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ANN AND ROLAND GO BIRDING IN NORTHERN INDIA
DECEMBER 25TH 2016 – JANUARY 10TH 2017
All our tour arrangements for this trip were made through Asian Adventures
(www.asianadventures.net). Had we been made aware of the fact that most if not all,
of Northern India is cold and foggy at this time of year, we would have scheduled our
trip for a different time! Be warned!!!
ITINERARY
December 25th: Arrival in Delhi (Hotel Star Grand Villa)
December 26th: Delhi to Corbett National Park (Tiger Camp)
December 27th: Corbett National Park (Dhikali in)(Dikhala Camp)
December 28th: Corbett National Park (Dhikala out) (Tiger Camp)
December 29th: Corbett to Delhi (Hotel Shanti Palace)
December 30th
elhi-Sultanpur-Delhi (Hotel Shanti Palace)
December 31st: Delhi-Agra (Hotel Pushp Villa)
January 1st. Agra to Chambal (Chambal Safari Lodge)
January 2nd: Chambal to Bharatpur (Kadam Kunj)
January 3rd: Bharatpur
January 4th: Bharatpur
January 5th: Bharatpur to Ranthambhore (Tiger Moon Resort)
January 6th: Ranthambhore
January 7th:Ranthambhore to Jaipur (Hotel Umaid Mahal)
January 8th: Jaipur
January 9th: Jaipur to Delhi for overnight flight to Paris
January 10th: Home
DIARY
December 25th
.
We spent all day on aeroplanes! The M6 was deserted as we drove along it for our
early morning flight to Paris and we were amused to see a Police car travelling in the
opposite direction with its lights flashing and siren on!
I had an unpleasant experience with Mrs.Jobsworth at security in Manchester who
insisted on going through my hair and having a right good feel round my boobies and
inside my trousers
We flew from Manchester to Paris and Paris to Delhi with Air France/KLM. All went
well and we arrived in Delhi on time. No Christmas lunch on the plane. We had the
longest walk from the plane to Immigration but once there were through in no time
having purchased our E-visas in advance. Our biggest problem was getting hold of
some rupees: there are several exchange bureaux on the other side of immigration
but they were all painfully slow and we could only have 5,000/- each. When we
finally exited with our money and our cases, a representative of Asian Adventures
was there to greet us and led us to our car, a rather swish Toyota. We had been
warned by a friend that it would take ages to get to our hotel but in actual fact it took
no time at all and we were soon tucked up in the Hotel Star Grand Villa which was
more than adequate for our needs and was reminiscent of Art Deco in style.
Page 1 of 27
Page 2 of 27
December 26th
.
After not very much sleep, we went down for early breakfast (which included
vegetarian sandwiches with the crusts cut off ) then loaded up a not quite so swish
Toyota with our stuff and set off at 6h30 into the heavy fog/smog. There wasn’t too
much traffic that early on but we were kept amused by the driving skills of those
around us and the total lack of regard for red lights or use of headlights! After a
while, we stopped and our rep jumped out of the car explaining that he was leaving
us with the driver and our guide who hopped into the car in his place. This came as a
bit of a surprise as we had been told we wouldn’t be having a guide. We were further
cheered by the knowledge that Mr.Mahendra was actually a bird guide and would be
with us until we got to Ranthambore towards the end of our trip. He turned out to be
a really nice man and an excellent birder. We didn’t see much of Delhi as we
travelled through because it was still dark and the smelly smog was so thick but I
was able to pick out the unmistakeable silhouettes of a few Peafowl roosting on an
abandoned advertising hoarding and there were crows, Black kites, drongoes and
White-breasted kingfishers to be seen along with the cows, pigs, monkeys etc!
Egrets were also rooting in the roadside rubbish and around the street “shelters” and
rough ground interspersed with the odd paddy field. All was just as expected really
along with the ox carts which were beginning to appear but a lot of it was sad to see.
After a while, we stopped at the Skylark Tourist Dhaba so Mahendra and the driver
could have some breakfast. Roland ordered some Aloo pakora and got a massive
plateful for about 70p. There were Common myna pecking around outside and a
Lesser adjutant flew over. The sun was trying to break through as we carried on our
way, passing through a huge agricultural area where the main crop was sugar cane.
Some time later we arrived at the Ganges but didn’t stop. There didn’t really seem to
be anything much to see! Just another river but we had noticed the numerous
mountains/arrangements of cow pats along the way. We knew that it was tradition to
collect manure and make cow pats to use in fires for cooking but had never seen so
many before or so beautifully arranged. Quite an art. So far, the roads had been
good and we wondered why people complained about them so much but just after
we turned off the main road and were heading towards Kashipur, we had a puncture
along a very bad stretch of road. This was soon dealt with and we stopped a little
further on at a roadside tyre repair place to get the punctured tyre sorted. Kashipur
itself was VERY busy which made for exciting driving and it looked like a wonderful
place to stop and have a wander but we didn’t have time for that so could only ogle
the market stalls and wince at the driving – please bear in mind that the traffic
composed of vehicles of all sorts and sizes, cows, ox-carts and anything else you
might possibly see on a road and that regulations are usually ignored by the majority!
