LOW CARBON TOUR - WILDLIFE & WALKING IN EXTREMADURA
We will stay at the Finca el Vaqueril near Brozas, a remote 19th Century farmhouse, simple and authentic in style, comfortable and elegant, cool and relaxing, full of antiques and old furniture. Each bedroom has been beautifully restored by the family whose ancestors built it. The country house is set deep within its own estate, with miles of traditionally managed cork and holm oak dehesa savannah and steppe grassland. The wildlife is superb – bee-eaters, hoopoes, orioles, booted eagles, red-rumped swallows, rock sparrows and many more can be seen from the farm’s terrace. A short walk can reveal both white and black storks, lesser kestrels, black vultures, nightingales, and a wealth of wild flowers, all amongst the majestic oaks, cut for their cork and acorns, food for the famous black Iberian pigs which roam freely beneath them.
Most food is produced on the estate, from wonderful fresh eggs and fruit to free range meat from the pigs (there are plenty of vegetarian options too). Bread is from the local bakery, and olives and oil from the village.
Other ‘low carbon’ features of the Finca include: Natural cooling - no air conditioning, just thick walls and shading; Wood-fired heating if cold at night; Lights off at night unless essential for safety; Minimal laundry; Purified well water; Natural Olive oil soap.
Our stay will include talks and tours from the owner about food and cork production on the estate.
The tour is limited to 15 people, to ensure the best chance to see wildlife.
Itinerary
Day 1Depart London St Pancras 1404 on Eurostar, arriving Paris Gare du Nord 1726. Transfer by minibus across Paris to Gare d’Austerlitz. Depart Paris 1945 on Trenhotel ‘Francisco de Goya’. Overnight on board.
Day 20622 Arrive Valladolid. Transfer by comfortable minibus to the Finca el Vaqueril near Brozas, stopping for coffee and some free time in Salamanca or the mountain Sierras along the way. Afternoon: local walks through oak dehesa landscape, to lakes surrounded by granite boulders, with visits to Visigothic rock-cut graves and the estates 19th century former bull ring.
Day 3Walk (8 km) to Brozas through the cork oak woods and plains of the finca’s estate, looking out for hoopoes, bee-eaters, bustards, thekla and calandra larks, and the many birds of prey which frequent this region. Lunch break at the 16th century Convent de la Luce. Return using local transport (hired bus as the finca is 7km from nearest road). Evening talk on dehesa ecology and management, on the terrace overlooking the trees
Day 4Walk (10km) around the estate, with shorter alternatives. Picnic lunch in the shade of the oaks. There will be an opportunity in the afternoon to learn more about the work of the estate from the owner, including cork production and the famous black iberican pigs. Night walk for owls and perhaps mammals.
Day 5Day trip by minibus to Monfrague National Park, (1,5h drive each way). Picnic lunch, walks in the park, Penafalcon vulture and raptor nesting areas.
Day 6Day trip to Cacares (45 mins), medieval town and home to huge colonies of swifts, storks and lesser kestrels. Morning: walks in the llanos (plains) around Caceres, through steppe landscapes with characteristic wildlife such as great and little bustards, Montagu's harriers and calandra larks. We will visit a nesting area for rollers, a beautiful bird which is normally hard to find. Afternoon: guided tour of Caceres with historical guide. Dinner in Cacares.
Day 7Drive to Alcantara. Morning: walk beside the Tagus river, former border between Spain and Portugal, now a trans-border Natural Park. Nightingales, crag martins, raptors, superb Roman bridge, mysterious civil war buildings. Afternoon: free time to explore the medieval town, with former palaces and monasteries.
Day 8Options for cycling or horse trekking from the Finca into the surrounding areas of steppe and dehesa. Last night barbeque, with local acorn liquors.
Day 9Leave for Caceres for visits to the Natural Monument of los Barruecos, with huge granite boulders as big as a house, one of the few places in Europe where white storks nest on the ground, and the 18th century wool washing water mill, now converted to the Vostell-Malpartida Modern Art Museum. Depart Caceres by train 1430. Depart Madrid Chamartin 1900. Overnight on board.
Day 10Arrive Paris Gare d’Austerlitz 0827. Transfer by minibus to Gare du Nord. Depart Paris 1113, arriving London St Pancras 1229.
Cost includes: return travel by overnight train in a 4 berth sleeper, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, breakfast, dinner & two picnic lunches, excursions & admissions.
Not included: travel insurance, single room supplement £335
