India – Southern Tour

Western Ghats

20 November to 4 December 2010

Leaders: Tony Pym and local guides

Maximum of 12 clients.

Cost £2,899 single room supplement £400

The beautiful landscape of Southern India is dominated by several ranges of ancient volcanic hills known collectively as the Western Ghats. The region is one of the most important areas for endemic species in Asia. There are 16 birds unique to this area including Nilgiri and White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Black-chinned, Kerala and Wynaad Laughingthrushes and Nilgiri Pipit plus several others shared only with Sri Lanka. We shall aim to see most of them on this tour. A few mammals like the charming Smooth-coated Otter, Giant Squirrel and Travancore Flying Squirrel, the magnificent Gaur and the shy Mouse Deer and possibly even Asian Elephant, all more difficult to see elsewhere, should be encountered. It is perhaps surprising that the lush evergreen and mixed deciduous forests, the grass covered slopes and the tea plantations with their wooded gullies or sholas have not until recently been visited by birders as frequently as areas in Northern India. In the days of the Raj however, the British established several hill stations, such as Udhagamandalam (formerly Ootacamund or "Ooty" ), in these lovely hills whose climate was a pleasant relief from the fierce summer heat of the plains. The pace of life is slower and the people gentler than one finds in the north of the country.

On this tour we visit three states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and some of the best and longest established wildlife sanctuaries in the sub-continent. Our transport will mainly be by bus, but between Chennai, formerly Madras, and Bangalore we travel in the air-conditioned comfort of a Shatabdi Express train to ensure we fully savour the delights of the real India.