SOUTH INDIA & ANDAMANS

Southern India is a land of huge wildernesses, with the forested hills and mountains of the Western Ghats forming a treasure house of endemic species. An excellent network of national parks protects large tracts of pristine forest and grassland where around 36 endemic birds can be found, as well as many more regional endemics. It is these special birds that we will focus on during our time on the mainland. But we begin our thorough and extensive journey by exploring the many delights on the Andamans, lying some 700 kilometres to the east of the Indian peninsular, across the Bay of Bengal. This fascinating archipelago is made up of 200 or so small islands with a mountainous central spine covered in pristine tropical rainforest, surrounded by idyllic palm-fringed sandy beaches and is a perfect setting to find some great birds! A current total of 20 endemics reside here and this is a place that very few western birders have ventured. Returning to the mainland our route takes us from the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, across the Nilgiri Mountains to such classic birding destinations as Topslip, Ooty, Nagarhole and many smaller sites in between. In this wild forested land we will see most of what the Indian Peninsula has to offer as we explore secret valleys teeming with birdlife, take jeep rides in search of Tiger, Leopard and other mammals, boat rides across lakes teeming with nesting storks and egrets and find some of the rarest birds on the planet. Our previous tour saw 99 endemics, of which 19 were Andamans endemics, 46 subcontinent endemics and 34 mainland Indian endemics showing the quality of birds during this tour. So why not join us on our extensive coverage of this fascinating country?