Oliva Rama Tours is offering an excellent opportunity to take a guided wildlife holiday to most of the Iberian Peninsular and the Rest of the World. Being based in Spain and having relatively low overheads we are able to offer extremely good, value-for-money packages that other larger tour companies may struggle to do. Although we are very competitive, we still promise to maintain a high standard of accommodation, transport, & expertise. We cater for all levels of experience, and will strive to ensure everyone gets the full benefit from their birdwatching break. The pace will be relaxed and very good humoured, with the occasional (optional) early morning/late evening excursions to try and find certain key species. We will also be focusing on other fauna & flora during the holiday to ensure you experience the area's complete natural beauty.
Julian (Jules) Sykes is the owner of Oliva Rama Tours. A native Yorkshireman with a birdwatching father their family holidays (on the Isles of Scilly) meant he developed an early passion for Western Palearctic birds. In the 80´s he back-packed across Northern Europe, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey then into Israel and finally Egypt enjoying the birds & wildlife of each unique area. In 1998 he settled in Kinross with his family, cementing life long friendships with Ken Shaw & many other local birdwatchers, along with active involvement in the Fife Bird Club. In 2004 they then moved to Oliva, opened Oliva Rama Pension and eventually started running birdwatching tours around the autonomous region of Valencia before expanding further afield within Iberia. Although still fairly new to bird-guiding his friendly manner, enthusiasm and determination to find the species ensures a memorable holiday for his guests.
Ken D. Shaw, one of the most well-known members of the current British birdwatching scene. Ken (originally from Glasgow) worked for the RSPB for 28 years, being best known for his 10 years as Senior Site Manager at one of Scotland's main reserves Vane Farm. After retirement he started working freelance on EU nature conservation projects in eastern Europe, keeping close ties to Latvia. He has served on both the BBRC and BOURC committees, and also held the prestigious position of bird recorder of North East Scotland for 6 years. Ken has travelled widely throughout the world and is a Western Palearctic specialist having seen nearly 700 species in the region, and has previously lead several trips to Eastern Europe & North Africa. He is a very experienced guide keeping the group entertained with many of his humorous anecdotes from his favourite pastime of 'finding rarities'.
Andy Mitchell moved to North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory in 1990 until 1995 having decided that sixteen years in the Civil Service was enough. He then went off and did various bits of conservation work, both home and abroad, before returning to Orkney in 1999 as the RSPB warden on Egilsay for seven years, followed by a couple of years as their Corncrake Officer in the islands. He has led tours to various countries although the Caribbean and South America are his first love – Cuba in particular where he has been birding and leading tours since 1987. He currently divides his time between leading tours, investigating new destinations and working for the Natural History Book Service, cataloguing books for them from his home on South Ronaldsay, Orkney.
Steve Dudley (aka Mr Lesvos) has a wealth of wildlife knowledge and is a natural tour leader with a fun, outgoing manner and lively sense of humour - the latter essential as he's a Peterborough United fan! When he's not tour leading he runs the British Ornithologists' Union and works for Leica trying aide the perfect birders optics, and Arlequin/Subbuteo NHBS. He's also author of the new guide to his favourite island -'A Birdwatching Guide to Lesvos', as well as Watching British Dragonflies and Rare Birds Day by Day. The rest of the year he just wastes his time running his own website!!! (www.lesvosbirding.com).
Richard Palmer has been a birder and all-round naturalist for nearly fifty years! Richard was born and brought up in South Yorkshire, often assisting his father who was the first warden at Potteric Carr YWT reserve. As well as birds, Richard took an early interest in wild flowers, butterflies and moths and, particularly reptiles and amphibians.
Having lived in Cambridge for many years with his wife Jane and their daughter Emily he started doing workshops on birds and birdwatching to the local community. In recent years, upon (gradually) retiring from a professional career, Richard has continued lecturing on topical bird subjects and operated regular trips and holidays in the UK and abroad under his own small business Calandra Holidays, His style is essentially relaxed, easy-going and humorous especially when talking about his other passion - Doncaster Rovers. We all have our cross to bear!!!
Richard’s quest for birds has taken him to many parts of the world, with his particular ‘specialities’ being Southern Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, Central America and the Caribbean.
