Wildlife Holidays in Mexico
Tell me about Mexico …
Mexico is a fascinating and vibrant country, a colourful land steeped in history, myth and legend.
This was the home of the ancient Aztec, Toltec and Maya civilizations, whose great pyramids rival those of Egypt. It was also landfall for the first of the Spanish Conquistadors as they searched for the fabled Cities of Gold.
Today, Mexico is a modern and welcoming country, far removed from our stereotypic image of Hollywood 'Westerns' full of cacti, tequila and banditos wearing oversize sombreros and moustaches! Indeed it is a beautiful country of many contrasts, from the hot cacti-filled deserts so favoured by moviemakers, to the lush tropical rainforests of the south.
What’s special about its wildlife?
Baja California has long been described as the 'Galapagos of Mexico'. From the Pacific-pounded shores of its western coastline round to the sheltered blue waters of the Sea of Cortez, this 1,285-kilometre peninsula (one of the world's longest) is home to a diversity of wildlife that could easily rival Darwin's more famous islands over 1,600 kilometres to the south.
Flocks of Magnificent Frigatebirds soar overhead, while lines of Brown Pelicans and Brant's Cormorants file over the sea's surface, and hundreds of sea lions rest on isolated rocky islands.
Inland, Crested Caracaras sit atop the huge Cardon Cacti which cover much of the desert interior and tiny hummingbirds sip nectar from a variety of colourful desert plants.
Naturetrek tours to Mexico
Naturetrek offers two wildlife holidays and natural history tours in Mexico:
- Whale watching & bird watching along the western coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula & the Sea of Cortez
- Monarch butterflies in the central highlands & bird watching in the Sierra Madre cloudforests.
What wildlife might I see?
- San Ignacio’s ‘friendly’ Grey Whales
- Blue, Humpback & Sperm Whales, plus an array of dolphin species
- Red-billed Tropicbirds, egrets, spoonbills & ibis
- Winter gatherings of Monarch butterflies – one of the world’s most amazing wildlife spectacles as up to 600 million butterflies take to the air
- The Aztec city of Teotihuacan