India – Wildlife and Cuisine
by Raghu Kulkarni
This tour was an amazing combination of sensory treats! Kerala, known as ‘Gods own country’, is an emerald jewel in the south west of India. Apart from spices and backwaters this area is famous for its astonishing bird life. We toured the surrounds of central Kerala for nine days and we thoroughly enjoyed a series of highlights in the regions of Thattekad, Gavi National Park, Kumarkom and Kochin.
We began our tour from Kochin and carried on to our first destination at Thattekad. Here we stayed in a heavenly place called ‘Mundackal plantation home stay’ surrounded by a lush green plantation. Twice daily we visited the Dr. Salim Ali bird sanctuary and potential birding areas nearby. We were extremely lucky to see two pairs of frogmouth – definitely one of the highlights of the tour! We also spotted around 90 species of birds in this region, including the White Bellied Woodpecker, Dark Fronted Babbler, Black Bazza Malabar Grey Hornbill and Black Crested Bulbul. There were no words to express the beauty of the butterflies, particularly the Paris Peacock, the largest butterfly in India! The Southern Birdwing was also a star attraction. Every evening during our stay at Thattekad the group members enjoyed cooking classes conducted by our host.
After three nights at Thattekad we went to our next destination at Gavi National Park. Gavi is approximately 3000 feet above sea level so the rainfall is comparatively higher than in Thattekad. Our first night was spent in the heart of the forest hearing the night creatures from our tents – a lifetime experience for everybody! In Gavi we also had the opportunity to observe some mammal species. On the way to night camp we saw three herds of Gaurs, and next morning we spotted a herd of Sambers in the far distance. We enjoyed the long jumps of the Nilgiri langur monkeys and the trapeze of the Malabar Giant squirrel.
The national park is an ideal Shola forest and is a very different habitat to Thattekad and so we made some notable additions to our bird list. The sighting of Great Pied Hornbill was amazing! We were mesmerized by the tunes of Malabar Whistling Thrush, and flocks of noisy Black Bulbuls accompanied us on every trail. On the last day we unexpectedly spotted three wild dogs, watching them for more than 15 minutes – again another highlight of the tour!
Kumarkom was our third location and was totally different from the first two we visited. The setting of the village and especially the resort where the group was staying was gorgeous, surrounded by channels of the back water. On the evening cruise we saw Whiskered Terns in thousands returning to their roosting place. Later on the same evening we were treated to some classical music by two locals which was very enjoyable. Next morning we visited the Kumarkom bird sanctuary and it was here that the group saw the best sighting of the day - a group of otters playing in the water!
We ended our memorable tour with sightseeing in Kochin.
To find out more about this tour click here.
India – Kerala’s National Parks and Backwaters
by Raghu Kulkarni
Kerala is known as the green state of India. This state has a very interesting combination of different habitats from the coastal side across to the cloud-kissing mountains! In this 8 day tour we experienced this diverse and stunning range of habitats and scenery.
Some of the star destinations of Kerala visited in this tour included Kumarkom, Periyar, Munnar, and Allepy.
The starting point of the trip was Kochin. From Kochin we travelled to Kumarkom to experience its great combination of birdlife and culture. Later that afternoon we participated in the sunset cruise to the rhythm of local classical music. Watching the Kathakali dance was also very enjoyable. Birding in the paddy fields and a visit to a butterfly garden were memorable experiences in this area.
The Periyar tiger project was our next destination. Unfortunately it was raining during our stay which reduced the probability of wildlife sightings. However, we still enjoyed the boat rides in the backwater and did some trekking, where we managed to witness some of the exotic bird life and mammals here. A group of nesting Great Cormorants, and a pair of Malabar Trogon were the highlights of the Periyar region, and we were also lucky to get a close view of a Malabar Giant squirrel. On the banks of the backwater we saw herds of Sambar deer and a few Gaurs on the rolling grasslands of the mountain slopes.
Munnar was the third beautiful destination we visited on the tour. Here we were actually walking in the clouds! Since Munnar is situated at such a high altitude we could see some amazing bird species like Nilgiri flycatcher, Grey breasted laughing thrush, and Scaly thrush. Here we visited Eravikolam National Park which was a great experience - we had nice close sightings of the mountain goat known as Nilgiri Tahar. The landscape and light conditions were making this land look like a paradise in a fairy tale book! A visit to the tea museum was a nice stopover. We visited the Mattapuuty dam on the last evening and whilst returning we were surprised and delighted to see a female wild asian elephant with a small calf feeding on the grass land!
Keralas house boats are known worldwide and Allepy is the main center of house boats in the region. In the morning we boarded our houseboat and spent the whole night in our floating bedrooms. It was a very pleasant and relaxing experience for the members of the group.
We completed our enjoyable tour at Kochin.
To find out more about this tour click here.
Just Tigers!
by Tika Ram Giri
November 2006 saw yet another highly successful Just Tigers tour to India. During such tours the secret is to spend an extended period of time at one of India’s foremost Tiger Reserves, in this case Kanha NP in Madhya Pradesh where the group were based for seven nights. From our very comfortable base at Tuli Tiger Resort we took twice daily jeep safaris into the park. During a total of 13 drives (each lasting 3-6 hours, with the longer morning excursions punctuated by a packed breakfast stop) no fewer than 5 or 6 different Tigers were seen in a total of 15 separate sightings. Our first encounter came on day two after we had been in the national park for only an hour when a Tiger was seen at close range and some of us also enjoyed the Elephant rides. In addition, between us we saw two Leopards, two Jungle Cats and a single Sloth Bear while the local pack of Dhole (Indian Wild Dogs) was seen on two occasions. Commoner herbivores such as abundant Chital (Spotted Deer) and Sambar were supplemented by repeated encounters with impressive Gaur (the largest Bovine in the world) and Barasingha (‘Kanha Swamp Deer) one of the rarest mammals on earth and the original reason for establishing Kanha as a protected area.
Keener birders were certainly not disappointed as a wide range of species were found including Changeable Hawk-eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Citrine Wagtail and four species of owls as well as numerous commoner species (over 150 species in total); even a few vultures (3 species were seen) are still hanging on in this remote corner of India after the catastrophic population declines elsewhere. Kanha is not the easiest place in the world to get to but once there the rigours of an overnight train journey followed by a four hour drive soon seem well worthwhile. The return journey to Delhi was broken by a day of sightseeing in Agra, at the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, and several group members decided to extend their stays with extensions to Chambal/Bharatpur (some of the best birdwatching in the world!) or Ranthambore where yet more Tigers were seen.
To find out more about this tour click here.