NATURE TOURS Selected Highlights
AC E C U LT U R A L TO U R S
N at u r e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
3
NORFOLK IN SUMMER
5
ICELAND: HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE
6
SOUTH AFRICA: FLOWERS OF NAMAQUALAND
9
WILDLIFE OF ANDALUCIA
10
TASMANIA
12
CHRISTMAS IN CATALUNYA
15
BORNEO
16
WILDLIFE OF SUFFOLK: MINSMERE & ORFORD NESS
18
SOMERSET LEVELS IN WINTER
19
3
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION 2019 and 2020 will see an array of fascinating ACE tours exploring the wildlife, landscapes and natural history of a variety of destinations.
tour to Tasmania, taking in its beautiful and rugged terrain and vast collection of Australian mammals, and a Christmas tour to Catalunya.
Our brand new tour of Norfolk in Summer will be led by the Natural History Museum’s Mark Welch, and will take in diverse bird, insect and plant life, with visits to Kelling Heath, Salthouse Heath and Blakeney. Further afield, we look forward to tours exploring Iceland, South Africa, and AndalucĂa.
Read on to discover these and further highlights from our collection of 2019 nature tours as well as some 2020 releases. To discover our full programme, or book your place, we warmly invite you to contact the ACE office.
Our year culminates with an exciting
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5
NORFOLK IN SUMMER 1 - 4 J U L Y, 2 0 1 9 | f r o m £ 9 6 5
with Mark Welch
I
n a landscape where vast flawless beaches stretch for miles, where wind-tousled reeds bob their heads beneath huge summer sunsets, and picturesque flint-walled churches cleave to the coastline, we will step out to experience some of the UK’s most captivating wildlife. July is a particularly dynamic time to enjoy Norfolk, which comes alive in early summer with diverse bird, insect and plant life. We expect to see Dartford warbler, woodlark, waders and warblers, and will enter the mysterious twilight world of the nightjar.
Enjoy a boat trip from Morston Quay to Blakeney Point before investigating the impact of the last Ice Age on the landscape around Blakeney. Kelling Heath, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Salthouse Heath are both important glacial outwash plains formed by retreating glaciers of the last Ice Age. They provide habitats for a variety of heathland birds among the heather, gorse and bracken, as well as other inhabitants including adder,
roe deer and brown hare. An evening visit to Salthouse Heath will provide an opportunity to see nightjar, woodlark and, possibly, tree pipit. Blakeney will welcome us for a day both on land and sea, taking in the colonies of common seal and their pups that loaf in the summer sunshine. At St Margaret’s Church in Cley we will view the village’s lasting impression of a rare North American visitor, a white-crowned sparrow, that is immortalised in a stained-glass window after this tiny bird was discovered in the vicar’s garden in 2008 and stayed for several weeks. Tour Director Mark Welch has had an active interest in natural history since he was a boy. A former Cambridgeshire Representative for the British Trust for Ornithology, for the past 26 years he has been a research scientist in the Department of Earth Sciences at London’s Natural History Museum.
N at u r e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n
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ICELAND: HISTORY & LANDSCAPE 7 - 1 4 J U L Y, 2 0 1 9 | f r o m £ 3 9 7 5
with Harriet Allen and Morag Hunter
R
ising out of the North Atlantic, just south of the Arctic Circle, Iceland is a volcanic island alive with hot springs, geysers, boiling mudpots and stupendous waterfalls. Our tour concentrating on the western and southern coasts provides the perfect introduction to the country’s austere beauty, its singular geology, and its incredible wildlife.
Journeying around the spectacular southern edge of the Vatnajökull glacier, we will walk to the snout of the Skaftafell glacier and stop at the otherworldly Jökulsárlón lagoon, where luminous blue icebergs drift across the lake.
