Destinations

2025

2026

Extremadura

... where there are many holiday photos to enjoy.

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Latin America

Please see cautionary note in the right hand column about Mexico.

We are very happy to encourage Honeyguiders to travel in Latin America with our hosts in Hungary, Gábor Orban and his partner Andrea Katona. They look after groups in Latin America during our winter months — roughly November to April.

Gábor and Andrea are based during that time in the Yucatán, Mexico. They know pretty well almost all the Central American countries, from Guatemala to Panama, plus some South American destinations including Colombia and Ecuador & the Galápagos.

The Pantanal

Gábor and Andrea organised - with Honeyguide - and led a holiday group in Brazil's fabulous Pantanal in the autumn of 2017. They hope to take more small groups here: you can contact the Honeyguide office, or better still, contact Gábor and Andrea directly.

Pantanal birds: toco toucan; golden-collared macaw; sunbitterns.

Pantanal, more information: Honeyguide's Pantanal holiday (2017)

A selection of Gábor and Andrea's Pantanal photos on Facebook here.

Bumper Pantanal holiday report 2017 here.

Nature & Culture – hand in hand in Mexico

Ancient Maya city of Uxmal; greater flamingos at Rio Lagartos; dark-kite swallowtails, spider monkeys.

They run birdwatching, general wildlife, photographic or cultural holidays, or a mix of all of these.

‘Nature & Culture – hand in hand,’ is how they describe it. The Yucatán in Mexico is a perfect place for this combination: amazing ancient Mayan archaeological sites with attractive birds and wildlife.

Magnificent frigatebirds, ferruginous pygmy owl, vermilion flycatcher.

On the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico, with a fortnight there it is possible to combine the perfectly flat Yucatán peninsula with the contrasting hilly region of Chiapas, offering completely different habitats and species. A good option is a circuit starting from Cancun. If you are in the region on a beach/ sun holiday and you would like to go out on daily outings, that is possible as well.

Click here for an album of 140 photos from Yucatán/Chiapas.

Rio Lagartas

What to see

The birds range from frigatebirds, flamingos and pelicans to colourful orioles, hummingbirds, toucans, trogons and motmots. The Yucatán offers dozens of interesting endemic bird species and other local wildlife that you cannot find anywhere else.

The butterflies, dragonflies and bugs are equally varied and colourful.

tropical buckeye

There are mammal species to see as well, like coatis, agoutis, armadillos, tamanduas (like an anteater), monkeys and sometimes even a big cat or a tayra (like a marten).

To include a visit to see the many millions of Monarch butterflies that winter in Mexico is another idea. It is possible to combine this with seeing endemic birds in central and west Mexico – perhaps best in March.

Sunset with flamingos

FCO travel advice for Mexico here.

The FCO notes that "The Mexican government makes efforts to protect major tourist destinations". However Gabor and Andrea are aware of an increase in drug-related violence in the area in which they are based.

Gabor and Andrea are looking into moving their Latin American base and at the moment (2018) we are not encouraging Honeyguiders to go to Mexico.

This web page remains online, with this cautionary note, in case circumstances change, though links to this page from elsewhere on the main website are being removed.

Orange oriole, found only in Mexico and Belize.

“We would love to share our knowledge and enthusiasm about Latin America with Honeyguiders,” say Gábor and Andrea, pictured here at Uxmal in Mexico.

In our spring and summer, Gábor and Andrea are in Hungary and other parts of eastern Europe, leading holidays or running Kondor Lodge in Kiskunság National Park.

Turquoise-browed motmot

Practical stuff

How to plan a wildlife holiday in Mexico

The easiest first step is to approach Gábor and Andrea via their website Ecotours, or by emailing natours@t-online.hu

Flights: probably London-Cancun charter flights.

Timing: Gábor and Andrea are in Latin America between November and April. December to February are their busiest months, so planning in advance for this period is especially useful.

Size of group: any size from 1 to 12. A small group of 4–7 is ideal.

We hope this may appeal to some Honeyguiders who’ve travelled farther afield, for example to South Africa.

Brown pelicans

Photos on this web page by Gábor Orban & Andrea Katona. There are many more pictures on the Ecotours Facebook page.

Falcate prepona

Mexican sheartail, hummingbird endemic to Mexico.