India

I absolutely love India.  I have led about 15 trips there to different regions of the Indian Sub-Continent.  Typically, I combined at least two very different areas together in a tour so participants get a very varied experience and a huge diversity of birds.  For many of the tours its easy to add 4 days in the Bharatpur area that is close to Delhi.   My ground support in India is unsurpassed which led to our group being the first foreign nations to visit a remote area of Sikkim on the Tibetan Plateau and, on another occasion, remaining in Aranachal Pradesh when all other foreign nations were ordered out.   

 

Depending on the year, I offer a different combination of these tours  ... or its easy to get a group together and I will design the perfect tip for you to fit your style.

"Our N-S India tour was phenomenal, well organized, and absolutely teeming with birds.  Looking forward to my third Bird Idiot tour this January."

Diedra Ajbon - Massachusetts

North - South India

10 days in the Western Ghats and parts of western Tamil Nadu in Southern India that is full of endemics an fabulous scenery and hospitality.  Then a week in the Corbett area of the central Himalayan foothills for laughing thrushes, pheasants and hopefully tigers and elephants. 

Gujarat and Rajasthan

This is truly a spectacle.  Vast numbers of pelicans and cranes and shorebirds.  It is also home to big animals including Spotted Hyena, Asian Wolf and Asiatic Lion.   

NE India

The jewel of India.  Remote and full of strange and beautiful birds.  Several different area can be visited; Aranachal Pradesh with eagle Nest preserve; remote Sikkim; Mishmi Hills in the far east on the Myanmar boarder; Nagaland and Assam... All are different.  All are stuning.

Nepal

I have led two trips to Nepal.  One involving a trek in the southern Anapurna range and the other with kids in Chitwan and Bardia National Parks in the Terai region.    The National Parks are fantastic for big animals such as Elephant, Tiger and Sloth Bear and the access is far better than India.  Birding is fantastic with some special birds that are harder to see in India.  Road conditions are currently bad, but improving.

"The guides were world class, as were the wildlife viewing experiences. Everyone we met in Nepal was like family. This was the safest I have ever felt in another country, and my ten year old son had the trip of a lifetime. In Bardia, we saw 3 tigers; thanks to our extraordinary guides and driver.  The experience was deeply authentic, stopping in local villages, eating at a family home after the Vulture cafe, staying in locally owned lodges that were comfortable and charming, and wandering around the streets in Kathmandu and interacting with local shop owners and restaurateers."  

Stefanie Kranz  -  Clarkston, Washington 

Gambia and Senegal

I have just started doing trips to Gambia and Senegal; combining both countries in a 17-day tour.  Senegal offers some world class wetlands as well as easy access to the Sahel, the dry area bordering the Sahara desert to the north.  Everyone wants to see Quail Plover but there are so many cool species with safaris in the eastern part of the country with hippos and crocodiles.  Gambia offers extensive forests and marshes and the most iconic bird of the region: Egyptian Plover.  Still, there are many highlights including a huge roost of kites numbering more than several thousand birds.