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I have been keen to do a trip to the Himalayas in Nepal since I first heard stories of exciting scenery and birds back in 1980. As the years progressed I heard tales of possibilities of seeing monals and tragopans further east in Bhutan. My interests have broadened over the 30 years that I have had to plan this trip and I now enjoy all forms of wildlife. I have been lucky to join Richard Webb and Nigel Goodgame on some very special mammals watching trips and my enthusiasm to write this report came from those experiences. I settled for a high altitude trip to Bhutan and a low altitude trip to the Terai in Nepal. I have produced a report for each trip. The timing of this trip was at the end of my visit to Bhutan. It
was a little late in the year as the average daytime temperatures were beginning to rise above 40 degree
Celcius. The Elephant Grass was also beginning to grow and so I would suggest that the end of April is about the cut off date for this trip. At this time of year, many of the wheat stalks were being burnt in preparation for the new growing season and that created a white haze most of the time. This made less favourable conditions for photography.
Logistics Travel and accommodation
I booked the trip by looking for a company in previous trip reports and contacting them by email. I booked a fully inclusive tour. I booked with Rajendra Suwal at nepalnaturetvl@gmail.com (www.nepalnaturetravels.com). He turned out to be an excellent guide for both birds and mammals with a great deal of background experience in conservation and guiding. I cannot fault him and he would be suitable for organising and running any kind of wildlife tour in Nepal. I stayed in lodges and hotels of very good standard.
Jeff Blincow www.jeffblincow.com
www.mammalswatching.com
We booked a private bird tour with Nepal Nature dot com Travels to find an assortment of bird species which I was still looking for. Rajendra Suwal developed the itinerary with me by taking advice from a number of researchers and local people as to where these birds were present. He then accompanied us on a three-week tour in December 2012 taking in the trans-Himalaya area around Jomsom and Muktinath, a trek around part of the Annapurna Circuit and up to Annapurna Base Camp, and then down to Chitwan. Although we had listed our constraints, being unfit mid-fifties with a small budget, Rajendra had organised everything beautifully; the hotels were spot-on – comfortable with good food without being exorbitant, and he arranged jeep and/or horse transport over the very steep sections. Where this was not possible, he adapted to our pace. He arranged for two night’s camping and hired an excellent camping crew, and our two porters who were with us in the mountains were charming, polite, and extremely effective. Rajendra was thoroughly professional and spoiled us throughout, taking heed of our smallest wish and ensuring that these were met – right down to getting our hot water bottles filled at night! While the birds were not particularly amenable, Rajendra persevered throughout and we had some excellent sightings including Himalyan Monal, Himalayan Snowcock and Golden-breasted Fulvetta. I would recommend Nepal Nature dot com Travels without hesitation – a professional, friendly and responsive company and amongst the best I have dealt with anywhere in the world.
Phil Edwards
Guide and Ground Arrangements
We used Rajendra Suwal of Nepal Nature dot com Travels (www.nepalnaturetravels.com). We opted for the Best of Nepal Wildlife Tour on his web-site as we wanted to experience more than just birdwatching on this trip. The cost was £1372.00 each, fully inclusive. Rajendra is bi-lingual and is very well-informed on his country, culture and wildlife etc. He was courteous at all times and went out of his way to make sure we were happy. I would happily recommend him, especially if you are a birder!
Food
Excellent! There is usually a good choice of Chinese, Indian, Nepalese food on the menus and for those unwilling to try anything new, there are European style foods available too. No MacDonalds thank goodness.
Nepal
Nepal was a surprise. We hadn’t read up much on the country so didn’t really have any expectations but were surprised to find so much poverty and so little modernisation. I feel quite embarrassed now about my lack of knowledge and had truly not realised how turbulent the last decade has been. I must do my homework more carefully in future. It is, however, a beautiful country with magnificent mountains and lovely people and I have to say that it was lovely to visit a country so unmarked by tourism.
Ann Gifford
Roland Gifford
www.annandroland.co.uk
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