Birding and Wildlife Trip to India for TAS - November 2019
A short video from our Nov 2018 trip
We saw some amazing birds and had many fun moments...
Dates: 11th -20th November 2019
Travel FAQ for this trip
Birding guide book and other suggested reading for this trip
Packing List
Details on Travis Audubon Website
North India Extension - Birding and Cultural
We invite you to experience the bird life in the Western Ghats of India – from the amazing hornbills and sleek drongos to colorful barbets and kingfishers. Wild elephants, giant squirrels, gaur (Indian bison) and maybe even tiger! We visit national parks, tiger preserves and local villages. Our accommodations will be in rustic cottages with en suite bathrooms and hot water. You will be escorted by Sachin Aggarwal, owner of Mowgli Expeditions and Bamboo Rustles, an Austin resident and TAS member, originally from India. Sachin will be assisted by local naturalist birding guides. Our birding and wildlife tour is an amazing opportunity at a very affordable cost.
Expedition itinerary:
November 11th - Monday - Arrival at Mumbai
After clearing customs, and picking up our luggage, we shall travel by an AC mini bus from the airport to our hotel. After some rest, we shall head out for sight seeing and dinner. Our first visit shall be the Victoria Terminus - one of the few operational UNESCO World Heritage sites. We shall then head to Gateway of India that was built to represent the grandeur of the British Raj in India. The Gateway was built in 1924 to welcome King George V and Queen Mary to India and years later, the last of the British troops left India through this gateway. With a possible visit to the hanging gardens, we shall head to an amazing local restaurant that serves local delicacies "Thali" style. Night stay at Mumbai. Hotel Trident or similar. November 12th - Tuesday - To Dandeli
This afternoon we’ll fly from Mumbai to Dandeli, but first we will visit Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a green island amidst the bustling metropolis of Mumbai. SGNP has over 1,300 species of plants and 274 of birds, including many species of sunbirds (old world equivalent of the hummingbirds), various kingfishers, woodpeckers and drongos, parakeets, and more.
We head to the airport around 11 a.m, will have lunch there and take a short flight to Hubli en route to Dandeli. 2: 50 pm – depart Mumbai / 4:10 pm – arrive Hubli (included in tour price)
On arrival, we’ll be picked up in a van/jeeps for the 2 hour drive to our lodge for the next four nights, Kali Adventure Camp, where we will stay in safari style tents located on the Kali River. The tents have en-suite bathrooms with hot water.
Dandeli is a nature paradise, home to numerous plants, mammals, reptiles, insects, butterflies and is especially rich in birds with plenty of Western Ghat endemics.
November 13th - Wednesday - Birding at Timber depot and Anshi National Park
In Dandeli, we shall begin our days with an early cup of coffee/tea around 6:00 am, a morning of birding more or less 6:30 – 9:30 am, return for breakfast, and rest. Lunch mid-day and an afternoon adventure from around 3:30 – 6:30 pm. Evenings include a bon fire, dinner, and either a movie or talk by your local guide.
This morning, after our early cup of coffee/tea, we head to the ‘Timber Depot’, a teak plantation and timber auction site filled with birds. It is located about 15 minutes from our lodging and we will spend a few hours birding.
Here, a variety of fig trees offer fruits that attract a greater number of birds. We hope to see Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus), and Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus) – along what is commonly called the ‘Hornbill Trail’. Additionally, we hope to see the gorgeous Greater Flameback or Greater Goldenback Woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus), Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) and Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus), Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), Malabar (or Blue-winged) Parakeet (Psittacula columboides).
What a wonderful way to begin birding in this beautiful foreign land!
This afternoon we’ll drive to Anshi National Park. It is an evergreen tropical forest covering an area of about 200 square kilometres. Once mined for manganese, much the wildlife moved away from the forest. Chances of seeing big mammals like elephants are limited, but we hope to see mammals like spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, mouse deer, common langur, sloth bear, bonnet macaque, slender loris, mongoose, jungle cat, jackal, pangolin, Malabar giant squirrel and the porcupine.
About 200 species of birds are listed for the preserve and we may see some hornbills, Ashy Swallow-shirke (Artamus fuscus), Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), Ceylon or Sri Lanka Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger), Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela), Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes) and Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).
Return to the lodge around 6:30 pm for dinner and a good night’s rest.
November 14th - Thursday - Ganeshgudi
After our early coffee/tea, we head to Ganeshgudi, one of the prime spots for bird watching in the Western Ghats. We visit the Magazine House, a lodge nearby set up with bird blinds, feeders, and bird baths. As Malabar Giant Squirrels scurry about for food on the ground, we’ll look for Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), Indian Black-lored Tit (Machlolophus xanthogenys), Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea) , Yellow-browed Bulbul (Acritillas indica), Indian Paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), White-rumped Munia (Lonchura striata), Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra), Malabar Trogon (Harpactes fasciatus), White-bellied Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis pallipes), Tickell’s Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae), and the stunning Asian Fairy-bluebird (Irena puella). Did we mention butterflies? They are abundant.
