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Oddly, I've never been to the Iberian peninsula so I'm toying with the idea of a weekend trip some time next spring. As I've never even really herped western Europe south of the Danish / German border much there are - at least potentially - an awful lot of new species waiting for me. This means my target list is so long I'll be thrilled with just about anything and my aim is simply to see as much as possible. That said, of course some species are higher on the wish list.

Perhaps surprisingly, at the very top is Blanus. Other than that, all snakes (Rhinechis and Malpolon perhaps in particular) and Timon are highly desired. Furthermore, my caudate list needs padding and anurans such as Discoglossus, Alytes and Pelodytes would also be nice but as said above, I'll take what I can get. Nice scenery and interesting species of other groups than herps of course wouldn't detract

Timing of flights needs to fit my calendar and airfare needs to be rock bottom cheap so that limits my options. Basically, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Alicante seem the only realistic flight destinations. For a quick three day trip or so - with the driving limitations that entails - some time March - May would anyone be willing to offer a recommendation?

Blanus mariae is easy to find in the Sevilla area (Huelva / PN Los Alcornocales). The area has plenty of species to discover. For Blanus cinereus you need some luck - I don't know reliable places.

Thanks, Peter.

I don't really care much whether I see both species or just one, for me it's always more exciting to see something visually different than ticking off all the cryptic species. Any thoughts on when to go?

The two places I mentioned. If you really want to go there I can send you the spots.

Thanks,

I don't know whether I'll go there yet but it sounds interesting so I'd appreciate that

A good place to find chameleons is near lake Vinuela (not that far north of Malaga). Take a light torch with you and go look for them at night when they turn white. You can defenitely find some snakes too around the lake. When you would arrive in Malaga, there is a small nature reserve nearby where you can find snakes and leprosa (more info can be found here viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1951&p=18892&hilit=malaga#p18892). Here is a link if you want to find V. latastei, but they are hard to find: http://www.viborasdelapeninsulaiberica. ... alaga.html

Puuh - posting concrete Chamaeleon spots in this forum?

Peter Oefinger wrote:Puuh - posting concrete Chamaeleon spots in this forum?

Well, it's still a relatively big lake.. But ok I'll edit

Pablo Deschepper wrote:

Peter Oefinger wrote:Puuh - posting concrete Chamaeleon spots in this forum?

Well, it's still a relatively big lake.. But ok I'll edit

When? If you want to share details, please use PM. Kristian, if you have specific questions, please contact me in person.

Thanks for the replies

Based on what I'm hearing so far I guess I'm looking at flights to Malaga.

I lack local knowledge but I guess mid-late April would be ideal? Pretty much everything should be active by then and it shouldn't be too hot and dry to flip (for Blanus and whatever else) yet, or?

Jeroen, at the moment I'm mostly just bouncing ideas around in my head. I'm sure I'll have lots of more specific questions once I get a little further in the process