain. Mick's great passion is for the area Sierra de Loja near to Granada. His knowledge of fauna and flora is a real eye opener for beginner and expert alike. Mick has an unsurpassed knowledge of his area and can guide you to the best bird and flower areas within the Granada area.

Mick shares a passion for photographing wildlife with Pieter and is happy sharing experiences with others of a like mind. He is also working with Peter to create the 'perfect' tour of Spain and has a good working knowledge of famous areas such as Donana and hot spots in Extramadura. For those visiting the Granada area seeking to enjoy both the cultural and natural wonders of this spectacular area, then Mick is the 'man'. Mick is also, along with his wife Jane, able to provide accommodation for those requiring a stay in the countryside!

Mick writes "Working together with Spanish Nature is easy for me. Both Peter and I share a special affinity with all natural life and we share a passion for the Spanish Mountains and high Sierras. Peter has an unrivalled knowledge of the Ronda and Grazalema areas, so we compliment each other, especially as so many visitors choose to spend time both in the Ronda area and then here in Granada. I am hoping in the near future to lead tours here in Spain for multi-destination tours and other countries for Spanish Nature. I am currently compiling species lists for Birds, Dragonflies, Butterflies, Reptiles, Mammals and Flowers in the Granada area. Hopefully, we will be able to list them on this website in the future".

Juan Serratosa is our latest incorporation to Spanish Nature. He is a Biologist and a local of the Serranía de Ronda, so he knows about the culture and the history of the area. He has worked in a Rehabilitation Centre for Wildlife and is now especially interested in environmental education in all of its forms as a way of preserving Nature. We are currently involved in the study of the local population of Bonelli's Eagle and Juan is heading-up this project. Juan’s main interest is birds, but he is also interested in fauna, flora and fungi.

Juan's natural enthusiasm and caring nature has already resulted in him being a favourite guide for visiting naturalists. As a graduate from the university of Cordoba, Juan has an in-depth knowledge of the surrounding area including Sierra Morena. We are hoping to develop tours which take-in both the Cordoba and Sevilla areas, where Juan will take charge of large and small tour parties.

Juan writes “Working in Nature is just a dream come true. It´s a privilege to show people our Nature in the Serranía de Ronda and Grazalema and share my love for the area with them. After having lived most of my life here, I think it is a very important moment for projects like this one to help stop undesirable ways of development which will spoil the area. Coming with us is not only a great experience but also a way to contribute in the conservation of Nature”

Tour Listing

Day tours

WILD SPAIN - Serranía de Ronda, Sierra de Grazalema and Sierra Nevada – All year 7 days a week.
See - OrniRonda

8 Day tours

SPANISH SPECTACULAR - Serranía de Ronda 4 night, Doñana 3 night – 7 nights and 8 days
See – Spanish Bird Tours

17 Day tours

COstA Rica adventure - Tour 16 nights and 17 days
See – Costa Rica Adventure

11 Day tours

MOROCCAN SPRING SAFARIS – Spring Safaris 10 nights and 11 days
See - Moroccan Spring Safaris

10 Day tours

MOROCCAN Special – Autumn Migration and rare breeding birds in Morocco 9 nights and 10 days
See - Moroccan Special



3 Day tours

MOROCCAN short breaks – All year round short 3 day breaks
See - Moroccan Short Breaks

For further details and enquiries please complete our on-line enquiry form.