We will have breakfast here at Magazine House before returning to our lodge around 11:00 am.
After lunch, around 3:00 pm we will do an ‘only in India’ type adventure – a coracle boat ride looking for wading birds on the Kali RIver. A coracle is a small round boat used mostly for crossing the rivers, but they are perfect for birding, giving you the opportunity to see several crocodiles sunning on the riverbank as well Crested (or Changeable) Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus), Crested Serpent-eagle (Spilornis cheela), White-throated (or White-breasted) Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) , Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis), Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) and hornbills overhead.
November 15th - Friday - Trek and Village Life
This will be a full day in the field. After our early coffee/tea, we will take off driving about one hour to reach the trail head for today’s hike. Here we can eat our boxed breakfast before walking through the forest. Our destination is the village near Joida, about 5-6 miles total walking time. The walk is moderate difficult, a good trail, and we’ll make stops along the way for comfort and snacks.
Along the way should come across several different tree species, many with medicinal value. We shall also see many birds like Greater coucal (Centropus sinensis), Common hawk Cuckoo (locally known as Brain fever bird) (Hierococcyx varius), Ashey Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus), Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, also known as Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium benghalense) etc.
Our visit to the village offers you the chance to experience rural life in India, not much has changed through the years, and take lunch with one of the families here. This is a true example of sustainable tourism, offering the villagers an opportunity to give you, the visitor, a glimpse into their lives.
The jeeps will return us to the lodge, arriving around 4:00 -4:30 pm.
November 16th - Saturday - Dandeli to Bangalore
This morning we shall go on a trail close to the Kali Adventure Camp, looking for birds we may have missed. After lunch at the lodge, we’ll return as we came. The ride to the airport is about 1.5 – 2 hours.
4:25 pm – Depart Hubli 5:45 pm – arrive Bangalore (included in tour price)
This evening we will take you to a crafts bazaar where you might find something to take home as a reminder of your trip. Then we’ll have a dinner of typical Indian cuisine. Overnight in Bangalore. Stay at Taj Westend or similar.
Nov 17 – Sunday – Bangalore to Kabini by train
Early morning before breakfast this morning, we’ll visit Lalbagh Botanical Gardens for an hour. Lalbagh has a famous glass house and boasts India’s largest collection of tropical plants. While Lalbagh is known for plants, there are many birds here as well, like Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis), Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), or Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii), Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus), Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).
On our return, we’ll pack up our things onto the bus and head to the train station. The bus continues, but we’ll travel from Bangalore to Mysore by a comfortable train, with only our day packs. It’s about two hours and gives you another perspective of the country. On arrival we’ll have lunch after we meet up again with the bus and head to Kabini, about 2.5 to 3 hours. Depending on arrival time, we may go straight for a boat Safari on the Kabini river, giving us an opportunity to look for water birds and hopefully seeing elephants on the riverbank.
Kabini River Lodge was the former hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Mysore and is a sprawling colonial estate in the heart of elephant country. We’ll stay two nights at Kabini River Lodge in cottages with en suite bathrooms with hot water.
Nov 18 – Monday – Nagarhole National Park
After our early coffee/tea, we’ll take a jeep safari in Nagarhole National Park.
This national park has some of the best wildlife of india and we shall shift our focus from birding to mammal species - Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), Indian bison or gaur Bos gaurus), Spotted deer or chital (Axis axis), Indian muntjac or Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak).
Just before or right after lunch , we will walk the trails of the lodge for more birding.
We shall go for our second jeep safari in the afternoon looking for Indian wild dog or dhole (Cuon alpinus), Indian boar (Sus scrofa cristatus), Gray langur or Hanuman Langur (Semnopitheaus entellus), Indian grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsi), and Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca).
There is also a chance to spot the Bengal tiger here!
Nov 19 – Tuesday – Return to Bangalore via Mysore.
Our final morning will be spent with our last safari into the national park hoping for an encounter with the elephants or the predators. We’ll return to Bangalore by our private air conditioned mini-bus, stopping in Mysore for lunch and if time permits, a visit to the beautiful Mysore Palace.
We should arrive Bangalore around 6:00 pm. It’s your final evening in India and we will take you to special place. The final evening for this trip will also be memorable.
Nov 20 – Wednesday – Departure
You can catch your flight back home or fly to Delhi for the Northern India extension.
Cost: $3250 per person only
NOTE: The order and sites visited and other arts of the itinerary may vary due to weather, road conditions, and other factors.