Travelling up Iceland’s west coast, we head first to Borgarnes for an introduction to the country’s Viking history at the fascinating Settlement Centre, where exhibits covering the Saga era will set our trip in context. We will explore the famous ‘Golden Circle’: Gullfoss waterfall, the eponymous Geysir, and Thingvellir, one of the few places in the world where the separation of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates can be observed. Travelling back west, we will visit cliffs that are home to diverse birdlife, and we hope to catch glimpses of puffins, fulmars and guillemots.
This tour will be led by Harriet Allen, a geographer and Fellow and Director of Studies at Girton College, Cambridge. Harriet has extensive experience of flora and birds in Iceland, Norway, Canada and Portugal. Harriet will be assisted by Morag Hunter, a geologist and Teaching Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge. Morag previously worked as a research scientist for the British Antarctic Survey for 12 years.
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Photo credit: Ian Wilson
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Photo credit: -John Parker
Photo credit: John Parker
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N at u r e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n
9
SOUTH AFRICA:
FLOWERS OF NAMAQUALAND 30 AUGUST - 13 SEPTEMBER, 2019 | from £4295
with John Parker
A
butting the Atlantic Ocean to the west, fringed with an untouched coastline and bounded by desert to the north and east, the region known as Namaqualand encompasses one of the least populated areas of South Africa.
scenery of coast and mountain, together with remarkable botanical richness in nature reserves and National Parks, and even along the roadsides. At Postberg, closed for most of the year to preserve its unique flora and fauna, floral fields set amidst granite outcrops open onto stunning ocean views.
John Parker writes, “This route north into Namaqualand reveals novel, beautiful and exciting faces of South Africa and its flowers and landscapes.The quality of light in this semi-arid region enhances and interacts with the brilliance of its astonishing flowers.”
Every spring, around the time of year we will visit, Namaqualand bursts into a myriad of colours as the sparse winter rains give rise to new life, and orange, yellow and white daisies carpet the landscape. The natural spectacle is not to be missed.
In the heart of Namaqualand – an area that also encompasses parts of Namibia further north – is the town of Springbok. The town, founded to exploit copper mining, lies at the heart of our tour at the furthest point north. To arrive there, we will sweep up from Cape Town through the West Coast National Park and deep into the Northern Cape. On the way we will discover awe-inspiring
This tour will be led by botanist John Parker, formerly Professor of Plant Cytogenetics and Director of the University Botanic Garden, Cambridge. John has served as a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and his research on the evolutionary genetics of plants combines fieldwork with laboratory studies.
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WILDLIFE OF ANDALUCIA 5 - 12 SEPTEMBER, 2019 | from £2195
with Kevin Hand
T
he Coto Doñana is perhaps Spain’s most important nature reserve, with a biodiversity that is unique in Europe. Stretching across the provinces of Huelva and Sevilla, the park’s marshes and forests of cork oaks shelter a dazzling range of flora and fauna. We will see parties of black and white storks, flamingos and tightly packed flocks of spoonbills. In the extensive salt marshes and salt pans, large numbers of waders and wildfowl will be on view.
Our wildlife tour to the southern tip of Andalucía and Gibraltar has been timed to coincide with the autumn migratory season, when up to 190,000 raptors take advantage of the narrowest sea crossing between Europe and North Africa. We will be visiting at the peak of the migration season, when thousands of birds of prey will be passing through. When the Levante easterly winds are blowing, many raptors delay their crossing and thousands of
kites, honey buzzards, booted and short-toed eagles can appear very close to the land. In the densely wooded forests of Los Alcornocales we will stroll amongst cork oaks, search for terrapins and otters in the hill streams, and watch for migrant raptors as they come to roost in the trees. We will look for other migrating raptors, red-rumped swallows and lesser kestrels in Vejer de la Frontera, also taking in the turreted medieval walls, castle and church of this historical town. This tour will be led by conservationist, Kevin Hand. Kevin has led many projects linking nature and communities, including a programme to identify sustainable use of forest resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In April 2017 he was appointed President of the Cambridge Natural History Society.