Andy Carroll is from Clackmannanshire and a very experienced ornithologist who has worked as a Countryside Ranger, Information Officer, Field Ornithologist and Membership Development Officer.for the RSPB and BTO plus employment with British Waterways on the Millennium Link project near Grangemouth. Now living and working out of Lanarkshire, he travels across the UK to work on a wide range of environmental based projects with skills including, site & ornithological surveys, guided tours, market training and illustrated talks. Andy is an extremely enthusiastic leader with an enormous amount of knowledge about his native Scotland.
Mohamed Zaki, is an official Moroccan birdwatching guide & naturalist to the mountains and deserts to this wonderful North African country. Mohamed is a berber by origin and speaks Arabic, French and English, and when not guiding he lives, with his family in small village in the High Atlas. With his concise knowledge of his native land and easy, good humoured manner, he will be a very welcome addition to the Oliva Rama Holidays team.
Andrew ‘Felix’ Felger lives in Krakow - Poland. After graduating from the Krakow Agricultural University (Faculty of Forestry) he started work there as a teacher and scientist in the Department of Zoology & Wildlife Management. He is a birdwatcher and general naturalist with special interest in owls (Pygmy and Ural Owl) and grouse (Capercaillie, Black Grouse & Hazel Hen) which are subject of his investigation. He has guided many groups of birders and naturalist from all over Europe in Poland, Hungary and Romania. He has built up knowledge of where to find and show visitors almost all the species of birds and animals in his home country.
Petar Iankov is very much an expert on Bulgarian birds and where to find them, since he graduated from Sofia University after completing a PhD in Bird Fauna of Sofia. He is one of the pioneers of birdwatching tourism in Bulgaria playing an active role in its development during the last 20 years, and is the author of "Where to watch birds in Bulgaria" – the first complete guide of this kind about the country. Thanks to his great experience in biodiversity conservation Petar played a major role in developing the management plans for the Central Balkan National Park, the Rila National Park, the Rila Monastery Nature Park and many other significant natural areas. Petar is also a member of the Bulgarian Rarities Committee.
Gerard Gorman has lived in Hungary since the mid-1980s, he arrived in Budapest on an exchange scholarship and never left. A birdwatcher since childhood he quickly realised that Hungary was exceptional for birds, and so set about extensively exploring his adopted country. Soon after he started to make regular visits to neighbouring Romania, Czechoslovakia (later to be split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and then to Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia and the Baltic States - always with birds and wildlife as the focus. In the late 1980s (as soon as it was politically possible but actually a bit before!) he started to guide birders from Western Europe. Subsequently Gerard has spent more time in the field than any other bird guide in the region. He is now widely regarded as Eastern Europe's most experienced guide having designed, organised and led tours from the Baltic to the Black Sea, for birding and wildlife tour companies, clubs, societies and individuals from all over the world (he currently has well over 300 group tours under his belt).
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Julian (Jules) Sykes is the owner of Oliva Rama Tours. A native Yorkshireman with a birdwatching father their family holidays (on the Isles of Scilly) meant he developed an early passion for Western Palearctic birds. In the 80´s he back-packed across Northern Europe, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey then into Israel and finally Egypt enjoying the birds & wildlife of each unique area. In 1998 he settled in Kinross with his family, cementing life long friendships with Ken Shaw & many other local birdwatchers, along with active involvement in the Fife Bird Club. In 2004 they then moved to Oliva, opened 
Ken D. Shaw, one of the most well-known members of the current British birdwatching scene. Ken (originally from Glasgow) worked for the RSPB for 28 years, being best known for his 10 years as Senior Site Manager at one of Scotland's main reserves Vane Farm. After retirement he started working freelance on EU nature conservation projects in eastern Europe, keeping close ties to Latvia. He has served on both the BBRC and BOURC committees, and also held the prestigious position of bird recorder of North East Scotland for 6 years. Ken has travelled widely throughout the world and is a Western Palearctic specialist having seen nearly 700 species in the region, and has previously lead several trips to Eastern Europe & North Africa. He is a very experienced guide keeping the group entertained with many of his humorous anecdotes from his favourite pastime of 'finding rarities'. .jpg)
Andy Mitchell moved to North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory in 1990 until 1995 having decided that sixteen years in the Civil Service was enough. He then went off and did various bits of conservation work, both home and abroad, before returning to Orkney in 1999 as the RSPB warden on Egilsay for seven years, followed by a couple of years as their Corncrake Officer in the islands. He has led tours to various countries although the Caribbean and South America are his first love – Cuba in particular where he has been birding and leading tours since 1987. He currently divides his time between leading tours, investigating new destinations and working for the Natural History Book Service, cataloguing books for them from his home on South Ronaldsay, Orkney..jpg)
Steve Dudley (aka Mr Lesvos) has a wealth of wildlife knowledge and is a natural tour leader with a fun, outgoing manner and lively sense of humour - the latter essential as he's a Peterborough United fan! When he's not tour leading he runs the British Ornithologists' Union and works for Leica trying aide the perfect birders optics, and Arlequin/Subbuteo NHBS. He's also author of the new guide to his favourite island -'A Birdwatching Guide to Lesvos', as well as Watching British Dragonflies and Rare Birds Day by Day. The rest of the year he just wastes his time running his own website!!! (.jpg)
Richard Palmer has been a birder and all-round naturalist for nearly fifty years! Richard was born and brought up in South Yorkshire, often assisting his father who was the first warden at Potteric Carr YWT reserve. As well as birds, Richard took an early interest in wild flowers, butterflies and moths and, particularly reptiles and amphibians.