Come join us for this memorable trip!
A short video from our Nov 2018 trip
We saw some amazing birds and had many fun moments...
Dates: 11th -20th November 2019
Travel FAQ for this trip
Birding guide book and other suggested reading for this trip
Packing List
Details on Travis Audubon Website
North India Extension - Birding and Cultural
We invite you to experience the bird life in the Western Ghats of India – from the amazing hornbills and sleek drongos to colorful barbets and kingfishers. Wild elephants, giant squirrels, gaur (Indian bison) and maybe even tiger! We visit national parks, tiger preserves and local villages. Our accommodations will be in rustic cottages with en suite bathrooms and hot water. You will be escorted by Sachin Aggarwal, owner of Mowgli Expeditions and Bamboo Rustles, an Austin resident and TAS member, originally from India. Sachin will be assisted by local naturalist birding guides. Our birding and wildlife tour is an amazing opportunity at a very affordable cost.
Expedition itinerary:
November 11th - Monday - Arrival at Mumbai
After clearing customs, and picking up our luggage, we shall travel by an AC mini bus from the airport to our hotel. After some rest, we shall head out for sight seeing and dinner. Our first visit shall be the Victoria Terminus - one of the few operational UNESCO World Heritage sites. We shall then head to Gateway of India that was built to represent the grandeur of the British Raj in India. The Gateway was built in 1924 to welcome King George V and Queen Mary to India and years later, the last of the British troops left India through this gateway. With a possible visit to the hanging gardens, we shall head to an amazing local restaurant that serves local delicacies "Thali" style. Night stay at Mumbai. Hotel Trident or similar. November 12th - Tuesday - To Dandeli
This afternoon we’ll fly from Mumbai to Dandeli, but first we will visit Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a green island amidst the bustling metropolis of Mumbai. SGNP has over 1,300 species of plants and 274 of birds, including many species of sunbirds (old world equivalent of the hummingbirds), various kingfishers, woodpeckers and drongos, parakeets, and more.
We head to the airport around 11 a.m, will have lunch there and take a short flight to Hubli en route to Dandeli. 2: 50 pm – depart Mumbai / 4:10 pm – arrive Hubli (included in tour price)
On arrival, we’ll be picked up in a van/jeeps for the 2 hour drive to our lodge for the next four nights, Kali Adventure Camp, where we will stay in safari style tents located on the Kali River. The tents have en-suite bathrooms with hot water.
Dandeli is a nature paradise, home to numerous plants, mammals, reptiles, insects, butterflies and is especially rich in birds with plenty of Western Ghat endemics.
November 13th - Wednesday - Birding at Timber depot and Anshi National Park
In Dandeli, we shall begin our days with an early cup of coffee/tea around 6:00 am, a morning of birding more or less 6:30 – 9:30 am, return for breakfast, and rest. Lunch mid-day and an afternoon adventure from around 3:30 – 6:30 pm. Evenings include a bon fire, dinner, and either a movie or talk by your local guide.
This morning, after our early cup of coffee/tea, we head to the ‘Timber Depot’, a teak plantation and timber auction site filled with birds. It is located about 15 minutes from our lodging and we will spend a few hours birding.
Here, a variety of fig trees offer fruits that attract a greater number of birds. We hope to see Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus), and Malabar Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros griseus) – along what is commonly called the ‘Hornbill Trail’. Additionally, we hope to see the gorgeous Greater Flameback or Greater Goldenback Woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus), Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) and Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus), Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), Malabar (or Blue-winged) Parakeet (Psittacula columboides).
What a wonderful way to begin birding in this beautiful foreign land!
This afternoon we’ll drive to Anshi National Park. It is an evergreen tropical forest covering an area of about 200 square kilometres. Once mined for manganese, much the wildlife moved away from the forest. Chances of seeing big mammals like elephants are limited, but we hope to see mammals like spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, mouse deer, common langur, sloth bear, bonnet macaque, slender loris, mongoose, jungle cat, jackal, pangolin, Malabar giant squirrel and the porcupine.
About 200 species of birds are listed for the preserve and we may see some hornbills, Ashy Swallow-shirke (Artamus fuscus), Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), Ceylon or Sri Lanka Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger), Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela), Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes) and Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).
Return to the lodge around 6:30 pm for dinner and a good night’s rest.
November 14th - Thursday - Ganeshgudi
After our early coffee/tea, we head to Ganeshgudi, one of the prime spots for bird watching in the Western Ghats. We visit the Magazine House, a lodge nearby set up with bird blinds, feeders, and bird baths. As Malabar Giant Squirrels scurry about for food on the ground, we’ll look for Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), Indian Black-lored Tit (Machlolophus xanthogenys), Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea) , Yellow-browed Bulbul (Acritillas indica), Indian Paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), White-rumped Munia (Lonchura striata), Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra), Malabar Trogon (Harpactes fasciatus), White-bellied Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis pallipes), Tickell’s Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae), and the stunning Asian Fairy-bluebird (Irena puella). Did we mention butterflies? They are abundant.
