The Tour Leaders And Organisers

Dr. Bob Gibbons (main tour leader, and proprietor of Natural History Travel) has been described as 'one of Britain's best naturalists'. He has written about 35 books to date, on many aspects of natural history and photography, including several floras, an acclaimed field guide to dragonflies, several field guides to insects, a guide to the National Parks and wild places of Europe, guides to the wildlife sites of France, and Greece, and many more. He took most of the photographs for the widely-publicised Flora Britannica project, and has recently completed all the photography, and over half of the writing, for a series of books on the best places to see wildlife in Greece, France, Spain, and the UK. He has also worked with Plantlife on a new book showing British flowers at their best, (Flowers at my feet, HarperCollins) and writes regular articles for British Wildlife magazine, and other publications.

After working for many years in nature conservation, he is now a freelance author, photographer, lecturer, and tour leader, and a Visiting Fellow at Southampton University. He has led numerous tours to many European destinations, as well as to more exotic destinations such as the Himalayas, Costa Rica, Namibia, Equador, and the Galapagos.

He can be contacted directly for any queries about the tours - see contacts page

Dr. Dick Hornby (any trip) is a highly accomplished naturalist and ecologist, with a wide range of interests. He divides his time between South Spain and Abu Dhabi, working as editor of a major life sciences encyclopedia, and as a freelance ecological consultant. Prior to this, he was a Deputy Regional Officer with the Nature Conservancy Council in southern England. He has co-led previous tours to Lesbos, Rhodes, Pyrenees, Namibia and Andalucia.

Nigel Spring (Brenne and Dordogne tours) was the founder and first director of the Kingcombe Centre (see below) , and now works as a freelance environmental education consultant. After completing a degree in zoology and a postgraduate certificate of education, he taught science and environmental studies for 14 years, before setting up the Kingcombe Centre in 1988. He is a fine all-round naturalist, with great skills in passing on his knowledge.

Peter Marren (Dolomites tour) is a well-known writer and naturalist, author of numerous books on a wide range of subjects, as well as regular contributions to the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and British Wildlife. His writing is both lyrical and humorous. He is an excellent all-round naturalist, with a good knowledge of european plants.

Kevin Cook(Cyprus) After a long career in nature conservation, Kevin is now a full-time ecological consultant, lecturer and occasional tour leader. He will be well-known to many as the warden of Brownsea island in Poole Harbour, where he worked for 10 years, until becoming freelance in 1999. As a tour leader, he has a relaxed and easy-going style which belies his wide-ranging expertise.

Paul Toynton (Vercors and french alps tour) spent most of his working life in nature conservation, mainly for English Nature and later as the MOD’s conservation officer for the huge Salisbury Plain Training Area. He co-led the succesful Southern French Alps tour in 2003. He is an excellent all-round naturalist, with particular interests in butterflies and birds.

The Kingcombe Centre comprises a beautiful group of converted farm buildings set in a lovely unspoilt and hidden valley, where a wide range of natural history, general and photographic courses, both residential and non-residential, are held. The full programme can be obtained from The Kingcombe Centre, Toller Porcorum, Dorchester DT2 0EQ. Tel: 01300 320684. E-mail: kingcombe@hotmail.co.uk