Total noisy, cheerful chaos but we escaped unscathed and carried on to Rannagar
which also looked interesting but was slightly less busy. We arrived at Tiger Camp
around 13h30. The sun was out and it was nicely warm. We were shown to our
bungalow which had a verandah furnished with chairs and a table. We had a large
bedroom with a sitting area, a small room for cases with a fridge and a nice
bathroom. We also had a heater. It came in very handy! Lunch – a yummy buffet –
was served in the separate dining area. I was amused by the monkey stealing food
from the kitchen as soon as the chef’s back was turned. I doubt the chef was
amused! A Great tit was hanging about looking for crumbs and a Speckled wood
dove was having a bit of a wander too. We walked down to look at the swimming- pool and admire the mountains and a Grey bushchat before rejoining the vehicle and
driving to the nearby Garjia Devi Temple, situated on the river. We were looking for
Page 2 of 27
Page 3 of 27
Ibisbill and eventually spotted four which was brilliant. There were lots of Pied and
Crested kingfisher plus several Plumbeous redstart and White-capped water redstart
but no Wallcreeper. Back at Tiger Camp, we were told dinner wouldn’t be served
until 8 which seemed rather late to us and was entirely untrue! When we went down
some people were sitting round a firepit listening to a man playing his guitar and
singing. We didn’t linger after our meal though as we were tired and had to be up
early the next day.
December 27
th
.
Breakfast was at 7 and we left 30 minutes later in a small jeep with a different driver.
We were heading for Dikhala and got there just before the gates opened. It was
pretty cold and we didn’t get properly warm until lunchtime as we spent most of the
morning in the forest where it was shady, of course. The highlight of the morning was
probably the Tawny fish owl. We had fabulous views of one of these lovely owls then
spotted two more, which was something of a bonus! The Grey-headed bulbul was a
bit of a coup and then we were able to watch (and listen to) a small flock of White- crested laughing-thrush moving through. We had picked up a good number of birds
by the time we arrived at Dikhala Camp for lunch. We were first shown to our room
which we had been warned would be pretty basic. It was therefore quite a pleasant
surprise to have a large bedroom and en-suite bathroom both of which were clean
and had everything we needed – except a fire! Obviously the people who thought
this was very basic haven’t travelled in Africa for this was luxury compared with
many of the places we have stayed in! Lunch was served in the canteen – not
exactly haute cuisine but hot, nourishing and plentiful. We had a bit of time to relax
and enjoy the sunshine afterwards. There are lovely views over the river and we
were able to watch a couple of elephants with babies and a Pallas’s fish eagle as
well as the deer below us. Plain martin were swooping over the water and River tern
were also fishing along with the cormorants and egrets etc. We set off again around
14h30, covering different, more open habitat but had to return to camp by 17h30 by
which time the light was fading. Our list had been boosted with several more species
such as Ashy bulbul, Crested tree-swift, Crested serpent eagle and Scaly-bellied
woodpecker. I had managed to catch a glimpse of a Red-billed blue magpie and we
nearly saw a Sirkeer malkoha which hurried to hide itself in the long grass. Our
driver tried to flush him out by driving into the grass but I think he must have been
long gone as there was no further sign of this skulking bird. We had been hoping to
see a tiger as we knew there was one in the vicinity but were unlucky. We did,
however, see Garial, Sambar, Langur monkeys, Spotted deer and Barking deer
during the day along with a huge bull elephant. There were plenty of monkeys round
the camp and plenty of rubbish left by some of the visitors for them to chew on. I
went round and picked some of it up – some people are just so lazy, thoughtless and
selfish. It makes my blood boil. There was nothing to do in the evening so we just
ate and had an early night. It was really cold.
December 28th
.
The room boy brought us coffee and a cheerful grin at 7 and breakfast was served
sometime after 8. It was cold and foggy. We went out into the grasslands as soon as
we were able to and stayed out til 11h30. There are set times for safaris and you
have to stick to them. We saw quite a few elephants but didn’t manage to get any
decent photos, not even of the one that decided to charge us! Difficult when you’re
bouncing about in a jeep. We saw lots of Spotted deer and had better views of the
Page 3 of 27
Ann and Roland Go Birding in Northern India December 2017.pdf
Displaying Ann and Roland Go Birding in Northern India December 2017.pdf.
