| West India 2011 | | Print | |
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Cost per person according to group size: This tour is run using our unique sliding price scale, where the more people who come on a trip, the less you pay – this makes our tours truly great value as our starting price for 2/3 participants already compares favourably to that of similar trips. If you have travelled with Altiplano before you will also be able to deduct 5% from the prices below.
Tour Itinerary
Day 1 – London to Ahmedabad Depart London Heathrow on an overnight flight to Ahmedabad
Day 2 – Ahmedabad to Dasada Following our arrival in Ahmadabad we shall be met by our guide and driver and will head straight off on a two hour drive to Dasada in the Little Rann of Kutch birding en route. The road to Dasada is interesting and we pass cattle graveyards where White-rumped, Egyptian and Griffon Vultures can be seen as well as stopping at o wetlands that are good for resident birds.
The safari resort is at Dasada imaginatively designed using local materials and has extensive grounds with a water-body, ponds, gardens, plantations and agricultural fields. Red-necked Falcon, Shikra, Bluethroat, Rose-coloured Starling, Black Ibis, Great White Pelican, Indian Pond Heron, Pied, Common and White-throated Kingfishers are among the birds that come into the property. After lunch, we head off to the Little Rann of Kutch, a sanctuary for Indian Wild Ass. An ancient seabed turned by geological forces into saline desert plains, the Rann has grassy patches that offer good bird-watching. Crested and Sykes Larks, Oriental Skylark, Bimaculated Lark, Greater Short-toed Lark, Singing and Indian Bushlarks, Ashy-crowned and Black-crowned Sparrow-Larks, are likely sightings and Greater Hoopoe Lark is possible. Desert and Variable Wheatears, Southern Grey, Long-tailed, Rufous-tailed, Bay-backed Shrike and Common Woodshrike are also likely sightings and Desert Warbler is among the many winter visiting warblers. We will also look for Chestnut-bellied and Spotted Sandgrouse, Indian Courser (Cream-coloured visits occasionally), Yellow-legged and Barred Buttonquails, Grey Francolin, Wryneck, Brown Rock Chat, Pied Bushchat, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Blue-headed Rock Thrush, Black Redstart and buntings in the scrubby areas. At sunset, it is possible to watch Marsh, Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers, Aquila eagles, falcons and buzzards heading for their roosting sites.
Among the mammals of the Rann other than the Wild Ass, there are chances of seeing Nilgai, Chinkara Gazelle, White-footed Desert and Indian foxes, Wolf, Jungle Cat (occasionally also Desert Cat), Pale and Long-eared Hedgehogs and Indian Hare.
Days 3 & 4 – Dasada Morning drive to the Bets, elevated patches in the Rann covered with scrub and grass. In winter, this is a likely area for Macqueen's Bustard. Long-legged, Common and White-eyed Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Bonneli's Eagle. Short-toed Snake Eagle, are often seen during the drive. Evening visit to Nawa Talao, a lake where Demoiselle and Common Cranes gather in large flocks during the winter months. Greater and Lesser Flamingo are seen in large numbers as are Great White Pelican with Spot-billed and Dalmatian also recorded. Painted, Openbill, Woolly-necked, White, Black and Black-necked Storks can be seen as can Black, Glossy and Black-headed Ibises. Northern Pintail, Common Teal, Spot-billed Duck, Mallard, Gadwall, Wigeon, Garganey, Shoveler, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Lesser Whistling Duck, Brahminy and Comb Duck are among the many visitors to the lake. Waders include pratincoles, lapwings, sandpipers, ruff and others.
Day 5 – Dasada to Jamnagar We shall take a morning walk around Dasada village. This can yield a reasonably good bird list including Yellow-legged Green Pigeon, Paradise Flycatcher, fantails, Red-breasted Flycatcher, white-eye, prinias and warblers.
After breakfast we depart for Jamnagar, six hours away. This is an interesting route passing agricultural fields and lakes where birds of open-country such Roller and Black-shouldered Kite can be seen. We arrive at Hotel President in time for lunch. On this day, we will also try to get permits to enter the Marine National Park for the following day. We make an evening visit to Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary, where there are fairly good chances of seeing Indian Skimmer. This sanctuary is a breeding area for many species of birds that do not nest elsewhere in peninsular India. Great-crested Grebe, Black-necked Stork, Caspian Tern and many other birds can be seen besides most of the species recorded in the Little Rann area.
