Dates & Prices

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Dates: 6th – 17th August 2024 Confirmed departure

Price: £3,795 1 place left

Single Room Supplement: £395

Deposit: £400 per person


Price Includes: All meals, accommodation with private facilities, ground transport, services of guides, tourist taxes $100 per day, holiday report

Not Included: Flights, travel insurance, drinks & any other personal items

Leaders: Sonam Dorji

Group Size: Minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 guests plus 1 leader

Grade: Gentle paced walks in a variety of terrains. Guests must be prepared for some days which include long drives due to the nature of the locations and terrain needed to cover to find our target areas and species

Holiday Highlights


  • Unique butterfly tour and a quest for a mythical species – the Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory!
  • Many other beautiful butterfly species to see, including the amazing Yellow Gorgon, Common Blue Apollo & maybe even Kaiser-i-Hind
  • Led by a Bhutanese butterfly expert, who has been studying the butterfly and other fauna of Bhutan for years 
  • Awarded Best in Travel 2023 by Lonely Planet – Bhutan is a Himalayan paradise often referred to as the real life Shangri-la!
  • Experience a pristine landscape, where snow-capped peaks rise above primeval forests and beautiful traditional villages!
  • Other great wildlife to see alongside the butterflies, such as the endangered Golden Langur and Rufous-necked hornbill.
  • Very small group to ensure the very best wildlife observation and photographic opportunities are available

An exciting and exclusive butterfly tour and a quest for the mythical Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory!

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Come with us to the Land of the Thunder Dragon, on a quest for glory!

Situated in the Eastern Himalayas, on the path of the ancient Silk Road, the Kingdom of Bhutan is a delicious enigma for many travellers – a peaceful, Buddist democracy renowned for pioneering the concept of gross national happiness, Bhutan is also famous amongst naturalists in the know for its incredible biodiversity – this sparsely populated and little-visited country remains largely unspoilt, a rare gem in these changing days of the 21st century.

Our top butterfly target is the iconic, dramatic, and national butterfly of Bhutan – Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis ludlowi)!

But there is a remarkable range of other species to look for, including a host of emperors, gorgons, satyrs and the glorious Common Blue Apollo and even the chance of the dazzling Kaiser-i-Hind! We’ll also be keeping track of the birds, mammals and flora we encounter during our dozen days exploring the elevations and hidden corners of what is some of the most visually stunning countryside in region.

Your guide for this adventure will be Sonam Dorji. He graduated from Sherubtse college in eastern Bhutan with a B.Sc. in Physical science. He worked as a communication officer in an Environmental NGO in Bhutan for several years. He began butterflying in 2010 and since then has been engaging actively in butterfly and wildlife promotion in Bhutan. He has already made a significant contribution towards the knowledge of butterfly fauna in Bhutan, including the recording of several species for the first time in the country. During the recent pandemic, he discovered the elusive Kaiser I hind in Bhutan, plus a location where Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii) and Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis ludlowi) fl together, something which had not previously been observed elsewhere.

We’ll expect to see mammals the likes of the beautiful and globally endangered Golden Langur and, with a national bird list approaching 800 species, we’ll confidently expect to see some special species – including members of the dramatic hornbill family amongst others. Bhutan has barely been touched by visiting birders, so we will be pioneering and ‘breaking new ground’ on our travels. The habitats we’ll visit will vary from lowland forest to alpine passes, ensuring that we maximise our exposure to as many butterflies, birds and mammals as possible.

We’d be delighted for you to join us on our inaugural, pioneering tour to beautiful Bhutan – Lonely Planet recently highlighted Bhutan among their Best in Travel 2023 – we already knew it was special, and had been laying our plans for a tour there with one of Bhutan’s leading butterfly experts. We look forward to taking you there!

TBA

Sonam Dorji graduated from Sherubtse college in eastern Bhutan with a B.Sc. in Physical science. He worked as a communication officer in an Environmental NGO in Bhutan for several years. He began butterflying in 2010 and since then has been engaging actively in butterfly and wildlife promotion in Bhutan.

He has already made a significant contribution towards the knowledge of butterfly fauna in Bhutan, including the recording of several species for the first time in the country.

During the recent pandemic, he undertook a lot of field work. He discovered the elusive Kaiser-i-Hind (Teinopalpus imperialis) in Bhutan, plus a location where Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii) and Ludlow’s Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis ludlowi) fly together, something which had not previously been observed elsewhere.

Since then, he has been documenting the life cycle of B. ludlowi, as well as continuing to record different species in close consultation with Greenwings, his chosen partner for ecotourism.

Sonam has boundless energy and enthusiasm for the nature of Bhutan and is committed to helping conserve it. He believes strongly in involving the local people in order to achieve that and has been instrumental in setting up a number of educational activities with local children in the area where the two Glories were found. He has also been able to demonstrate the potential benefits of ecotourism, by using funds raised from his work to invest in local facilities and encouragement of the production of various nature-related arts and crafts for local people to generate an extra income from.

Greenwings plans to help Sonam develop his work, partly by using some of the proceeds generated from our Bhutan tours. He has also been awarded a grant from The Swallowtail & Birdwing Trust.

Reports to follow