Fill in your travel dates and click the search button to find hotels in the Sierra de Grazalema.
Booking.comThe top wildlife, activity and walking holiday companies in Spain. Small family companies living and working in Spain. Local guides are the best!
Ronda “the city of dreams” is one of Spain’s most visited cities. It is a little city, more of a big town really and famous for the impressive Puente Nuevo (new bridge) that spans the gorge that seperates the old town from the new town. The Real Maestranza bullring is oe of the oldest in Spain and is where modern bullfighting was conceived. the many beautiful churches, museums, wonderful coffee shops and tapas bars are all within a short 30 minute walk.
As well as being blessed with some of Spain’s most impressive nature and historic monuments, so too are Ronda hotels special, not least because several offer views of the Tajo gorge from their windows, or views of the mountains surrounding the city. As one of the most visited cities in Spain, Ronda has a fantastic selection of hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and self-catered accommodation guaranteed to suit all tastes.
Our four star hotels include the Parador, Molino del Arco, Reina Victoria, Montelirio, Maestranza, Acinipo, Don Benito, and Hotel San Gabriel.
Continue reading Ronda the “city of dreams”Sporting the colours yellow and black of a normal wasp, this flying insect looks strangely disconnected in flight. The overall length is from 19 to 25mm with part of that made up of a yellow “thread” or pedicel. The body is mainly black with yellow bands on the long legs which hang down in flight. They can be found in Southern Europe and Africa.
Sceliphron spirifex are solitary wasps and are not aggressive, they do not sting unless mishandled. The sexes look very similar with the female being larger and with a visible sting.
The female searches out an ideal shelter to create a mud daub nest, by flying repeatedly around an area and finally walking around to be thoroughly sure in her choice.
Shade from the sun and shelter from the rain are priority. Fine particles of mud are then collected, balled up and flown back to the chosen site. They will search out a damp patch from an irrigation system, pond or puddle, returning frequently during the day to collect more.
Several cells are connected along side each other, sharing the mud walls, but they are individual, sealed tube. Each cell will contain one egg and be provided with food for the larvae when it hatches.
The food is in the form of small spiders with between 6 and 14 per cell. These are mostly small crab or jumping spiders that the wasp hunts and brings alive but paralised to the mud cell.
The top wildlife, activity and walking holiday companies in Spain. Small family companies living and working in Spain. Local guides are the best!
There are large, virtually all black bees which visit flowering plants and shrubs throughout the spring and summer, their scientific name is Xylocopa violacea. The later part of this name derives from the beautiful purple / blue sheen seen on the wings as they catch the sunlight. These black bees are common in central and southern Europe.
Do not be alarmed by their size of up to 23mm, they are not aggressive and will simply go about their business of collecting nectar from flowers, chooseing to fly away from people. The male does not have the ability to sting. The males will chase other males in competition as well as females that they wish to mate. At this time they can be noisy, crashing into walls, windows etc. If caught and handled the female may sting as a means of self defence.
The name carpenter bee is due to their using dead wood to breed in. The female uses her mandibles to chew into the wood, creating tunnels into which she will lay up to 15 eggs. The small bits of wood that break away, will either be discarded or used to separate the egg cells. They are just as content to place their eggs in an existing tunnel such as a bamboo tube. Each egg will be provided with pollen on which to eat when it hatches.
These bees are very efficient pollinators of open flowers but can also use their size and weight to break into long tubular flowers from above and steal the nectar without collecting and distributing any pollen.
The top wildlife, activity and walking holiday companies in Spain. Small family companies living and working in Spain. Local guides are the best!
This is a very large solitary wasp, the female reaching up to 4.5cm whereas the male is a little smaller. This species appears in warm weather during late May, June, July and August.
They hold no danger to humans despite their size and black / yellow warning colours. They feed eagerly on flower nectar and this is the best time to view them.
Continue reading Mammoth Wasp – (Megascolia (Regiscolia / maculata flavifrons) – Avispa parasita de cuatro puntas
