Seville Trip Overview
Birds of the Alentejo and Western Sierra Morena, it is a trip with a duration of 8 days and 7 nights of accommodation.
We will visit in depth the Western Sierra Morena in Spain and part of the Alentejo. We visit the Noudar y Herdade da Contenda Natural Park in Portugal, and the Dehesas de Sierra Morena Biosphere Reserve.
There we will find beautiful landscapes with an exquisite fauna, which is a very rich area for vultures and other birds of prey, which facilitates their sighting.
At all times you will be accompanied by a guide, who is expert and very experienced, who will inform you of all the characteristics of the tour. Our guide will inform you about the local traditions and their history, also about the characteristics of the birds along with the most relevant details of the fauna.
Additional Info
Duration: 8 days
Starts: Seville, Spain
Trip Category: Outdoor Activities >> 4WD, ATV & Off-Road Tours
Explore Seville Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Seville, Andalucia, Spain
Birds of the Alentejo and Western Sierra Morena, it is a trip with a duration of 8 days and 7 nights of accommodation.
We will visit in depth the Western Sierra Morena in Spain and part of the Alentejo. We visit the Noudar y Herdade da Contenda Natural Park in Portugal, and the Dehesas de Sierra Morena Biosphere Reserve.
There we will find beautiful landscapes with an exquisite fauna, which is a very rich area for vultures and other birds of prey, which facilitates their sighting.
At all times you will be accompanied by a guide, who is expert and very experienced, who will inform you of all the characteristics of the tour. Our guide will inform you about the local traditions and their history, also about the characteristics of the birds along with the most relevant details of the fauna.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival and beginning of the adventure
Stop At: Zufre, Zufre, Province of Huelva, Andalucia
Depending on the schedule, you can make stops along the way for bird watching in the countryside and the beautiful town of Zufre.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park, Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park, Province of Huelva, Andalucia
Arrival at the hotel in the Sierra de Aracena. Accommodation and dinner followed by a presentation about the trip.
Duration: 2 hours
Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Accommodation in Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park – Aracena
Day 2: Visit of the ZEPA of Moura and Barrancos.
Stop At: Barrancos, Barrancos, Beja District, Alentejo
Today we cross the border to visit the ZEPA of Moura and Barrancos. Of the water courses, among which the Ardila River stands out. Sheep and cattle grazing abounds, and there are relatively small properties with olive groves and vineyards in scattered populations. In the morning, we visit the Noudar Nature Park, where a vegetation cover is maintained close to what would be original, as if there had never been any human intervention. They are rich, steep and difficult forests, which still keep Noudar’s greatest secret. The richness and diversity of this territory results from its geographic isolation, low human density and because it is located in a transition zone between Spain where the landscape of the Sierra Morena. Stop for lunch in Barrancos. In the afternoon we will visit Herdade da Contenda, a public estate with restricted access where a local guide will accompany us. It is an important area especially for many raptors, with an emphasis on vultures and great eagles.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation in Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park – Aracena
Day 3: Visit to the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park.
Stop At: Aracena, Aracena, Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park, Province of Huelva, Andalucia
It is time to stretch your legs and take advantage of one of the many walking routes that the Natural Park offers us.
Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche, a true paradise for hiking enthusiasts. Depending on the time of year, we can start by visiting the castle of Aracena, in whose ruins some wintering birds take refuge. In addition, the hill where the castle sits is a watchtower that allows us to enjoy beautiful views and scan the sky to observe the awakening of the first birds of prey. Afterwards, our walk continues along one of the centuries-old trails that start from Aracena, in this case towards the town of Corteconcepción along the 4.4-kilometer El Tornero path that will allow us to travel a great diversity of landscapes; from the holm and cork oak forests, to the chestnut and olive trees and the fruit orchards, passing through some stretches of riverside vegetation associated with the nearby Fuente del Rey stream.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation in Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park – Aracena
Day 4: Visit to the Aracena and Bajos del Jádraga reservoir
Stop At: Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park, Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche Natural Park, Province of Huelva, Andalucia
On our last day in Sierra de Aracena, we return to perform
a route by car with some walks through the Valley of the
Buervas, better known today as the Aracena reservoir. This route will take us to know it from different accesses, making it possible to spot the osprey or enjoy the breeding colony of gray herons and great cormorants. The situation and breadth of the valley on which the reservoir sits make it a good enclave to see soaring raptors and other migrating birds. After lunch, we move to our other base camp in the Sierra Norte Natural Park
making a stop at the Bajos del Jádraga, with beautiful views over the Viar river canyon whose northern mouth can be seen from this viewpoint with enormous scenic appeal.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation – Sierra Norte Natural Park – Cazalla de la Sierra
Day 5: Visit of the Cañada Real de las Merinas livestock route in the municipality of Guadalcanal
Stop At: Guadalcanal, Guadalcanal, Province of Seville, Andalucia
Unlike the Sierra de Aracena, where the best places
To observe birds they are scattered throughout the Park, in Sierra Norte there are places where we can see almost all the large birds that populate these mountains at a glance. This is the case of the Cañada Real de las Merinas livestock route in the municipality of Guadalcanal, in whose Llanos de Guaditoca we find one
one of the best places in Andalusia to see raptors. In the afternoon, we take another Cañada Real, that of La Senda, which penetrates the province of Seville surrounded by a landscape that participates both in mountain characters, as well as elements more typical of the Extremadura pseudo-steppes, in an open and dry valley in the broom and oleanders predominate.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation – Sierra Norte Natural Park – Cazalla de la Sierra
Day 6: Visit to the Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park.
Stop At: Parque Natural de Hornachuelos, carretera A-3151, Hornachuelos Spain
Our long route today will take us to the province of Córdoba. The Sierra de Hornachuelos Natural Park houses
one of the most valuable representations of Mediterranean forest on the Peninsula, combined with meadows and pine forests. The Bembézar river and its tributaries, home to an endangered endemic fish (the Jarabugo Anaecypris hispanica), make up these mountains. Quality sightings of the black vulture are almost guaranteed, although you can also see the imperial, royal and Bonelli’s eagles, the European short-toed, the white wheatear (in spring) or the long-tailed warbler and carrasqueña. Deer are easily spotted, as is the beautiful strawberry tree butterfly Charaxes jasius. After eating we continue our circular route in the direction of return to the Sierra Norte.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation – Sierra Norte Natural Park – Cazalla de la Sierra
Day 7: Visit of the Sierra Norte Natural Park.
Stop At: Sierra Norte Nature Park, Spain
On our last day in the field we will visit some of the most interesting points to observe nature in the Sierra Norte Natural Park. We start with the Cerro del Hierro Natural Monument, the best-known and busiest place in the Sierra. Its unique and photogenic appearance is the product of spectacular karst modeling. We will walk under sharp peaks or needles that, like trees, form a kind of stone forest
whose most exceptional inhabitants are the king swift, the redstart and the black stork, accompanied by the rocker
lonely, the mountain bunting, the screeching sparrow, the swift
kaffir or the dáuric swallow. This is also the best place in the region to look for orchids and see fossils. After visiting this unique place, we headed towards Lora del Río to begin a tour of the Setefilla Sanctuary, skirting the José Torán reservoir until we reached Puebla de los Infantes.
Duration: 8 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Accommodation – Sierra Norte Natural Park – Cazalla de la Sierra
Day 8: Farewell.
Stop At: Embalse de Melonares, Sevilla, Spain
Farewell, back to Seville we will visit the Melonares reservoir, an artificial wetland of recent creation but of great interest to birds.
Duration: 4 hours
Meals included:
• Lunch
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.
