DOÑANA PARK RIDE ANDALUSIA
Alfonso will be our guide. He is a lawyer by profession but his real passion is horses and he has spent much of his life dedicated to all things equestrian. All his horses have been schooled by him, they are great fun to ride and really responsive. He keeps them at this farm which is half an hour´s drive from Seville.
The ride follows the pilgrim trails leading to El Rocio which is a mythical village near the Atlantic coast in the Doñana National Park. According to legend, some hunters from the nearby town of Almonte found a carving of the Virgin Mary in a tree in the forest. They decided to take the Virgin with them but when they stopped to rest they fell asleep, and on waking they discovered that she had returned to the tree. A chapel was built on this site and over the centuries pilgrims from all over Spain have come here 40 days after pentacost to worship the Virgin of El Rocio.
The Doñana Park is the largest and most famous Spanish National Park which lies in the mouth of the Guadalquivir in the province of Huelva. Many different species of birds come to winter here, huge flocks of geese from Northern Europe and groups of flamingos too. It is also home to grey herons, egrets, spoonbills and storks. In springtime dozens of species nest in the marshes. The lagoons all over the park are regularly visited by other animals including fallow and red deer as well as wild boar and this is the only place in Europe where the Iberian lynx and Egyptian mongoose are still found.
DAY 1
You will be met at a central pick-up point (usually the Santa Justa Train Station in Seville) and transferred to Alfonso´s home. Guests will stay in a series of charming rooms built close to the main house, each with their own bathroom and terrace.
After a chance to settle in we will distribute the horses taking great care that each rider has a horse suitable for his/her needs and riding experience. We will check tack etc and then, after trying the horses in the open air arena, we will go for a short hack through the local countryside. There will be a chance to have a gin and tonic afterwards before having dinner at the finca.
DAY 2
After breakfast guests will be transferred to Hacienda Torrequemada, a beautiful, large olive esate belonging to Alfonso´s family. It was once the monestary of San Ignacio de La Torrequemada and was built in 1640 by monks returning from the New World. There is a huge South American parana pine , planted by the monks 350 years ago which towers over the Hacienda´s rooftops.
The horses are transferred here by lorry early in the morning and are waiting, tacked up and ready, for guests to mount.
The group will set off from Torrequemada riding through miles of olive groves and countryside heading towards the Doñana park.
Every day throughout the ride there is a late monring aperitif stop (usually cold cuts of meat and ham, cheese, olives and lots of sherry or wine). Loosened up by the sherry the group set off again until we reach the lunch spot at Dehesa de Torneo.
The group will set off from Torrequemada riding through miles of olive groves and countryside heading towards the Doñana park.
Every day throughout the ride there is a late monring aperitif stop (usually cold cuts of meat and ham, cheese, olives and lots of sherry or wine). Loosened up by the sherry the group set off again until we reach the lunch spot at Dehesa de Torneo.
A table with chairs is set up under the shade of the ancient oak trees and lunch
includes three courses of local food served with plenty of rioja wine.
The horses are tethered nearby and have a chance to relax.
includes three courses of local food served with plenty of rioja wine.
The horses are tethered nearby and have a chance to relax.
After lunch the ride makes its way across the River Quema (which is where the El Rocio pilgrims are baptised on their first pilgrimage) making its way towards the pine and oak forests.
In the late afternoon we will arrive at Villamanrique where the horses will spend the night and guests are transferred to a charming lodge (a short five minute drive) which is situated in the middle of the park. Dinner and drinks at the Lodge.
DAY 3
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In the late afternoon we arrive at a private finca where the horses will spend the night. Guests are transferred back to the lodge for dinner.
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DAY 4
After breakfast guests are transferred back to the finca where their horses are ready and tacked up. This last day´s ride makes its way through the surrounding pine forests and the aperitif is in an area full of beautiful white eucalyptus trees.
The lunch spot is near a bird sanctuary called Dehesa de Abajo where one can often see flamingos feeding on the lagoon. The ride ends with lunch and after this guests are transferred back to Alfonso´s home for the last night and for a farewell dinner.
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DAY 5
After breakfast guests are transferred back to Seville (usually to the airport).
MORE INFO
Includes: horses and tack, all transfers (from central pick-up point) breakfast, accommodation, lunches, aperitif and dinners. Does not include personal insurance, air fares, any extras for drinks etc in hotels.
Obligatory: insurance.
Minimum pax: 5pax.
Parque Natural “Coto de Doñana”
The “Parque Nacional de Doñana” is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. It is an immense area; the park itself and surrounding natural park or “Entorno de Doñana” (a protected buffer zone) amount to over 1,300 sq. km in the provinces of Huelva, Sevilla and Cádiz. It is internationally recognised for its great ecological wealth. Doñana has become a key centre in the world of conservationism.
Doñana is well known for its enormous variety of bird species, either permanent residents, winter visitors from north and central Europe or summer visitors from Africa, like its numerous types of geese and colourful colonies of flamingo. It has one of the world's largest colonies of Spanish imperial eagles. The park as a whole comprises three distinct kinds of ecosystem: the marismas, the Mediterranean scrublands and the coastal mobile dunes with their beaches.