We will have breakfast here at Magazine House before returning to our lodge around 11:00 am.
After lunch, around 3:00 pm we will do an ‘only in India’ type adventure – a coracle boat ride looking for wading birds on the Kali RIver. A coracle is a small round boat used mostly for crossing the rivers, but they are perfect for birding, giving you the opportunity to see several crocodiles sunning on the riverbank as well Crested (or Changeable) Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus), Crested Serpent-eagle (Spilornis cheela), White-throated (or White-breasted) Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) , Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis), Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) and hornbills overhead.
November 15th - Friday - Trek and Village Life
This will be a full day in the field. After our early coffee/tea, we will take off driving about one hour to reach the trail head for today’s hike. Here we can eat our boxed breakfast before walking through the forest. Our destination is the village near Joida, about 5-6 miles total walking time. The walk is moderate difficult, a good trail, and we’ll make stops along the way for comfort and snacks.
Along the way should come across several different tree species, many with medicinal value. We shall also see many birds like Greater coucal (Centropus sinensis), Common hawk Cuckoo (locally known as Brain fever bird) (Hierococcyx varius), Ashey Drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus), Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, also known as Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium benghalense) etc.
Our visit to the village offers you the chance to experience rural life in India, not much has changed through the years, and take lunch with one of the families here. This is a true example of sustainable tourism, offering the villagers an opportunity to give you, the visitor, a glimpse into their lives.
The jeeps will return us to the lodge, arriving around 4:00 -4:30 pm.
November 16th - Saturday - Dandeli to Bangalore
This morning we shall go on a trail close to the Kali Adventure Camp, looking for birds we may have missed. After lunch at the lodge, we’ll return as we came. The ride to the airport is about 1.5 – 2 hours.
4:25 pm – Depart Hubli 5:45 pm – arrive Bangalore (included in tour price)
This evening we will take you to a crafts bazaar where you might find something to take home as a reminder of your trip. Then we’ll have a dinner of typical Indian cuisine. Overnight in Bangalore. Stay at Taj Westend or similar.
Nov 17 – Sunday – Bangalore to Kabini by train
Early morning before breakfast this morning, we’ll visit Lalbagh Botanical Gardens for an hour. Lalbagh has a famous glass house and boasts India’s largest collection of tropical plants. While Lalbagh is known for plants, there are many birds here as well, like Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis), Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus), or Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii), Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus), Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).
On our return, we’ll pack up our things onto the bus and head to the train station. The bus continues, but we’ll travel from Bangalore to Mysore by a comfortable train, with only our day packs. It’s about two hours and gives you another perspective of the country. On arrival we’ll have lunch after we meet up again with the bus and head to Kabini, about 2.5 to 3 hours. Depending on arrival time, we may go straight for a boat Safari on the Kabini river, giving us an opportunity to look for water birds and hopefully seeing elephants on the riverbank.
Kabini River Lodge was the former hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Mysore and is a sprawling colonial estate in the heart of elephant country. We’ll stay two nights at Kabini River Lodge in cottages with en suite bathrooms with hot water.
Nov 18 – Monday – Nagarhole National Park
After our early coffee/tea, we’ll take a jeep safari in Nagarhole National Park.
This national park has some of the best wildlife of india and we shall shift our focus from birding to mammal species - Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), Indian bison or gaur Bos gaurus), Spotted deer or chital (Axis axis), Indian muntjac or Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak).
Just before or right after lunch , we will walk the trails of the lodge for more birding.
We shall go for our second jeep safari in the afternoon looking for Indian wild dog or dhole (Cuon alpinus), Indian boar (Sus scrofa cristatus), Gray langur or Hanuman Langur (Semnopitheaus entellus), Indian grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsi), and Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca).
There is also a chance to spot the Bengal tiger here!
Nov 19 – Tuesday – Return to Bangalore via Mysore.
Our final morning will be spent with our last safari into the national park hoping for an encounter with the elephants or the predators. We’ll return to Bangalore by our private air conditioned mini-bus, stopping in Mysore for lunch and if time permits, a visit to the beautiful Mysore Palace.
We should arrive Bangalore around 6:00 pm. It’s your final evening in India and we will take you to special place. The final evening for this trip will also be memorable.
Nov 20 – Wednesday – Departure
You can catch your flight back home or fly to Delhi for the Northern India extension.
Cost: $3250 per person only
NOTE: The order and sites visited and other arts of the itinerary may vary due to weather, road conditions, and other factors.
Come join us for this memorable trip!