Having lived in Cambridge for many years with his wife Jane and their daughter Emily he started doing workshops on birds and birdwatching to the local community. In recent years, upon (gradually) retiring from a professional career, Richard has continued lecturing on topical bird subjects and operated regular trips and holidays in the UK and abroad under his own small business Calandra Holidays, His style is essentially relaxed, easy-going and humorous especially when talking about his other passion - Doncaster Rovers. We all have our cross to bear!!! 
Andy Carroll is from Clackmannanshire and a very experienced ornithologist who has worked as a Countryside Ranger, Information Officer, Field Ornithologist and Membership Development Officer.for the RSPB and BTO plus employment with British Waterways on the Millennium Link project near Grangemouth. Now living and working out of Lanarkshire, he travels across the UK to work on a wide range of environmental based projects with skills including, site & ornithological surveys, guided tours, market training and illustrated talks. Andy is an extremely enthusiastic leader with an enormous amount of knowledge about his native Scotland.
Mohamed Zaki, is an official Moroccan birdwatching guide & naturalist to the mountains and deserts to this wonderful North African country. Mohamed is a berber by origin and speaks Arabic, French and English, and when not guiding he lives, with his family in small village in the High Atlas. With his concise knowledge of his native land and easy, good humoured manner, he will be a very welcome addition to the Oliva Rama Holidays team.
Andrew ‘Felix’ Felger lives in Krakow - Poland. After graduating from the Krakow Agricultural University (Faculty of Forestry) he started work there as a teacher and scientist in the Department of Zoology & Wildlife Management. He is a birdwatcher and general naturalist with special interest in owls (Pygmy and Ural Owl) and grouse (Capercaillie, Black Grouse & Hazel Hen) which are subject of his investigation. He has guided many groups of birders and naturalist from all over Europe in Poland, Hungary and Romania. He has built up knowledge of where to find and show visitors almost all the species of birds and animals in his home country. 
Petar Iankov is very much an expert on Bulgarian birds and where to find them, since he graduated from Sofia University after completing a PhD in Bird Fauna of Sofia. He is one of the pioneers of birdwatching tourism in Bulgaria playing an active role in its development during the last 20 years, and is the author of "Where to watch birds in Bulgaria" – the first complete guide of this kind about the country. Thanks to his great experience in biodiversity conservation Petar played a major role in developing the management plans for the Central Balkan National Park, the Rila National Park, the Rila Monastery Nature Park and many other significant natural areas. Petar is also a member of the Bulgarian Rarities Committee.
Gerard Gorman has lived in Hungary since the mid-1980s, he arrived in Budapest on an exchange scholarship and never left. A birdwatcher since childhood he quickly realised that Hungary was exceptional for birds, and so set about extensively exploring his adopted country. Soon after he started to make regular visits to neighbouring Romania, Czechoslovakia (later to be split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and then to Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia and the Baltic States - always with birds and wildlife as the focus. In the late 1980s (as soon as it was politically possible but actually a bit before!) he started to guide birders from Western Europe. Subsequently Gerard has spent more time in the field than any other bird guide in the region. He is now widely regarded as Eastern Europe's most experienced guide having designed, organised and led tours from the Baltic to the Black Sea, for birding and wildlife tour companies, clubs, societies and individuals from all over the world (he currently has well over 300 group tours under his belt).
