Well, here we are in December - winter's here again! Now's a chance for us to pause and catch our breath, have a look back on the year just gone, and to look forward to the year that lies ahead of us. 2025 is going to be an exciting year for us and our guests, but more of that in a moment. What about the year that's now drawing to a close?
2024 was our first full season of wildlife tours. Not, of course, that we're new to this... Between us, our team of tour leaders now have decades of accumulated experience leading wildlife tours, searching for rare and charismatic species, a wealth of combined knowledge, and a common thread of a love of the natural world running through it all.
Mariposa Nature Tours was born of this love, and a conviction that wildlife tours could be delivered better - with knowledgeable tour leaders who not only have excellent site and species knowledge, but are also good with people, friendly and caring, and good communicators... with a booking process that runs smoothly and seamlessly from start to finish, with guests' questions answered quickly and comprehensively, and no unanswered phone calls or ignored emails... with advice given when requested unique to our guests' plans - you want to travel to the tour overland by train or bus? Far from a problem, it's something we're delighted to help you to explore your options...
Furthermore, we knew it's important to create well-illustrated and accurate trip reports, to be prepared and delivered to guests in a timely manner after their tours... and, most important of all, we had a commitment to support conservation charities from the very outset and launch of the company - every holiday that's run has generated donations to either Butterfly Conservation's European Butterflies Group, or the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI), depending on whether it's a butterfly or botanical tour.
We're not stopping there. We were delighted to be the first wildlife tour company to organise donations after each tour to Butterfly Conservation Europe and, over and above our individual tour donations to BSBI, we're also pleased to now be official Corporate Supporters of that wonderful charity and the great work they do.
And the tours themselves, what of them? They've gone well, testament to our preparation, our tour leaders' hard work, and our guests' fabulous individual contributions - everyone finds wildlife of interest to the rest of the group during the course of their tour, and everyone benefits from one another's sharp eyes and generosity in sharing what they've found. It's truly a team effort on a Mariposa holiday and it's a particular joy for us to see new friendships forged between like-minded guests who meet on our tours.
We've seen some marvellous sights this year, and enjoyed some notable moments - our Rhodes orchid tour with Jon Dunn and Dr Richard Bate was by some margin a resounding success, with 53 species found, and some notable hybrids and colour forms as the icing on the cake... our guests found what may prove to be the first accepted record of a wild Lesser Flamingo in Italy in the company of renowned Italian naturalist Andrea Corso... we enjoyed close views of Brown Bear cubs in Romania, and found both Wolves and Wildcats in northern Spain... we got close to pioneering African dragonflies that are colonising southern Europe... and oh! the butterflies were brilliant. We take enormous pride in helping guests to see special species, whether they're rarified montane ringlets, or brilliant blues, or flaming coppers... And our butterfly tours have delivered in some style this year. You'll find trip reports on each butterfly tour page, so you can get a taste for just how well we did across the butterflying season, and for what you might hope to expect on equivalent tours next year.
Speaking of next year... we've added some new butterfly and botany tours to the Mariposa portfolio, and we're working on designing and adding more for 2026. In 2025 guests will be heading to the Arctic Circle for butterflies with David Moore and Jon Dunn; and can enjoy spring wildflowers with David Gibbs and Juan Pablo Cancela in the spectacular Picos de Europa, or autumn bulbs in the Peloponnese with David Gibbs and Jon Dunn later in the year.
For 2026? Watch this space! Or better still, join our mailing list for early announcements... We've some special tours in the pipeline, and will be sharing them with our loyal guests first and foremost.
And back to 2025's tours. While our early bird booking offer finished on 30 November, there's still a saving to be had on any 2025 week-long tours booked between 1 December 2024 and 31 March 2025 - a saving of £75 off the listed price of the holiday. Of course, prior Mariposa guests always enjoy an additional £50 loyalty discount so, if you've travelled with us before, there's still £125 overall saving to be had on your 2025 butterfly or botany holiday. We ask for just £150 deposit at the time of booking and, of course, should your plans change between then and the holiday, we'll refund your deposit without hesitation. We know life can throw surprises at any of us - and we know how we like to be treated, and consider it only right and proper to treat our guests with the same level of respect and understanding.
You'll find the full list of our 2025 tours in one convenient place on our Tour Calendar. Please have a look and see if anything takes your fancy and, if you've any questions, don't hesitate to drop us an email or give us a call - our contact details are here on our homepage.
And for now, we'd like to wish everyone all the best for the year to come - good health, and wonderful wildlife encounters to you all.