Photo credit: Diego Delso
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TASMANIA 27 NOVEMBER - 10 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £4295
with Mark Hanger
T
asmania, separated from mainland Australia during the last Ice Age, is a beautiful, dramatic island, where the rugged terrain nurtures a vast collection of Australian mammals: Tasmanian devils, wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, quolls and pademelons – not to mention the bizarre platypus and the spine-covered echidna. The island’s distinctive birdlife fascinates in equal measure, from fairy-wrens and fairy penguins to cockatoos, rosellas and scarlet robins.
Our circuit around and through Tasmania will celebrate the island’s landscape in all its diversity: Mt Field National Park, with its wondrous mountain scenery and striking alpine plant communities; Lake St Clair, where we will stroll through forests of black peppermint; Ben Lomond, surrounded on all sides by precipitous escarpments; and Mt Wellington, “massive and noble like his brother Etna”, in the words of Mark Twain.
As well as acquainting ourselves with the Tasmanian countryside and coast, we will gain insights into the shaping of Tasmania’s colonial history with visits to iconic Port Arthur with its penitentiary, Richmond, and Saltwater River. Our tour includes a handful of cities of great cultural interest, and particular highlights will be Hobart, home to an impressive array of Georgian buildings, and Launceston, Tasmania’s ‘garden city’ situated on the Tamar River, noted for its attractive 19th century architecture. The Tasmania tour and extension will be led by Mark Hanger, a graduate of Otago University and an experienced botanist and ornithologist. President of New Zealand’s largest conservation organisaton, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, Mark is heavily involved in major conservation projects in southern New Zealand.
OPTIONAL EXTENSION:
SOUTH EASTERN VICTORIA & MELBOURNE 10 - 14 DECEMBER, 2019 £1735 This opportunity to take in cosmopolitan Melbourne and wildlife of the surrounding areas forms the perfect conclusion to our exploration of Tasmania. This tour is an optional extension and can only be booked in conjunction with the main tour.
Call:
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Call:
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to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk
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15
CHRISTMAS IN CATALUNYA 20 - 27 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £2295
with Kevin Hand
A
t the northern end of the ‘wild coast’ of the Costa Brava sits the Cap de Creus Natural Park where gannets, gulls and shearwaters dive and glide across the crashing waves while birds of prey soar above the stark reefs, eroded by the strong northeasterly wind known as the tramuntana.
Our base inland is the Spanish town of La Seu d’Urgell, situated at the start of the route over the Pyrenees to Andorra, with its imposing 12th century cathedral Santa Maria d’Urgell. This beautiful Romanesque cathedral encompasses fine cloisters as well as a rare 10th century illustrated manuscript, the Beatus.
As we traverse the local paths we will examine the complex geology of the terrain.The beauty of this isolated coast, and the quiet traditional port and medieval town of Cadaqués, have enticed many artists, including Picasso, Miró and Salvador Dalí.
The snowcapped mountain landscape of Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park features birch meadows, beautiful woods of mountain fir, black pine and box, tiny wooden villages and limestone cliffs. In the Alt Pirineu Natural Park we will see cliffs and caves where griffon vulture and lammergeier roost and we may spot firecrest and snowfinch.
The Aiguamolls Natural Park, with 300 species of birds, is one of the best wetlands in Spain. Wintering ducks and geese fill the lake and the partly drained grasslands and the wet woods are home to black winged stilts, Cetti’s warblers, flamingos and white stork nests. The top of Senillosa observatory, originally built to dry and store rice, offers a panoramic view of the network of freshwater and brackish lagoons, marshes and ricefields grazed by Camargue horses.
Tour Director Kevin Hand is a conservationist and environmental consultant. He has led many projects linking nature and communities, and in 2017 Kevin was appointed President of the Cambridge Natural History Society.
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BORNEO 20 SEPTEMBER - 3 OCTOBER, 2020 | from £5595
with Marcus Kohler
B
orneo, the world’s third-largest island, belongs politically to Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia; yet its landscape is all its own, containing an extraordinary level of biodiversity that natural historians have admired and loved for generations. Home to one of the oldest rainforests on earth – a “hazy-green blanket of jungle” – it was here that Sir David Attenborough witnessed his first wild orangutan, and he has since fought to preserve Borneo’s remarkable habitats.
