Mariposa Nature Tours

  • Home
  • Mariposa Nature Tours

Mariposa Nature Tours Expert-led butterfly and botany holidays

Good morning and welcome to a new week!Our featured tour this week is Butterflies of the French Alps. Just 2 places rema...
31/03/2025

Good morning and welcome to a new week!

Our featured tour this week is Butterflies of the French Alps. Just 2 places remain available to book on the ultimate alpine butterfly holiday, and like all of our butterfly tours, it's guaranteed to generate a donation to Butterfly Conservation Europe.

We're looking forward to returning to this spectacular landscape on 6-13 July 2025, home to a wide variety of butterflies, some of them highly sought after specialities, and some to be seen in great abundance. Your experienced leaders are David Moore & Paul Selby, a dream team of skilled and passionate butterfly enthusiasts.

https://mariposanature.com/tours/butterflies/butterflies-of-the-french-alps25

Images here © Jon Dunn

We're back in Rhodes for the first of our Orchids of Rhodes tours this year, and have been busy catching up with special...
30/03/2025

We're back in Rhodes for the first of our Orchids of Rhodes tours this year, and have been busy catching up with special individual plants that will be highlights in the days to come. This extreme and beautiful Ophrys calypsus variation is an old friend.

Ophrys calypsus var flavescens © Jon Dunn

Ophrys basilissa, one of the most pronounced iterations of the 'boxing glove'-type omegaifera bee orchids - a scarce spe...
29/03/2025

Ophrys basilissa, one of the most pronounced iterations of the 'boxing glove'-type omegaifera bee orchids - a scarce species on Rhodes, and one we're looking forward to getting to grips with again soon.

Image © Jon Dunn

Our countdown to hasn't featured a tongue orchid yet, so let's put that right today with a devilishly red and spiky Se...
28/03/2025

Our countdown to hasn't featured a tongue orchid yet, so let's put that right today with a devilishly red and spiky Serapias carica for your pleasure!



Image © Jon Dunn

Another of the myriad Ophrys bee we'll soon be enjoying in Rhodes, the petrol blue-mirrored Ophrys iricolor - a large ...
27/03/2025

Another of the myriad Ophrys bee we'll soon be enjoying in Rhodes, the petrol blue-mirrored Ophrys iricolor - a large flowered species, and one that rewards a second glance. Better in person than on a screen, we think it's nevertheless a fine daily drop of joy.

Image © Jon Dunn

Today's contribution in our countdown to is an exuberant Orchis italica, aka Naked Man Orchid. Blimey. 😳 Image © Jo...
26/03/2025

Today's contribution in our countdown to is an exuberant Orchis italica, aka Naked Man Orchid.

Blimey. 😳



Image © Jon Dunn

Ophrys bee are masters of deceit, luring insects to attempt to mate with their flowers using a combination of visual a...
25/03/2025

Ophrys bee are masters of deceit, luring insects to attempt to mate with their flowers using a combination of visual and olfactory lures. With any luck, pollination ensues. While maybe not a satisfying liaison for the bee, we can certainly enjoy the flowers' manifest charms!

Bee's eye view of Ophrys cretica ssp. beloniae © Jon Dunn

Provence Orchid, a primrose-yellow upgrade on Early Purple Orchid, is just the ray of sunshine we need on a grey Monda...
24/03/2025

Provence Orchid, a primrose-yellow upgrade on Early Purple Orchid, is just the ray of sunshine we need on a grey Monday morning.🌞

Wishing everyone a great week ahead now spring is officially upon us!



Provence Orchid (Orchis provincialis) © Jon Dunn

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour is Summer Butterflies of the Spanish Pyrenees, guaranteed to r...
24/03/2025

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour is Summer Butterflies of the Spanish Pyrenees, guaranteed to run 3-10 July, and guaranteed to generate a donation to Butterfly Conservation Europe to support their superb butterfly conservation work.

Your guides in this highly butterfly-rich area, exploring a wide range of habitats from alpine meadows to garrigue-type dry areas, are Peter Rich & Juan Pablo Cancela - they're a friendly, experienced dream team combining local and ecological knowledge of the region.

We stay at the legendary Casa Sarasa, renowned as much for its extensive natural history library as for its amazing food. Evenings, while re review our days' sightings, are very convivial affairs indeed!

And those days are packed with special butterflies. Expect huge numbers of blues, coppers, hairstreaks, fritillaries, et al... This is a truly special, unmissable tour!

https://www.mariposanature.com/tours/butterflies/summer-butterflies-of-the-spanish-pyrenees25

Images © Clive Burrows, Peter Rich & Jon Dunn

We've had so much lovely, positive feedback from our recent Orchids of Cyprus tour - well done Richard James & Jon! This...
23/03/2025

We've had so much lovely, positive feedback from our recent Orchids of Cyprus tour - well done Richard James & Jon! This just in today from Rosie Y:

"What a brilliant week with a fantastic range of orchids seen in varied landscapes. Our expert guides were enthusiastic, informative and well organised. Lovely group of interesting people, great hotel and very comfortable travel from site to site. I’d highly recommend this spring trip to Cyprus with Mariposa."

Thank you so much, Rosie!