The configuration of the Parque Nacional de Doñana is a result of its past as the delta of the Guadalquivir river, the 'big river', or Wada-I-Kebir, of the Moors. But it is a delta with a difference. Unlike most, the river has only one outlet to the sea, just below Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The rest of what used to be its delta has gradually been blocked off by a huge sandbar that stretches from the mouth of the Río Tinto, near Palos de la Frontera, to the riverbank opposite Sanlúcar, and which the sea winds have gradually formed into high dunes. Behind this natural barrier stretches the marshlands (marismas).
The effect of this extraordinary mélange of land and water was to create an environment shunned by people but ideal for wildlife. As early as the thirteenth century, the kings of Castille set aside a portion of the Doñana as a royal hunting estate; later the dukes of Medina Sidonia made it their private state too. One of the duchesses of Medina Sidonia, Doná Ana de Silva y Mendoza, indulged her antisocial instincts by building a residence there that was more hermitage than palace. As a result, the entire region came to be known as the 'forest of Doná Ana', or Doñana. In the eighteenth century, Goya is known to have visited the Duchess of Alba at the Palacio de Doñana when she was its proprietress. Subsequently, the land passed through many hands before the official creation of the parque nacional in 1969.
Doñana National Park is a wetland / coastal reserve at the delta of the Guadalquivir River and a major site for migrating birds. The park holds 360 species of birds, in transfer from or to Africa (on the same flyway as Djoudj and Banc d’Arguin). Especially noted are its wintering waterfowl, which number over 500.000.
The importance of the Doñana region cannot be overstressed. Half a million wintering birds, mainly wildfowl and waders, flock to the area each year to escape the much colder weather conditions in the north of Europe and many more use it as a feeding station during the migration periods in spring and autumn. It is also of major importance as a breeding ground for some of the scarcest and most endangered bird species in Europe, such as the Spanish Imperial Eagle, the Marbled Duck and the Red-knobbed Coot. The park also is the habitat of the endangered Spanish lynx, Adalbert’s eagle, marbled teal and white-headed duck.
The “Parque Nacional de Doñana” is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. It is an immense area; the park itself and surrounding natural park or “Entorno de Doñana” (a protected buffer zone) amount to over 1,300 sq. km in the provinces of Huelva, Sevilla and Cádiz. It is internationally recognised for its great ecological wealth. Doñana has become a key centre in the world of conservationism.
Doñana is well known for its enormous variety of bird species, either permanent residents, winter visitors from north and central Europe or summer visitors from Africa, like its numerous types of geese and colourful colonies of flamingo. It has one of the world's largest colonies of Spanish imperial eagles. The park as a whole comprises three distinct kinds of ecosystem: the marismas, the Mediterranean scrublands and the coastal mobile dunes with their beaches.
The configuration of the Parque Nacional de Doñana is a result of its past as the delta of the Guadalquivir river, the 'big river', or Wada-I-Kebir, of the Moors. But it is a delta with a difference. Unlike most, the river has only one outlet to the sea, just below Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The rest of what used to be its delta has gradually been blocked off by a huge sandbar that stretches from the mouth of the Río Tinto, near Palos de la Frontera, to the riverbank opposite Sanlúcar, and which the sea winds have gradually formed into high dunes. Behind this natural barrier stretches the marshlands (marismas).
The effect of this extraordinary mélange of land and water was to create an environment shunned by people but ideal for wildlife. As early as the thirteenth century, the kings of Castille set aside a portion of the Doñana as a royal hunting estate; later the dukes of Medina Sidonia made it their private state too. One of the duchesses of Medina Sidonia, Doná Ana de Silva y Mendoza, indulged her antisocial instincts by building a residence there that was more hermitage than palace. As a result, the entire region came to be known as the 'forest of Doná Ana', or Doñana. In the eighteenth century, Goya is known to have visited the Duchess of Alba at the Palacio de Doñana when she was its proprietress. Subsequently, the land passed through many hands before the official creation of the parque nacional in 1969.
Doñana National Park is a wetland / coastal reserve at the delta of the Guadalquivir River and a major site for migrating birds. The park holds 360 species of birds, in transfer from or to Africa (on the same flyway as Djoudj and Banc d’Arguin). Especially noted are its wintering waterfowl, which number over 500.000.
The importance of the Doñana region cannot be overstressed. Half a million wintering birds, mainly wildfowl and waders, flock to the area each year to escape the much colder weather conditions in the north of Europe and many more use it as a feeding station during the migration periods in spring and autumn. It is also of major importance as a breeding ground for some of the scarcest and most endangered bird species in Europe, such as the Spanish Imperial Eagle, the Marbled Duck and the Red-knobbed Coot. The park also is the habitat of the endangered Spanish lynx, Adalbert’s eagle, marbled teal and white-headed duck.
