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Western India (1 Viewer)

S

simmojunior

Well-known member
Hi everyone,

I am thinking of going to western India in January with some Australian fellow young birders to look for endangered birds like Indian Skimmer, Great Indian Bustard and Sociable Plover.We were planning to just hire a driver for the three weeks but in our search we were offered the following package from Asian Adventures. The cost is 85,000 INR, which is slightly more than we had planned on spending to do it independently. Does anyone have any experience with the company, opinion on the cost or advice on the itinerary? Thanks!

29th December:
Arrive Delhi
Meals: On own
Arrive Delhi in the evening at 1720 hrs. You will be met and transferred to Hotel Shanti Palace for overnight stay.
30th December: Delhi - Sultanpur - Agra
Meals Included: Breakfast in Delhi
Morning drive to Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary (01 hours). Birding in Sultanpur till 2-3 PM. Continue drive to Agra (4-5 hours). Arrive Agra in the late evening. Overnight stay at Hotel Pushp Villa
31st December: Agra - Chambal
Meals Included: Breakfast Agra, lunch and dinner
After early breakfast, drive to Chambal (1.5 to 2 hours). Morning boat cruie on Chambal river for 3-4 hours. Afternoon birding in the fields. Overnight stay at Chambal Safari Loddge.
1st January: Chambal - Agra - Bharatpur
Meals Included: Breakfast in Chambal and dinner in Bharatpur
Morning birding in Chambal. After late breakfast, drive to Agra (2 hours). Visit Taj Mahal and continue drive to Bharatpur (1.5 hours). Arrive Bharatpur in the afternoon. Evening birding in the fields outside the park. Overnight stay at Hotel Kadamb Kunj
2nd January: Bharatpur - Tal Chapper
Meals Included: Breakfast and lunch in Bharatpur
Half day birding inside Keoladeo National Park. After lunch, drive to Tal Chapper (8 hours). Arrive Tal Chapper in the late evening. Overnight stay at Forest Rest House.
3rd January: Tal Chapper
Meals Included: Breakfast
Full day birding in Tal Chapper. Overnight stay at Forest Rest House.
4th January: Tal Chapper - Jaisalmer
Meals Included: Breakfast
Morning birding in Tal Chapper. After late breakfast, drive to Jaisalmer (7-8 hours drive). Arrive Jaisalmer in the evening. Overnight stay at Hotel Himmatgarh Palace.
5th January: Jaisalmer - DNP
Meals Included: Breakfast in Jaisalmer and dinner in Camp
After early breakfast, drive to Desert National Park (45 minutes’ drive) for full day birding. Overnight stay at Rajasthan Desert Safari Camp.
6th 7th and 8th January: Desert National Park
Meals Included: Breakfast and dinner
03 more full days birding in DNP. Overnight stay at Rajasthan Desert Safari Camp.
9th January: DNP - Kheechan - Abu Road
Meals Included: Breakfast
After early breakfast, drive to Abu Road via Kheechan (8-9 hours drive + stopping time for birding). Arrive Abu Road in the late evening. Overnight stay at Hotel Rising Sun Retreat.
10th January: Abu Road
Meals Included: Breakfast
Full day birding in Abu Road. Overnight stay at Hotel Rising Sun retreat.
11th January: Abu Road - Little Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast in Abu Road, lunch and dinner in Rann Riders
After early breakfast, drive to little Rann of Kutch (5 hours). Arrive Rann Riders for lunch. Afternoon jeep safari for birding and wildlife viewing. Overnight stay at Rann Riders.
12th January: Little Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Morning and afternoon jeep safaris for birding and wildlife viewing. Overnight stay at Rann Riders.
13th January: Little Rann of Kutch - Bhuj / Great Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast in Rann Riders and dinner in CEDO Camp
After breakfast, drive to Bhuj (6-7 hours). Rest of the day birding in Bhuj / Great Rann of Kutch area. Overnight stay at CEDO Camp
14th 15th and 16th January: Great Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
03 full days birding in great Rann of Kutch area. Overnight stay at CEDO Camp
17th January: GRK - Bhuj drop
Meals Included: Breakfast
Morning birding. Transfer to Bhuj airport / train station. Tour ends.