Step into one of the most stunning wildlife areas of the world, resplendent with a huge variety of flora and fauna, from forest kingfishers and flying squirrels to proboscis monkey and orangutan. This new ACE tour has been specially designed to introduce travellers to the uniqueness of Borneo. We begin at the Nepenthes Lodge, based in the World Heritage site of Kinabalu National Park surrounding Malaysia’s highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu.
Populated by an awe-inspiring array of flora and fauna – much of which is endemic to Borneo – the park here provides the ideal introduction to the wildlife of our tour. The Danum Valley Conservation Area is Sabah’s largest protected lowland rainforest, home to more than 340 species of bird, 124 species of mammal and 200 species of plants per hectare. Here, the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, winner of multiple awards for luxury and ecotourism, will welcome us for the concluding segment of our tour, offering a gateway onto the rainforest and allowing us to explore this remarkable, pristine jungle landscape on foot and on a night drive. Marcus Kohler is an ecologist and ornitholgist. Formerly of BirdLife International, Marcus now works as an international wildlife consultant, supporting conservation projects as well as leading wildlife tours across the world.
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WILDLIFE OF SUFFOLK: MINSMERE & ORFORD NESS
2 7 - 3 1 J A N U A R Y, 2 0 2 0 | f r o m £ 1 1 9 5 | with Kevin Hand
A
t Minsmere we will investigate a wide variety of habitats including reed-beds with bearded tits and marsh harriers, and scrapes designed for avocet and bittern. As well as being one of the country’s premier bird-watching sites, the reserve is home to a huge diversity of other wildlife and, at dusk, there may even be the possibility of spotting otter and red deer.
Discover the internationally important wetland reserves of the unspoilt Suffolk coast on this winter wildlife tour. We will enjoy a boat trip down th River Ore to Havergate Island, one of the country’s major sites for breeding and wintering avocets, and cross by ferry to Orford Ness, the largest vegetated shingle spit in Europe. The Ness is also home to unique buildings associated with its former use as an Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, and we will explore these dramatic structures during a special tour. The base for our exploration of East Anglia’s bird-rich coast will be the threestar Thorpeness Hotel, set on a private country lane overlooking the lake known as Thorpeness Meare. Tour Director Kevin Hand has led many projects linking nature and communities, and in 2017 was appointed President of the Cambridge Natural History Society.
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SOMERSET LEVELS IN WINTER 1 2 - 1 5 F E B R U A R Y, 2 0 2 0 | f r o m £ 7 2 5 | with Peter Exley
T
he Somerset Levels have had a colourful history: ‘the land of the summer people’ was once home to a Bronze Age population and it was here, in the house of a swineherd, that King Alfred sought refuge from marauding Vikings.
Explore one of the RSPB’s oldest and largest nature reserves at West Sedgemoor, walking along an ancient drove route to view the remarkable winter wildfowl roost. Wildlife is now returning to England’s largest wetland in dramatic numbers – from the millions-strong murmuration of roosting starlings, to the growing flock of cranes recently reintroduced after a 400-year absence. As well as observing the region’s wildlife, our tour will investigate key historical sites such as Glastonbury Abbey, England’s oldest abbey, and Glastonbury Tor, reputed to be the birthplace of King Arthur.
The Avalon Marshes host one of the country’s most exciting wildlife projects: over 3000 hectares of wetland habitats have been created from former peat workings, giving refuge to bitterns, barn owls and marsh harriers. Greylake, once a series of carrot fields, has been transformed into a wetland reserve teeming with wildlife, whilst West Sedgemoor is home to up to 100,000 ducks and waders during the winter. This tour will be led by Peter Exley, an ecologist and ornithologist who has held posts with the RSPB and BirdLife International. Peter has led and managed many ACE tours in the United Kingdom and around the world.
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