NEW! Nepal
A comprehensive tour of the key wildlife areas of nepal, with the focus on birds and mammals
SATurday 15 january - sat 29 january 2011
PRICE: £3295pp SSupp £295pp Initial Deposit £300
Leaders Mike Coleman and Kevin Shaw plus a professional and highly experienced local guide with us throughout the holiday.
Optional Everest/Kathmandu sightseeing extension add £260pp
Nepal is a fantastic country for the wildlife enthusiast, boasting 863 bird species and 170 mammals. Although the country is usually associated with the high peaks of the Himalayas, much of the best wildlife is at lower altitudes, and elevations vary from near sea level in the Terai region to the highest point on earth. This tremendous itinerary will give you a comprehensive experience of Nepal's birds, mammals, landscape and lifestyle. We pay more than a passing glance at the high peaks, especially during our optional extension days, and focus on the best lowland habitats, rich in wildlife, during full two weeks enjoying the very best bird and mammal watching. We travel at the end of the Nepalese winter, a good time for both wildlife and weather considerations.
In lowland habitats we maximise our experience by visiting the country's three finest National Parks and Reserves, and the Kathmandu Valley. Key destinations will be the Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, and the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. With ten full days in and around these key places, this is a very comprehensive tour with a rich and rewarding itinerary. We also spend a very rewarding day in the Kathmandu Valley, as we
drive as close as conditions allow to the 2,740-metre summit of Phulchowki, the highest peak hereabouts, where we will have magnificent views of the Himalayan range on a clear day.
As our tour is in winter we have good chances of seeing wintering wetland birds, passerines from Siberia and high Himalayan breeders migrating to lowlands for the winter. We should have a rewarding time as we move from park to park across Nepal’s well-forested lowlands, enjoying a pleasant climate as well as splendid views of the foothills and the high peaks of the Himalaya, often visible from the lowlands on a clear day.
We also relax en-route between national parks to experience Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha.
Two internal flights will save us a lot of 'road-time', as well as providing spectacular scenic views, giving all members of the group an opportunity to see the Himalayan Range, and, on a clear day, Mount Everest from our final internal flight. The rest of the time we travel between destinations by medium-sized bus, and by a variety of methods inside the reserves including 4WD Jeeps and elephants! We expect more than 300 bird species on this comprehensive tour of the key lowland sites.
Optionally, your holiday ends with sightseeing of Kathmandu valley's monumental sites and a thrilling Everest panoramic mountain flight.
MAMMALS
This holiday is focused on both birds and mammals, and we seek the best possible mammal watching, with a special focus on Bengal Tiger. In Bardia National Park, there is a very good selection of mammals. Because food and water is plentiful, mammals choose the denser parts of the park to rest, making it more difficult to see them. Tigers move mostly during the cooler night, morning and evenings whereas rhino like grasslands to graze and take to the water holes when hot. Bardia has a small number of resident wild Elephant and they use night cover to hide and raid crops in the farms, but are rarely seen during the day. Leopards are seen in the periphery of the park. Bardia has a good collection of deer, including Spotted Deer (abundant), Hog, Barking, Swamp and Samber Deer. Nilgai ( Blue Bull) numbers fluctuate a lot but to see an adult male is something. On the Karnali River a gentle float on a rubber raft is the best way to view rare freshwater Gangetic Dolphins. In our 4 days here we will explore the Park by jeeps, elephants, rubber boats and on foot. This way we can cover most of the habitat types and hence give us the maximum chance to see wildlife, especially Tiger! Chances of Tiger are not as high as at some key Indian sites, but we expect a realistic chance on this holiday.
The Chitwan National Park holds a similar wealth of mammals as Bardia, including endangered Royal Bengal Tiger and the Great One-horned (Indian) Rhinoceros. Wild Boar, Sambar, Muntjac, Spotted and Hog Deer, Rhesus and Common Langur Monkeys, and Indian Grey Mongoose are among the commonner mammals seen in and around the park. Sloth Bears and Gaur may also be seen, as well as Nepal’s two species of crocodiles. Here also, we explore on foot, on elephant back, in dugout canoes and by jeep.