Cost includes only:
-Accommodation for 20 days on twin sharing basis (02 rooms for 04 persons)
-Meals as mentioned in the itinerary
-01 Boat cruise in Chambal with park entrance fee
-01 day rickshaw ride in Bharatpur (01 rickshaw for 02 persons)
-Desert National Park permit
-03 Safaris in Little Rann of Kutch with park entrance fee
-Services of Lodge birding guide in Chambal and Little Rann of Kutch
-Dedicated Toyota Innova car for 02 days with professional driver
-All toll, parking, interstate taxes, fuel and driver allowance
-All taxes
Above cost does not include:
-Optional tours, tips, laundry, drinks, bottle water, personal expenses, meals not specified
-Monument entrance fee, Camera fee, air fare, visa, insurance
-Any entrance, permit or local jeep hire charges in Tal Chapper, DNP, LRK and GRK
-Any other services not specified in cost inclusions
 
Price seems to be fair (there was quite a high raise in the last few years). However, there are lots of long, long drives involved in this itinerary, you will spend many hours on bad Indian roads.....
I used Asian Adventures in December for a trip to Sattal and Pangot in the Himalayas. Organisation was perfect, everything ran smoothly. The guide I got however was mediocre (to put it mildly). His id skills were not up to what I expect from a guide and he was lazy (late starts, early ends). However, as I understand it, you don't have a guide with you all the time and the local guides are usually good.
For Bharatpur: It's much easier to explore the reserve with hired bicycles (and not with rickshaws). Rickshaws can only stay on the main road, with bicycles you can also enter other smaller roads and you will see more birds.

André
 
simmojunior said:
Hi everyone,

I am thinking of going to western India in January with some Australian fellow young birders to look for endangered birds like Indian Skimmer, Great Indian Bustard and Sociable Plover.We were planning to just hire a driver for the three weeks but in our search we were offered the following package from Asian Adventures. The cost is 85,000 INR, which is slightly more than we had planned on spending to do it independently. Does anyone have any experience with the company, opinion on the cost or advice on the itinerary? Thanks!

29th December:
Arrive Delhi
Meals: On own
Arrive Delhi in the evening at 1720 hrs. You will be met and transferred to Hotel Shanti Palace for overnight stay.
30th December: Delhi - Sultanpur - Agra
Meals Included: Breakfast in Delhi
Morning drive to Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary (01 hours). Birding in Sultanpur till 2-3 PM. Continue drive to Agra (4-5 hours). Arrive Agra in the late evening. Overnight stay at Hotel Pushp Villa
31st December: Agra - Chambal
Meals Included: Breakfast Agra, lunch and dinner
After early breakfast, drive to Chambal (1.5 to 2 hours). Morning boat cruie on Chambal river for 3-4 hours. Afternoon birding in the fields. Overnight stay at Chambal Safari Loddge.
1st January: Chambal - Agra - Bharatpur
Meals Included: Breakfast in Chambal and dinner in Bharatpur
Morning birding in Chambal. After late breakfast, drive to Agra (2 hours). Visit Taj Mahal and continue drive to Bharatpur (1.5 hours). Arrive Bharatpur in the afternoon. Evening birding in the fields outside the park. Overnight stay at Hotel Kadamb Kunj
2nd January: Bharatpur - Tal Chapper
Meals Included: Breakfast and lunch in Bharatpur
Half day birding inside Keoladeo National Park. After lunch, drive to Tal Chapper (8 hours). Arrive Tal Chapper in the late evening. Overnight stay at Forest Rest House.
3rd January: Tal Chapper
Meals Included: Breakfast
Full day birding in Tal Chapper. Overnight stay at Forest Rest House.
4th January: Tal Chapper - Jaisalmer
Meals Included: Breakfast
Morning birding in Tal Chapper. After late breakfast, drive to Jaisalmer (7-8 hours drive). Arrive Jaisalmer in the evening. Overnight stay at Hotel Himmatgarh Palace.
5th January: Jaisalmer - DNP
Meals Included: Breakfast in Jaisalmer and dinner in Camp
After early breakfast, drive to Desert National Park (45 minutes’ drive) for full day birding. Overnight stay at Rajasthan Desert Safari Camp.
6th 7th and 8th January: Desert National Park
Meals Included: Breakfast and dinner
03 more full days birding in DNP. Overnight stay at Rajasthan Desert Safari Camp.
9th January: DNP - Kheechan - Abu Road
Meals Included: Breakfast
After early breakfast, drive to Abu Road via Kheechan (8-9 hours drive + stopping time for birding). Arrive Abu Road in the late evening. Overnight stay at Hotel Rising Sun Retreat.
10th January: Abu Road
Meals Included: Breakfast
Full day birding in Abu Road. Overnight stay at Hotel Rising Sun retreat.
11th January: Abu Road - Little Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast in Abu Road, lunch and dinner in Rann Riders
After early breakfast, drive to little Rann of Kutch (5 hours). Arrive Rann Riders for lunch. Afternoon jeep safari for birding and wildlife viewing. Overnight stay at Rann Riders.
12th January: Little Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Morning and afternoon jeep safaris for birding and wildlife viewing. Overnight stay at Rann Riders.
13th January: Little Rann of Kutch - Bhuj / Great Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast in Rann Riders and dinner in CEDO Camp
After breakfast, drive to Bhuj (6-7 hours). Rest of the day birding in Bhuj / Great Rann of Kutch area. Overnight stay at CEDO Camp
14th 15th and 16th January: Great Rann of Kutch
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
03 full days birding in great Rann of Kutch area. Overnight stay at CEDO Camp
17th January: GRK - Bhuj drop
Meals Included: Breakfast
Morning birding. Transfer to Bhuj airport / train station. Tour ends.