It's also been a delight, as always, to make a donation to our good friends at Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland straight after the tour concluded. We were determined that we'd donate to BSBI after every one of our botanical holidays from day one of our formation, from our very first botanical tour, and we've been delighted to honour that - and are committed to continue to do so.

Next year's tour is already taking bookings:

https://www.mariposanature.com/tours/botanical/orchids-of-cyprus-26

Images here © Jon Dunn

Where are concerned, Rhodes is full of bull. It's not uncommon to find small herds of Ophrys cornutula grazing* in oli...
23/03/2025

Where are concerned, Rhodes is full of bull. It's not uncommon to find small herds of Ophrys cornutula grazing* in olive groves and at field margins, their long horns recalling the minotaur of Greek myth.

*okay, 'growing'... 😉 Allow us some hyperbole!

Images © Jon Dunn

Too much of the content on social media stinks these days, which is why we hope offers a little sweet wildflower respi...
22/03/2025

Too much of the content on social media stinks these days, which is why we hope offers a little sweet wildflower respite. Alas, you can't smell these Dense-flowered Orchids, but trust us when we say in real life their scent is gorgeous!



Dense-flowered Orchid (Neotinea maculata) © Jon Dunn

Mirror, mirror on the timeline wall, who's the fairest of them all? Step into the hall of mirrors today with us for our...
21/03/2025

Mirror, mirror on the timeline wall, who's the fairest of them all? Step into the hall of mirrors today with us for our daily dose of , and gaze into the depths of Ophrys speculum, the Mirror Orchid! We hope you like what you see there... 😉

Good morning! The next orchid in the countdown to our tour is the exuberant, cheerful Orchis anatolica - widespread ac...
20/03/2025

Good morning! The next orchid in the countdown to our tour is the exuberant, cheerful Orchis anatolica - widespread across the island, sometimes in great abundance, their lovely flowers are a firm favourite. Perfect for , we think.



Image © Jon Dunn

While there are undoubtedly glitzier, more colourful Ophrys bee orchids to be seen in Europe, we think the understated e...
19/03/2025

While there are undoubtedly glitzier, more colourful Ophrys bee orchids to be seen in Europe, we think the understated elegance of Ophrys reinholdii takes an awful lot of beating. Nobody's day was ever made worse by one of these beauties!



Image © Jon Dunn

How do you start the day, with tea or coffee? And do you take milk with that? Today's post in the countdown to our pop...
18/03/2025

How do you start the day, with tea or coffee? And do you take milk with that?

Today's post in the countdown to our popular tour is a dash of milk in your day - Neotinea lactea, the lactea referring to its milky tones.

We think it deserves a prettier name than the rather clunky 'Milky Orchid' - suggestions please!

There's just two weeks left to take advantage of our early bird booking deal for 2025 butterfly holidays - all tours boo...
17/03/2025

There's just two weeks left to take advantage of our early bird booking deal for 2025 butterfly holidays - all tours booked before 1 April qualify for £75 off list price and, like every single one of our butterfly tours, they will all generate a donation to support the brilliant conservation work of Butterfly Conservation Europe.

Previous guests with us also qualify for an additional £50 loyalty discount on top of that early bird deal.

There are still some spaces available on our summer and autumn tours, and you've a fortnight to have a look at our tour calendar and see if anything takes your fancy. By all means drop us a line if you've any questions - we always answer the phone and reply to emails promptly, and we love to chat !

mariposanature.com/calendar

Images, clockwise from top left: Violet Copper (French Pyrenees); Cynthia's Fritillary (French Alps); Zapater's Ringlet (Montes Universales); Gavarnie Blue (Picos de Europa); Desert Orange Tip (Andalusia); Two-tailed Pasha (Valencia); Gavarnie Ringlet (Hautes Pyrenees); Forster's Furry Blue (Spanish Pyrenees). © Jon Dunn & Clive Burrows

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is Butterflies of the Picos de Europa - a week in sp...
17/03/2025

Good morning and welcome to a new week!

Our featured tour this week is Butterflies of the Picos de Europa - a week in spectacular montane surroundings with our popular leaders, expert Spanish naturalist Pau Lucio & Emmanuelle Juan, and like all our butterfly holidays, it's a tour that generates a donation to Butterfly Conservation Europe.

https://www.mariposanature.com/tours/butterflies/butterflies-of-the-picos-de-europa-25

Pau's knowledge of the varied habitats of the Picos is second to none, so our guests are in for a week of potentially enjoying over 110 species of butterfly and, above all, sheer spectacle and wonder as they explore this biodiverse and dramatic region. The tour is a guaranteed departure 13-20 July 2025.

Just a fortnight remains for potential guests to take advantage of our early bird booking offer - a saving to be had on any 2025 week-long tours booked before midnight on 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 holiday.



Images © our good friend Clive Burrows

Address

2 Ashtree Cottages

SA32EB

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday 09:00 - 17:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 17:00
Sunday 09:00 - 17:00

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mariposa Nature Tours posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Mariposa Nature Tours:

Shortcuts

  • Address
  • Opening Hours
  • Alerts
  • Contact The Business
  • Claim ownership or report listing

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Travel Agency?

Share