8 days from £1,595
(Inc flights)
Land only price from £1,445
Closed for so many years to the outside world, Albania has now opened its doors to become a rewarding tourist destination, with much to offer the visiting naturalist. After an evening flight to the capital, Tirana, we stay in a hotel close to the airport before driving south the next day to the historic city of Berat where we’ll be based for two nights. From here we’ll explore Divjaka-Karavasta National Park, and the 4,000-hectare Karavasta lagoon where we’ll look for a host of waterbirds including Garganey and Greater Flamingos. Whilst in this area we will also visit Vjosë-Nartë protected south Karavasta, which is magnet migrating birds such as Black-winged Stilts, Avocets, Spotted Redshanks, Kentish Plovers, Stints Sandpipers. Next, we drive to north-east country Valbonë Valley Park Albanian Alps, stay traditional guesthouse beside River Valbonë. home Brown Bear, Wolf Chamois though these are elusive. Hazel Grouse, Capercaillie, Rock Partridge both Black and White-backed Woodpeckers. Finally make a scenic ferry ride across lake Komani before heading back Tirana our flight home.
- 3-night stay in the old town area of Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Explore Karavasta lagoon which holds 5% of the world’s breeding Dalmatian Pelicans
- Pygmy Cormorants, Marsh Sandpipers & Caspian Terns, Karavasta lagoon
- Look for Red-footed Falcons, Collared Flycatchers, Subalpine Warblers & Nightingales
- Slender-billed Gulls, Collared Pratincoles, Stone Curlews, Bee-eaters & Hoopoes, Vjosë-Nartë
- Ring Ouzel, Black Redstart, Wheatear, Water Pipit & Nutcracker all possible, Valbonë Valley National Park
- Enjoy delicious traditional Albanian cuisine: a fusion of Mediterranean & Middle Eastern flavours
- Take the 2-hour ferry across Lake Komani, dubbed ‘one of the great boat trips of the world’!
- Led by expert naturalist guides
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Highlights
Tom Mabbett
Tom
Tom has been fascinated by wildlife and the natural world since childhood. At primary school he learnt all the British bird species, and he's been watching and enjoying them ever since! Trips to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge further fuelled his passion for birds and, when Tom's family bought 10 acres of land, he created his very own nature reserve on it! After gaining a degree in Biology from Exeter University, Tom set off in search of some of the planet's incredible wildlife, first travelling slowly around the world, and then returning to Australia. As well as seeing a wonderful variety of the world's birds on his travels, he also spent a lot of time beneath the surface of the ocean, scuba diving in Thailand, Australia and Fiji. Two of Tom's many highlights were diving with mighty Bull Sharks and swimming alongside gigantic Whale Sharks. Since returning to the UK Tom has worked in school wildlife clubs and also worked at WWT Slimbridge. Having grown up in the Cotswolds, a lot of Tom's spare time has been spent recording the birds and reptiles of this area's commons and wetlands. He also travels in search of overseas wildlife as often as he can, and amongst the European destinations that Tom and his brother have explored have been Hungary, France, Spain, Holland and, most recently, snow-clad Poland in the depths of winter to focus on mammal-tracking. Tom has now lead and co-led over 20 Naturetrek tours in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Greenland, Guyana, La Palma and Scotland as well as short UK breaks including the Somerset Levels and Forest of Dean. Tom remains a very popular leader with our groups and when not out in the field works within our busy operations team at our new office in Chawton. Please feel free to contact Tom on 01962 733051 or email tom@naturetrek.co.uk with any questions or to discuss a future tour.
Outline Itinerary
Day 1
Fly Tirana and transfer Berat.
Day 2
Divjaka-Karavasta National Park from Berat.
Day 3
Vjosë-Nartë from Berat.
Day 4
Transfer Valbonë Valley National Park.
Day 5/7
Valbonë Valley National Park.
Day 8
Transfer Tirana via Koran Ferry and fly London.
Thought that Albania might be a bit grey with lots of identical tower blocks of flats but it was beautiful with happy, friendly people everywhere. We birdwatched on the coast for 3 days before taking the long journey to the mountains where the scenery was stunning. Shooting was only banned in 2014 so there was not the quantity of birds around but plenty of variety. The food, always plentiful, was a mixture of Turkish, Italian and Greek and delicious.
H.K. Stirling
Food & Accommodation
All included in the price.
Two small family-run guesthouses. All rooms have en suite facilities.