Cost includes only:
-Accommodation for 20 days on twin sharing basis (02 rooms for 04 persons)
-Meals as mentioned in the itinerary
-01 Boat cruise in Chambal with park entrance fee
-01 day rickshaw ride in Bharatpur (01 rickshaw for 02 persons)
-Desert National Park permit
-03 Safaris in Little Rann of Kutch with park entrance fee
-Services of Lodge birding guide in Chambal and Little Rann of Kutch
-Dedicated Toyota Innova car for 02 days with professional driver
-All toll, parking, interstate taxes, fuel and driver allowance
-All taxes
Above cost does not include:
-Optional tours, tips, laundry, drinks, bottle water, personal expenses, meals not specified
-Monument entrance fee, Camera fee, air fare, visa, insurance
-Any entrance, permit or local jeep hire charges in Tal Chapper, DNP, LRK and GRK
-Any other services not specified in cost inclusions
Click to expand...

I did a somewhat similar trip in January a year or two ago.Looking at your itinerary I would spend a second full day at Bharatpur and only two full days at the Desert National Park.At Bharatpur/Keoladeo National Park-which is now full of birds as the water levels have been restored- as well as the Park you need to have a look at the river in the middle of town-a known site for Painted Snipe.Forget the rickshaws and either use a bicycle or walk; you will see much more and you need to get away from the main drag which will be full of noisy tourists in rickshaws.If you walk you can always hail a rickshaw in the reserve at the end of the day to take you back to the main gate.The quoted price sounds reasonable,but you also need to price in jeep safaris each early morning and late afternoon at Rann Riders and CEDO if you are to get the best out of these sites.Both National Parks are some distance from your accommodation and you will have already seen the common birds around the buildings.I assume that you have some good 'gen' about finding the specialities at Abu,and things like Crab Plover at CEDO if you don't have a bird guide.Indian Skimmer should be easy at Chambal,and with two days in the Desert National Park you should come across Great Indian Bustard.Sociable Plover could be more of a problem.There was a flock of 26 wintering on the Great Rann,but they were very mobile and in two days of quite intense searching the guide failed to find them,although they were re-located the day after I left!
Tom Lawson.
 
Make sure you have some really warm clothing, including wooly hat and gloves, as you will have some very cold early morning starts that could involve longish journeys in open jeeps. For example, at Little Rann.
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone! A lot to consider. I won't be able to join them due to work but my friends are going onwards to the Western Ghats. They would like to see Forest Owlet so does anyone know details about how to find them at Tansa?
 
Get a guide I assume. That's what I hope to be doing about two weeks earlier (this also includes all northwestern locations you want to visit). At least I should be able to give some fresh info by then (but for the owlet, I'd insist on a guide anyway).

For contacts: We arranged it through Peter Lobo. BirdTour Asia also go to Tansa now. The Bombay Natural History Society may also be able to help.

Please refrain from putting exact details on here!
 
Two more questions:

What is the current situation for getting permits for Desert National Park? Do we need to get them in Jaisalmer?

Does anyone know the exact spots for the Spotted Creeper at Tal Chappar?
 
I wonder if taking a car and a driver makes sense. It is what all tourists in India are coaxed to do, but trains and buses are far more pleasant than driving on bumpy Indian roads, plus in national parks the driver is useless.
 
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