Days 6 & 7 - Jamnagar Visit coastal areas along the Gulf of Kutch, one of the finest birding stretches along the Indian coastline. We are likely to see Crab Plover as well as several familiar waders, such as Kentish Plover, Oystercatcher, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin and Curlew Sandpiper. Pallas' (Great Black-headed) Gull, Temminck’s Stint, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Lesser Crested, Gull-billed, Common, Little, Black-bellied, and Whiskered Terns, Darter, Western Reef Egret and other birds can be seen in this area. Time permitting; we’ll walk to Lakhota Lake to watch Brown-headed Gulls and a variety of ducks.
Days 8 & 9 – Jamnagar to Gir National Park Depart at dawn with a picnic lunch for Porbandar, two hours away. This coastal city is good for watching and photographing birds at close range. Besides large flamingo and crane flocks, this area also receives Yellow-legged Gull, Heuglin's Gull, Sandwich Tern and Black-bellied Terns. We then drive the three hours to Gir NP and check-in at Gir Birding Lodge.
Days 10-12 – Gir National Park A tapestry of dry deciduous forests, acacia scrub and grassland, fed by rivers and reservoirs, Gir is the last abode of the Asiatic Lion and has a thriving population of Leopard, Sambar, Chital (Spotted Deer), Nilgai and Wild Boar. Gir is also one of the major habitats of Chousingha (the world's only four-horned antelope) and Chinkara or Indian Gazelle that are both present in good numbers but hard to spot in the teak forests along the game drive trails. Among the many birds of Gir, Changeable Hawk-Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Bonneli's Eagle, Peregrine, Laggar Falcon, Shikra, Painted Sandgrouse, quails, Black-hooded and Golden Orioles, Marshall's and Common Ioras, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Tickell's Blue, Red-throated, Verditer and Asian Brown Flycatchers, Yellow-crowned, Brown-capped Pygmy, Black-rumped Flameback woodpeckers, Green and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Coppersmith Barbet, Common, Lesser Pied and White-throated Kingfisher, Blossom-headed Parakeet, Hoopoe, Black, Ashy and White-bellied Drongos, Rufous Treepie, Large Cuckoo-Shrike, Small Minivet, Red-vented and White-eared Bulbuls, Tawny-bellied, Yellow-eyed, Jungle and Large Grey Babblers, Grey-breasted, Ashy, Rufous-fronted, Plain, Jungle and Graceful Prinias, Zitting Cisticola, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Booted,, Greenish, Hume's, Orphean and Blyth's Reed Warbler, are among the many birds that can be seen here. Those interested in herpetology can visit the crocodile breeding farm at Sasan.
Day 13 – Gir National Park to Bhavnagar After breakfast we set out on the four hour drive from Gir NP to Bhavnagar and check-in at Narayani Heritage, a family-run heritage hotel. We shall do some birding in Victoria Park (good scrubland birdlife), Gaurishankar Lake and near the ports where Western Reef Egrets nest in good numbers.
Day 14 – Bhavnagar to Ahmedabad via Velavadar National Park We have an early morning departure for Velavadar National Park with a packed Known for its large Blackbuck Antelope population, Velavadar is also one of the few places where the Wolf is proliferating in India though they are rarely seen in daylight. Golden Jackal, Jungle Cat and Indian Hare are more easily seen and Indian Fox is possible. Sirkeer Malkoha, Painted Francolin, Chestnut-bellied and Spotted Sandgrouse, Rufous-tailed, Crested and Sykes' Larks, Red-rumped Swallows, Desert and Variable Wheatears and other birds are seen; many raptors also visit the area especially likely Short-toed Snake Eagle, Imperial, Steppe, Tawny, Greater and Lesser Spotted Eagles, Laggar Falcon, Hobby, Common Kestrel, Red-necked Falcon, Peregrine, White-eyed and Long-legged Buzzards, Black-shouldered Kite, Shikra, Eurasian Sparrowhawk and occasionally Northern Goshawk. Rarities include Stoilczka's Bushchat. In the evening, we witness a massive roost of Montagu’s, Pallid and Marsh Harrier.
In the late afternoon we drive four hours to Ahmedabad where we settle comfortably into our hotel for our last night’s dinner in India.
Day 15 – Ahmedabad to London This morning we will be transfer to the airport for our homebound flight to Heathrow. |