Itinerary:
DAYS 1 and 2 Sat 15 Jan - Sun 16 Jan Kathmandu Valley:
We fly from London Heathrow to Kathmandu. On arrival we transfer to our comfortable hotel, and if we have time, begin birding at the Godavari Botanical Garden. We should enjoy an introduction to some of the commoner species, and maybe some specialities at the Garden. The next morning we begin in earnest at altitude, as we drive as close as conditions allow to the 2,740-metre summit of Phulchowki, the highest peak in the Kathmandu Valley, where we will have magnificent views of the Himalayan range on a clear day. We hope to see a large number of birds, including woodpeckers, minivets, warblers, flycatchers, laughing-thrushes, yuhinas, fulvettas, sunbirds, flowerpeckers, Red-flanked Bluetail, Fire-tailed Sunbird, White-collared and Grey-winged
Blackbird, Long-tailed Minivet, White-tailed Nuthatch and Orange-bellied Leafbird, Cutia, Kalij Pheasant, Red-billed Leiothrix, Black-faced Leaf Warbler and rosefinches just to name a few of the 250+ species recorded from this hill alone! We take a packed lunch and spend the day here, driving to the highest point we can reach, then walking downhill enjoying the birds, forest and the panorama of the hills and the snow-capped mountains. Overnight Kathmandu; www.hotelmarshyangdi.com
DAYS 3 - 6 Mon 17 Jan - Thurs 20 Jan Bardia National Park
Our first lowland destination is Bardia National Park, the largest lowland sanctuary, infrequently visited by Western birders. We fly here from Kathmandu, saving us time on the road, and increasing our wildlife opportunities on arrival. Four fantastic days will be spent exploring the park’s Sal and riverine forests and grasslands, and the Karnali River. As well as excellent birding, enabling us to see some of the rarer and more local of Nepal’s western specialities, we will also encounter an exciting range of mammals, with Tiger and Nilgai generally being easier to see here than in Chitwan. Tigers move around most in early morning and late evening, and at these times we concentrate our efforts - this is our best chance to see them. Jeep safaris and elephant rides will be our transport when looking for Tigers, there will be the chance to walk elsewhere. We use rubber rafts to gently float down the river, allowing close approach to waterbirds, and occasionally Smooth Otter and Gangetic River Dolphin. (You do not need to be fit for the raft experience, there are no rapids!). We stay in comfortable accommodation located on the edge of the National Park. Overnight Rhino Lodge www.rhinolodgebardia.com
Above all this is a delightfully quiet and unspoilt part of Nepal, the beautifully dressed indigenous Tharu people being amongst the most interesting and traditional in Nepal.
DAY 7 Fri 21 Jan Lumbini:
We break the long drive from Bardia to Chitwan at Lumbini, which we reach in around six hours. Legendary Lumbini, in the Terai Plains area of southern Nepal, is the location of the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Today, pilgrims still flock to the pilgrimage centre of the town to visit the locations linked to the life of Buddha, and to worship at the many temples, monasteries and Stupas. We shall bird around the camp compound before dinner, perhaps visit one of the monasteries, and spend some time birding in the morning. Those who want to maximise birding will be catered for! Overnight Lumbini Buddha Garden. www.lumbinibuddhagarden.com
DAYS 8 - 10 Sat 22 Jan - Mon 24 Jan Chitwan National Park:
We depart Lumbini for a 3 nights stay in Chitwan National Park. This is a World Heritage Site which occupies 932 square kilometres of dry deciduous forest, tropical evergreen forest and riverine grasslands. A larger number of bird species (over 530) has been recorded here than in any other part of Nepal, and we can expect to see around a third of these during our three night stay. Long-tailed Nightjar, Indian Peafowl, Great Barbet, Red-billed Blue Magpie andTtickell's Red-breasted Blue Flycatcher are just a few of the exotic species we hope to see. The park holds a similar wealth of mammals, including endangered Indian Rhinoceros, Wild Boar, Sambar, Muntjac, Spotted and Hog Deer, and Rhesus and Common Langur Monkeys.
