India Walking & Birding Exploration

You shall arrive on this day at Delhi. Our representative shall meet you at the airport and will accompany you to your hotel close by to ensure a speedy check-in. The remainder of the day is at leisure after a long overhaul flight. Depending on your flight timings and your inclination to explore we can organize some city sightseeing or interactions during the day. Overnight at Delhi. Breakfast included.

Once you arrive at the Ramganga valley the Baluli suspension bridge is a visible and prominent landscape. It is here that you leave your taxi and if you are self driving you park your car at our parking near the Solluna resort. You will be greeted by your guide and porters who will guide you to remote Vanghat. This walk over the Ramganga suspension bridge and then through the sleepy village of Baluli and riverine forest is an excellent introduction to the valley and can prove to be the most personally satisfying way of reaching the Lodge. At the end of this trail a bamboo raft ferries you to remote Vanghat.

It’s refreshing to watch Mahseer and Kalabas fishes in the crystal-clear water of the Ramganga, common birdlife here are the White capped and Plumbeous water Redstarts, Pied and Grey wagtails are abundant. The loud shrill call of the Lesser and Pallas’s fish eagle greets visitors to this densely wooded wildlife valley. The Ramganga valley boasts of over 50 species of birds of Prey.

Lunch followed by an hour-long rest. Before your trek you’ll be briefed by your trekking forest guide on various aspects of safety and precautions.

Evening trek - Champions trail – 3km. Gradient – Gentle.
This short but wholesome trail covers within itself three distinct habitats, namely Broad-leafed Moist, Grasslands and Riverine. It is a wonderful trail to acclimatize oneself to the forests of Vanghat. Pugmarks of Tigers, Leopards are regularly seen, and signs of Elephant heard, Sambhar & Barking Deer signify the wildlife richness of the Valley.

Evening by campfire for soup & beverages followed by dinner.
Overnight at Vanghat. All meals included.

Morning trek – Ruskin Bond trail – 8km. Gradient – Mostly Gentle with about 1.5 km of steep climb. Few forest walks will be more beautiful than this one hence we named it after one of Uttarakhand's favorite forest authors. We cross over the Ramganga over a bamboo raft and after the initial 100 meters of steep walk along an Elephant trail (yes it’s amazing to realize that the Asian Elephant is such a hill animal). This forest hike goes up on the plateau of the abandoned Barasi village where we regularly spot Leaf Birds, Crimson Sunbird, Long tailed Minivets, Chestnut Bellied Rockthrush, Maroon and Black Hooded Oriole and often in the bushes Sambhar, Barking and locally rare Spotted Deer. As the trail runs along the Ramganga Lesser & Pallas’s fish eagle are often sighted as they scan over the fish rich river. We enter the dense patch of the Broadbill cascade. The cascade is a magnet for Gorals, Sambhar & Langur. The elusive Himalayan Serow goat antelope has sometimes been spotted here. Since the trail runs on a vantage point overlooking the Ramganga, Smooth Coated Otters have often been sighted. Brown and the rare Tawny fish Owl patiently await on there favorite perches overlooking the Ramganga below. Pallas’s and Lesser Fish Eagles regularly turn up. Do spend some quiet quality time at the stone benches we lovingly call the tea shop overlooking the Ramganga bend with great opportunity to observe wildlife as you sip a refreshing cup of tea. Breakfast will be served in the forest. Return back to lodge for lunch. Evening trek – Great Hornbill trail – 2km. Gradient – Steep This somewhat steep trail is amidst Sal forest and offers a marvelous view of the meandering Ramganga. Common green Magpie, Red billed blue Magpie, Long tailed Broadbill are often sighted here. It’s a wonderful sight to encounter Great Hornbills here since we are at a vantage point, so heavily built are these birds that one can hear their wings flapping when they fly over the forest. Today our guide will give you a wildlife presentation over campfire whilst your relish hot soup and & beverages followed by dinner. Overnight at Vanghat

A long mountainous drive of 250 kilometers from Vanghat, most of which runs along the Ganges river and its tributaries, towered over by the Himalayan foothills on all sides. We will come across Pallas’s Fish Eagle and River Lapwing along the Ganga. Steppe, Black and Crested Serpent & Mountain Hawk Eagles are regularly encountered on this journey. Arrive at picturesque Gopeshwar for early dinner & rest.

After an early breakfast, we drive onwards to Mandal enroute for Chopta.Dense temperate forest and numerous icy streams that gush down from thedominating mountains on all sides make it a perfect habitat for Spotted,Slaty-backed &Little Forktails. The woodlands will be probed for SpeckledPiculet, Greater Yellow-nape, Grey-headed, Brown-fronted & Grey-cappedPygmy Woodpeckers. The wet areas will be approached carefully for Long-billed Thrush, Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler, Chestnut-headed Tesia, ScalyThrush & Vinaceous Rosefinch. The rare Musk Deer is found in these high-altitude forests.

The enormous altitudinal range here gives a birder the opportunity to get to grips with species such as Golden Eagle, Himalayan Snowcock, Snow, Hill and Rufous-throated Partridges, Koklass Pheasant, Spotted Laughingthrush, Spotted Bush Warbler, Gould’s Shortwing, Grandala, White-throated Tit, Upland Pipit, White-browed & Red-fronted Rosefinches, Scarlet Finch & Crested Bunting. This high Himalayan bird tour also has ample photo opportunities for professionals & beginners. Spectacular species amidst stunning landscapes such as Himalayan Monal and Himalayan Thars mocking gravity on vertical rock faces make memorable photographs. Most of our birding will be on foot, hence physical fitness is vital. To optimize our quality birding time, we will have a taxi at our disposal.

Post breakfast we will begin our decent towards Pangot. Overnight at Pangot. All meals included.

Morning and evening birding for Himalayan birds with birding guide. The Himalayan foothills and the Corbett area along with the adjoining hillsides definitely one of the richest bird habitats of Asia and boasts a bird count of over 600 species including long distance and altitudinal migrants. Birdwatchers will encounter Palearctic and altitudinal migrants like Siberian Rubythroat, Ibisbill and Wallcreeper, whereas summer visitors (April-September) will encounter Cuckoos, Indian & Hooded Pittas and the gregarious Chestnut-tailed Starling.

Spend the morning birding near the lodge. Plan departure after brunch so that you can be dropped at the international airport once you arrive in Delhi.