Butterfly trip in central Andalucía

WHEN: We offer butterfly trips year round, even in winter, as sunny winter days can also be productive in certain locations. The best time though to enjoy a variety of species starts by late February and expands till mid or late August. Autumn brings other species on the wing, hence trips -weather allowing- can be interesting for these till mid November!

BUTTERFLY HOTSPOTS: Our standard butterfly daytrips take place in the surroundings of Ronda and Grazalema and all the way south to the Mediterranean coast, depending on the time of the year. In late winter we visit the low areas near Málaga's coast, such as the Guadalhorce valley or the Sierra de Mijas. March starts to be productive in the Genal Valley, with the first Provençal Hairstreaks on the wing. As spring sets in well by April the Sierra de Grazalema beats any other place around in numbers and variety of species. By May and onwards the fresher mountains of the impressive Sierra de las Nieves is the place to go. Different arrays of species will fly here week after week till the end of the summer.

Besides these sites, isolated coastal areas near Málaga hold a few small-sized colonies of  Monarch butterflies that are on the wing year round.

PACE: We generally do short and easy walks on tracks with occasional forays into the bushland. Hiking shoes and long-sleeve trousers are highly recommended.

ORCHIDS: Very often we come across some wild orchids while looking for butterflies in spring. On our limestone mountains, plantlife is rich in species and is generally still well preserved. Find out more information about the wild orchids in Andalucía.

MOST SOUGHT-AFTER SPECIES

• Spanish Festoon, Apollo, Southern Scarce Swallowtail
• Monarch, Desert Orange Tip, Greenish Black tip, Two-tailed Pasha
• Blues: Lorquin's, Idas, False-Baton, Spanish Chalk-hill, Nevada...
• Hairstreaks: Provence, False-Ilex, Chapman's Green
• Fritillaries: Aetherie, Cardinal, Provençal, Spanish...
• Skippers: Zeller's, Sage, Southern-Marbled