Tour leaders
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Mirjan Topi Tour leader -
Andy Smith Tour leader -
Tom Mabbett Tour leader
Mirjan Topi
Mirjan Topi was born in Albania in 1986. He graduated with an MSc from the University of Copenhagen in year 2010 in the field of sustainable development of agricultural resources. Currently Mirjan is a PhD candidate at the Agriculture University of Tirana and ornithologist at one of the leading Nature Conservation NGOs in the country. Form his early steps Mirjan has had a love for wildlife and is now leading the Vulture conservation work in Albania, being particularly focused on the Egyptian Vulture, the last breeding vulture in Albania. Mirjan is co-author of the first complete field guide of birds of Albania, published in 2016 and other books and scientific publications largely related to ornithology. Mirjan adores guiding nature lovers in Albania as he believes that development of nature tourism in his country stands as one of the most important means of conservation.
Andy Smith
Andy lives in north-east Dorset with his wife and the youngest of his six children. A keen birder and naturalist for as long as he can remember, Andy has enjoyed a diverse career divided between nature conservation work in Britain and Ireland, school teaching and wildlife tour leading. He has now led over 75 tours for Naturetrek and his travels have taken him to various parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Antarctica. When not busy leading tours, Andy teaches teenagers at an independent small school project near Ringwood in east Dorset.
Tom Mabbett
Tom has been fascinated by wildlife and the natural world since childhood. At primary school he learnt all the British bird species, and he's been watching and enjoying them ever since! Trips to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge further fuelled his passion for birds and, when Tom's family bought 10 acres of land, he created his very own nature reserve on it! After gaining a degree in Biology from Exeter University, Tom set off in search of some of the planet's incredible wildlife, first travelling slowly around the world, and then returning to Australia. As well as seeing a wonderful variety of the world's birds on his travels, he also spent a lot of time beneath the surface of the ocean, scuba diving in Thailand, Australia and Fiji. Two of Tom's many highlights were diving with mighty Bull Sharks and swimming alongside gigantic Whale Sharks. Since returning to the UK Tom has worked in school wildlife clubs and also worked at WWT Slimbridge. Having grown up in the Cotswolds, a lot of Tom's spare time has been spent recording the birds and reptiles of this area's commons and wetlands. He also travels in search of overseas wildlife as often as he can, and amongst the European destinations that Tom and his brother have explored have been Hungary, France, Spain, Holland and, most recently, snow-clad Poland in the depths of winter to focus on mammal-tracking. Tom has now lead and co-led over 20 Naturetrek tours in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Greenland, Guyana, La Palma and Scotland as well as short UK breaks including the Somerset Levels and Forest of Dean. Tom remains a very popular leader with our groups and when not out in the field works within our busy operations team at our new office in Chawton. Please feel free to contact Tom on 01962 733051 or email tom@naturetrek.co.uk with any questions or to discuss a future tour.
Tom Mabbett
Tom
Tom has been fascinated by wildlife and the natural world since childhood. At primary school he learnt all the British bird species, and he's been watching and enjoying them ever since! Trips to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) Slimbridge further fuelled his passion for birds and, when Tom's family bought 10 acres of land, he created his very own nature reserve on it! After gaining a degree in Biology from Exeter University, Tom set off in search of some of the planet's incredible wildlife, first travelling slowly around the world, and then returning to Australia. As well as seeing a wonderful variety of the world's birds on his travels, he also spent a lot of time beneath the surface of the ocean, scuba diving in Thailand, Australia and Fiji. Two of Tom's many highlights were diving with mighty Bull Sharks and swimming alongside gigantic Whale Sharks. Since returning to the UK Tom has worked in school wildlife clubs and also worked at WWT Slimbridge. Having grown up in the Cotswolds, a lot of Tom's spare time has been spent recording the birds and reptiles of this area's commons and wetlands. He also travels in search of overseas wildlife as often as he can, and amongst the European destinations that Tom and his brother have explored have been Hungary, France, Spain, Holland and, most recently, snow-clad Poland in the depths of winter to focus on mammal-tracking. Tom has now lead and co-led over 20 Naturetrek tours in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Finland, Belgium, Greenland, Guyana, La Palma and Scotland as well as short UK breaks including the Somerset Levels and Forest of Dean. Tom remains a very popular leader with our groups and when not out in the field works within our busy operations team at our new office in Chawton. Please feel free to contact Tom on 01962 733051 or email tom@naturetrek.co.uk with any questions or to discuss a future tour.