1
/27
Page 1 of 27
ANN AND ROLAND GO BIRDING IN NORTHERN INDIA
DECEMBER 25TH 2016 – JANUARY 10TH 2017
All our tour arrangements for this trip were made through Asian Adventures
(www.asianadventures.net). Had we been made aware of the fact that most if not all,
of Northern India is cold and foggy at this time of year, we would have scheduled our
trip for a different time! Be warned!!!
ITINERARY
December 25th: Arrival in Delhi (Hotel Star Grand Villa)
December 26th: Delhi to Corbett National Park (Tiger Camp)
December 27th: Corbett National Park (Dhikali in)(Dikhala Camp)
December 28th: Corbett National Park (Dhikala out) (Tiger Camp)
December 29th: Corbett to Delhi (Hotel Shanti Palace)
December 30th
elhi-Sultanpur-Delhi (Hotel Shanti Palace)December 31st: Delhi-Agra (Hotel Pushp Villa)
January 1st. Agra to Chambal (Chambal Safari Lodge)
January 2nd: Chambal to Bharatpur (Kadam Kunj)
January 3rd: Bharatpur
January 4th: Bharatpur
January 5th: Bharatpur to Ranthambhore (Tiger Moon Resort)
January 6th: Ranthambhore
January 7th:Ranthambhore to Jaipur (Hotel Umaid Mahal)
January 8th: Jaipur
January 9th: Jaipur to Delhi for overnight flight to Paris
January 10th: Home
DIARY
December 25th
.
We spent all day on aeroplanes! The M6 was deserted as we drove along it for our
early morning flight to Paris and we were amused to see a Police car travelling in the
opposite direction with its lights flashing and siren on!
I had an unpleasant experience with Mrs.Jobsworth at security in Manchester who
insisted on going through my hair and having a right good feel round my boobies and
inside my trousers
We flew from Manchester to Paris and Paris to Delhi with Air France/KLM. All went
well and we arrived in Delhi on time. No Christmas lunch on the plane. We had the
longest walk from the plane to Immigration but once there were through in no time
having purchased our E-visas in advance. Our biggest problem was getting hold of
some rupees: there are several exchange bureaux on the other side of immigration
but they were all painfully slow and we could only have 5,000/- each. When we
finally exited with our money and our cases, a representative of Asian Adventures
was there to greet us and led us to our car, a rather swish Toyota. We had been
warned by a friend that it would take ages to get to our hotel but in actual fact it took
no time at all and we were soon tucked up in the Hotel Star Grand Villa which was
more than adequate for our needs and was reminiscent of Art Deco in style.
Page 1 of 27
Page 2 of 27
December 26th
.
After not very much sleep, we went down for early breakfast (which included
vegetarian sandwiches with the crusts cut off ) then loaded up a not quite so swish
Toyota with our stuff and set off at 6h30 into the heavy fog/smog. There wasn’t too
much traffic that early on but we were kept amused by the driving skills of those
around us and the total lack of regard for red lights or use of headlights! After a
while, we stopped and our rep jumped out of the car explaining that he was leaving
us with the driver and our guide who hopped into the car in his place. This came as a
bit of a surprise as we had been told we wouldn’t be having a guide. We were further
cheered by the knowledge that Mr.Mahendra was actually a bird guide and would be
with us until we got to Ranthambore towards the end of our trip. He turned out to be
a really nice man and an excellent birder. We didn’t see much of Delhi as we
travelled through because it was still dark and the smelly smog was so thick but I
was able to pick out the unmistakeable silhouettes of a few Peafowl roosting on an
abandoned advertising hoarding and there were crows, Black kites, drongoes and
White-breasted kingfishers to be seen along with the cows, pigs, monkeys etc!
Egrets were also rooting in the roadside rubbish and around the street “shelters” and
rough ground interspersed with the odd paddy field. All was just as expected really
along with the ox carts which were beginning to appear but a lot of it was sad to see.
After a while, we stopped at the Skylark Tourist Dhaba so Mahendra and the driver
could have some breakfast. Roland ordered some Aloo pakora and got a massive
plateful for about 70p. There were Common myna pecking around outside and a
Lesser adjutant flew over. The sun was trying to break through as we carried on our
way, passing through a huge agricultural area where the main crop was sugar cane.
Some time later we arrived at the Ganges but didn’t stop. There didn’t really seem to
be anything much to see! Just another river but we had noticed the numerous
mountains/arrangements of cow pats along the way. We knew that it was tradition to
collect manure and make cow pats to use in fires for cooking but had never seen so
many before or so beautifully arranged. Quite an art. So far, the roads had been
good and we wondered why people complained about them so much but just after
we turned off the main road and were heading towards Kashipur, we had a puncture
along a very bad stretch of road. This was soon dealt with and we stopped a little
further on at a roadside tyre repair place to get the punctured tyre sorted. Kashipur
itself was VERY busy which made for exciting driving and it looked like a wonderful
place to stop and have a wander but we didn’t have time for that so could only ogle
the market stalls and wince at the driving – please bear in mind that the traffic
composed of vehicles of all sorts and sizes, cows, ox-carts and anything else you
might possibly see on a road and that regulations are usually ignored by the majority!
