Our orchid tours have built a strong reputation in a short time for delivering the goods - finding the orchids our guests want to see, providing not only the rarities but also the joy of seeing wild orchids growing in profusion, and for being enjoyable and pleasant experiences for all participants. We tread carefully in the sites we visit, and are always mindful of not only the orchids but the other wildlife that's to be found in those places. While Mariposa has only been around for two years now, our leaders have between them decades of orchid-hunting experience, and are well-known and respected. In short, we're pretty good at finding orchids and sharing them with our guests!
The popularity of those tours speaks volumes about that. Orchids of Rhodes 2026 was fully booked before the 2025 tour had even finished... and Orchids of the Gargano Peninsula 2026 followed suit, filling mere days after the 2025 tour had concluded.
So we're delighted to announce two more 'Orchids of...' tours new for 2026. Orchids of Crete, led by European orchid-hunter extraordinaire (and yes, he's the one who found the Ghost Orchid in the UK last year!) Dr Richard Bate, is a guaranteed departure in late April, and will take guests into the heart of one of Greece's most famous orchid islands. There is nobody quite like Richard for finding orchids - those who've been on his tours will know he's got an uncanny ability to locate the rarest of the rare.
Earlier in April, renowned Italian biologist Michele Viganò will be leading our inaugural Orchids of Sardinia tour. Sardinia, sometimes described as a 'mini-continent', enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a richly endowed European orchid hotspot. Michele knows the island well, and that knowledge includes the best sites and secret places in which to find the island's endemics, near-endemics, hybrids and varieties. Also a guaranteed departure for 2026, we know this tour will be increasingly popular as word gets around about the orchid gems the island holds.
And that's not all. Richard, together with Orchid Summer author Jon Dunn, are working on another orchid-related project. All being well, we'll announce that exclusively to our prior orchid guests this coming autumn...
[Images here © Dr Richard Bate & Michele Viganò]
