We thank you for your interest in BOLETAS Birdwatching Centre, specialists in the design and organisation of birdwatching and nature holidays for individuals, groups, companies and associations, to the very best areas of Spain (Extremadura, Doñana, Picos de Europa), Morocco, but especially in the Spanish Pyrenees and Northeastern Spain.
We also offer our thanks to all of the people who have put their confidence in us, making BOLETAS a well known meeting point in the Pyrenees and a birder's world favourite Spanish bird tour company. As pioneers our tours are a reference for other companies and many birdwatchers too. We were first to promote visiting the Pyrenees in Winter looking for Wallcreepers, easier and more rewarding than in summer. We designed a strategy to have good chances with the elusive Dupont´s Lark in March , now a bible for many birdwatchers. Our tour in summer combining the high Pyrenees and the Ebro Steppes can be found now in many brochures, but we are always wanting to be one step ahead and thanks to this we are still developing new and attractive tours which will allow you discover the most recondite landscapes of this beautiful country its culture and its wildlife.
We cannot, however, start talking about our programme for 2011, without remembering our words from last year – a ‘premonition'.
"This crisis, unexpected for some and inevitable for many others, affects all of us. We believe it is going to stay with us longer than we would like and there are many factors for thinking that the birdwatching holiday market will undergo several changes in the coming years. At Boletas we want to be prepared and ready to continue our normal programme."
Boletas customers know that economical profits are part of our business, but have always been secondary. We have made important reductions for our most loyal customers, and try to refund deposits for most cancellations. When unexpected extras have occurred in a tour, Boletas has always covered this eventuality and we will always try to give to our customers, whether at the Boletas Birdwatching Centre, or in one of our nature tours, the best holiday we can.
So, what will Boletas be offering you in these harsh economic times ? We have several proposals for our customers:
- We will maintain our 2009 prices for most tours in 2011.
- For 2011, Uganda will, for the second consecutive year, be our non-profit making tour, giving preference to existing customers with two or more previous Boletas tour bookings.
- We will offer special discounts at Boletas for groups, long stays, and for your third visit to our birdwatching centre.
- Most importantly, we are still offering the best value for money in the birdwatching tour market, and even more so when you visit Boletas, the birder's dream Guest House.
For 2011, we are retaining our most popular tours; A classical 10-day tour " Pyrenees at Casa Boletas plus Ebro Delta " and the superb "Wallcreepers and Cranes", each one attractive for its own characteristics takes place in the best birding and scenic sites. Also we offer "The Secrets of the High Pyrenees " for those interested in orchids, birds or butterflies who prefer a different holiday.
Due to their success we also continue to offer the exclusive "Photography Tours" ( designed for professional or amateur photographers) concentrating on the most regarded birds of the Spanish birdlife; Lammergeier, Great Bustard in a new area managed by Boletas, and the NEW tours Bonelli´s and Golden Eagle and Four Alpine Specialites.
Away from the Pyrenees , exploring the exciting Spanish geography you can enjoy several studied and relaxed tours : "Extremadura, Spanish Specialities" , "Picos de Europa" dramatic scenery recently discovered by birdwatchers and "Autumn Migration across Gibraltar", an exciting experience in early autumn. Due to the success of our 2008 and 2010 tour (we were lucky to see Iberian Lynx on both occasions ), we are again offering a special tour in 2011 - "Iberian Lynx in Andalusia ".
Due to the high quality of our organisation and logistics, and the numbers of specialities being recorded, our Morocco tours have become the most popular in the market. For the eighth consecutive year we are offering this eleven day tour, visiting some of the most famous birding sites of this beautiful and interesting country, where we have the opportunity to see many of those bird species restricted to the very south of the Western Palearctic. Our new proposal for this country is a six day tour West Morocco. You can scape from the winter to enjoy sunny days and good birds.
We continue with our LONG WEEKEND tours, “Pyrenees in Winter” and “Birding around Madrid ” which were previously available only by special request from our regular customers and we have added a new offer much in demand by all ‘steppe-land' lovers , “ Birding Monegros & Ebro Valley Steppes”
Requested by our most faithful customers, and at an incredibly low cost, we are offering different worldwide tours, which will only feature in our programme for few years. Between 2009 and 2012 we are offering tours to Namibia , Uganda , Cuba , and Bulgaria . These new tours are being offered at very good prices, perhaps the best in the market, without losing any quality in the accommodation, transport or local guides.
We are working on two new destinations, East Turkey and Ethiopia and we hope they will be ‘ready' before January 2011.
We have already fully booked two of our 2011 tours to Morocco and to Bulgaria, with Cuba almost fully booked, so we are already taking provisional bookings for 2012. If you are interested in a tour , previously in our brochure , that is no longer scheduled in 2011, please let us know.
Boletas Birdwatching Centre contributes to the conservation of Spanish wildlife. Since our inauguration in 1994, we have supported and will continue to support numerous independent initiatives working for the benefit of our nature heritage. Our customers are therefore active participants, as they decide which local organizations benefit - SEO-Aragón, SEO-Caceres, GREFA , SEO-Huesca, COCN, ANSAR or Friends of Vulture Fund have been some of the beneficiaries.
