You can sit in the garden and enjoy our residents and visitors, head into the hills to seek out less common species, take your binoculars into Ronda to spot the incredible bird life on el Tajo or explore one of two UNESCO biosphere reserves that are right on our doorstep. Come and experience the raw beauty of the Serranía and discover its incredible wildlife.
The Serranía de Ronda is famous for its birdlife and private birdwatching tours can be arranged to take guests to some of the best spots. The garden, olive grove and immediate surrounding area is a birdwatcher’s dream. Egrets, kestrels, booted eagles, short-toed eagles, treecreepers, woodchat shrikes, little owls and a host of finches can often be seen from the garden. This area lies along the migration route of many birds so early spring and mid-autumn are great times to visit (the swallows arrive in early March). Storks, bee-eaters, swifts and martens all swoop over the house. You can explore the salt marshes of Doñana National Park in Cadíz province or stay closer to home in the mountains. We have bird guides and binoculars for those that fancy a bit of twitching but for the more serious, a private jeep tour with professional guide is highly recommended.
Read moreSeen from the house, lying to the west, the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve of over 50,000 hectares and home to a host of raptors. There are dippers, hoopoes, bee-eaters and golden orioles in the surrounding woodland. Griffon vultures are common, nesting on the naked rockfaces of the Sierra de Grazalema, sometimes up to seventy of them can be seen at a time circling overhead. Bonelli’s eagles, short-toed eagles, golden eagles, Egyptian vultures, peregrine falcons, lesser kestrels, crag martins, swallows, pallid swifts, black redstarts, blue rock thrushes, choughs, rock doves, black wheatears, rock sparrows, rock buntings and blackcaps can all be seen. The park offers incredible scenery, forested hillsides and craggy peaks, and, for the more adventurous, there are caving and canyoning opportunities in the karstic terrain. The botanical gardens at El Castillejo are some of the best in Spain and showcase the wide variety of flora that can be found in the park including the beautiful Grazalema poppy.
The pristine Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park, seen to the south east, is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and home to an amazingly diverse array of plant and animal life; ibex, otter, mountain goat, fox, red deer, wild boar, stone marten, mouflon, meloncillo, roe deer, eagle owl, royal owl and white-rumped swift. Abies pinsapo, the Spanish fir, hailing from the Tertiary period – a true ‘living fossil’ - endemic to this area and protected by law, is found only in the southern mountains of Andalucia. Ash, chestnut, holly oak, holm oak, gall oak, carob tree, cork oak and of course, the native olive can all be seen in the surrounding area. Limestone, sedimentary rocks and sandy soils make for a vast array of wildflowers – spring is incredible here and comes very early. Over thirty species of wild orchids and rare species of flowers can be seen including paperwhite narcissus and autumn mandrake.