Access to Doñana is very restricted: there are a couple of visitor centres at the park’s edges, otherwise, you have to join a guided tour. I started my visit at the primary Visitors Centre, in Acebuche. I quickly found out that I would miss out on the guided tours that are conducted daily from here: between Easter and September, you have to pre-book a tour well in advance. So I went for a long walk instead, following the wood-paved trails that guide you along the best places for birdwatching. I did see a lot of birds that are common in Holland (also on the same flyway) – waterfowl for example. I heard more twittering than I saw species, but that probably is the curse of birding.

I stayed overnight in the funky little town of El Rocio, which could easily try for its own place on the World Heritage List. In El Rocio, a yearly pilgrimage takes place in the week before Pentecost. The town is full of houses of the Brotherhoods coming from all over Spain. Sand covers its streets, which has the fortunate side effect that it slows down the cars. In the evenings, locals go for a ride on their horses. This is real cowboy country, more so than the American Southwest which it resembles. More authentic than Santa Fe, and with an even more ‘oasis in the desert’ pilgrimage church than San Xavier del Bac (near Phoenix, Arizona).

The next morning I went to the visitor center of La Rocina, just outside El Rocio. It has the same kind of trails as Acebuche, but I liked these even more. The highlight is the ‘Arroyo de la Rocina’, a stream where you can see lots of birds when you’re very silent. Or where you can see and hear lots of birds fly away if they just hear you move. The ibises and the egrets are the easiest to spot, as they are big and not too easily scared.

A bit further on the surroundings change into the ‘cotos’, the most characteristic ecosystem of Doñana. It consists of scrubland, with heather and aromatic species such as rosemary and lavender. This area is inhabited by small birds and reptiles and is very pleasant to walk in. Both the bees and I enjoyed all the wonderful smells.