Tigers, Leopards, Sloth Bears and Gaur are occasionally be seen, as well as Nepal’s two species of crocodile. We will explore the park on foot, on elephant back, in dugout canoes and by jeep. www.nepalinformation.com/mpv
DAYS 11 - 13 Tues 25 Jan - Thurs 27 Jan Koshi Tappu Widlife Reserve:
Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is part of a vast expanse of open water, marshes, lagoons, sandbanks, mudflats and dry woodlands that lie to the north of a huge barrage. Situated just northeast of the Sapt Koshi and Trijuga Khola confluence, this enormous floodplain is one of Asia’s finest wetlands and a fabulous birdwatching area. Almost all of Nepal’s long list of wildfowl, waders, storks, ibises, herons, egrets, terns and gulls occur here, plus a great variety of land birds that include such specialties as Swamp Francolin, Red-necked Falcon and Striated Grassbird, Imperial Eagle, Pied Harrier, Vultures etc. This reserve is also the last refuge of the wild Water Buffalo in Nepal, and home to the rare Gangetic River Dolphin amongst other mammals. We explore the reserve and adjoining areas on foot, jeep and in inflatable rubber boats. Overnight Koshi Camp, www.koshicamp.com
DAY 14 Fri 28 Jan Kathmandu:
Finally we must return to Kathmandu, flying from the eastern town of Biratnagar back to the capital for our last night in Nepal. If we are lucky on this flight, we may have a good view of Everest, Kanchenjunga,and several other peaks all above 8000 metres. Overnight Kathmandu; www.hotelmarshyangdi.com. If not taking the Everest extension, transfer to the airport the following morning (Day 15) and return to London Heathrow.
Day 15 Sat 29 Jan Kathmandu/Everest Extension:
If taking this extension (which we recommend), you will board a flight in the morning for an exhilarating panoramic flight around the summit of Mount Everest, and in the afternoon enjoy a fascinating guided tour of Kathmandu. We stay for another night in Kathmandu, leaving for the airport on the morning of Day 16, Sun 30 Jan, and return to London Heathrow.
Our sightseeing excursion will include;
Pashupatinath Temple, a sacred Hindu temple and a holy Hindu pilgrimage site situated on the bank of the Bagmati River
river 5km east of Kathmandu. Thousands of pilgrims from Nepal and India pay homage at this temple everyday. Locals daily worship and receive blessing from Lord Shiva, and nearby
lies the cremation site where last rites take place. Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple, non-Hindu visitors watch from the eastern bank of the Bagmati River. Locals have long
regarded the Temple as a very important part of the city, both religiously and
culturally. There is also a
large market in the surrounding streets for buying souvenirs.
Boudanath, a significant Buddhist temple. This is the biggest stupa
in Nepal, built around the 5th century. It is a hemispherical
dome like other Buddhist stupas, and it is believed that the relics of the
great Buddha Kasyapa is buried inside: due to which
it is greatly worshipped by the Buddhists. There are numerous
monasteries within the perimeter of the stupa, wherein Buddhists, Tibetans and foreign students live, to be
close to this symbol of their spiritual master. The area is known as 'Mini-Tibet'.
Both places are listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Monument List.
Please note: all itineraries are given as a guide only. Actual holiday content may vary according to the judgement of your guide, and elements beyond our control (eg weather).
January is winter time, but not as cold as UK. Lowland areas can be warm, with temperatures between 7C and 24C. Accommodation is in lodges with attached bathroom including hot shower. At Koshi, we enjoy the facilities of large safari tents with shared bathroom facilities in a seperate block a minute's walk from the tents.
Price includes: Return scheduled flight from London Heathrow - Kathmandu, two internal flights Kathmandu - Bardia, Biratnagar - Kathmandu, airport taxes, all land transfers between destinations including airports, full-board accommodation at hotels and lodges, picnic lunches, ground transportation inside Parks and Reserves by 4WD, Elephant and Boats, National Park entry fees, incidental tips including mealtimes, checklist, and the services of your leaders.
Price excludes: Holiday insurance, visa (around £20), optional tips to local guides/other staff, drinks, and other personal expenses.
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in our EXTRA PACK for this holiday
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