Total noisy, cheerful chaos but we escaped unscathed and carried on to Rannagar
which also looked interesting but was slightly less busy. We arrived at Tiger Camp
around 13h30. The sun was out and it was nicely warm. We were shown to our
bungalow which had a verandah furnished with chairs and a table. We had a large
bedroom with a sitting area, a small room for cases with a fridge and a nice
bathroom. We also had a heater. It came in very handy! Lunch – a yummy buffet –
was served in the separate dining area. I was amused by the monkey stealing food
from the kitchen as soon as the chef’s back was turned. I doubt the chef was
amused! A Great tit was hanging about looking for crumbs and a Speckled wood
dove was having a bit of a wander too. We walked down to look at the swimming- pool and admire the mountains and a Grey bushchat before rejoining the vehicle and
driving to the nearby Garjia Devi Temple, situated on the river. We were looking for
Page 2 of 27
Page 3 of 27
Ibisbill and eventually spotted four which was brilliant. There were lots of Pied and
Crested kingfisher plus several Plumbeous redstart and White-capped water redstart
but no Wallcreeper. Back at Tiger Camp, we were told dinner wouldn’t be served
until 8 which seemed rather late to us and was entirely untrue! When we went down
some people were sitting round a firepit listening to a man playing his guitar and
singing. We didn’t linger after our meal though as we were tired and had to be up
early the next day.
December 27
th
.
Breakfast was at 7 and we left 30 minutes later in a small jeep with a different driver.
We were heading for Dikhala and got there just before the gates opened. It was
pretty cold and we didn’t get properly warm until lunchtime as we spent most of the
morning in the forest where it was shady, of course. The highlight of the morning was
probably the Tawny fish owl. We had fabulous views of one of these lovely owls then
spotted two more, which was something of a bonus! The Grey-headed bulbul was a
bit of a coup and then we were able to watch (and listen to) a small flock of White- crested laughing-thrush moving through. We had picked up a good number of birds
by the time we arrived at Dikhala Camp for lunch. We were first shown to our room
which we had been warned would be pretty basic. It was therefore quite a pleasant
surprise to have a large bedroom and en-suite bathroom both of which were clean
and had everything we needed – except a fire! Obviously the people who thought
this was very basic haven’t travelled in Africa for this was luxury compared with
many of the places we have stayed in! Lunch was served in the canteen – not
exactly haute cuisine but hot, nourishing and plentiful. We had a bit of time to relax
and enjoy the sunshine afterwards. There are lovely views over the river and we
were able to watch a couple of elephants with babies and a Pallas’s fish eagle as
well as the deer below us. Plain martin were swooping over the water and River tern
were also fishing along with the cormorants and egrets etc. We set off again around
14h30, covering different, more open habitat but had to return to camp by 17h30 by
which time the light was fading. Our list had been boosted with several more species
such as Ashy bulbul, Crested tree-swift, Crested serpent eagle and Scaly-bellied
woodpecker. I had managed to catch a glimpse of a Red-billed blue magpie and we
nearly saw a Sirkeer malkoha which hurried to hide itself in the long grass. Our
driver tried to flush him out by driving into the grass but I think he must have been
long gone as there was no further sign of this skulking bird. We had been hoping to
see a tiger as we knew there was one in the vicinity but were unlucky. We did,
however, see Garial, Sambar, Langur monkeys, Spotted deer and Barking deer
during the day along with a huge bull elephant. There were plenty of monkeys round
the camp and plenty of rubbish left by some of the visitors for them to chew on. I
went round and picked some of it up – some people are just so lazy, thoughtless and
selfish. It makes my blood boil. There was nothing to do in the evening so we just
ate and had an early night. It was really cold.
December 28th
.
The room boy brought us coffee and a cheerful grin at 7 and breakfast was served
sometime after 8. It was cold and foggy. We went out into the grasslands as soon as
we were able to and stayed out til 11h30. There are set times for safaris and you
have to stick to them. We saw quite a few elephants but didn’t manage to get any
decent photos, not even of the one that decided to charge us! Difficult when you’re
bouncing about in a jeep. We saw lots of Spotted deer and had better views of the
Page 3 of 27
Ann and Roland Go Birding in Northern India December 2017.pdf
Displaying Ann and Roland Go Birding in Northern India December 2017.pdf.
