Home to over a billion people in arguably the world’s richest cultural landscape, India is a country with no equal. This great nation boasts a staggering geographical diversity ranging from deserts and forests to tropical, palm-lined shores and snow-capped peaks. India is, of course, also famous for its rich avifauna and iconic mammalian megafauna, foremost of which is the regal Tiger. Our tour visits all the famous birding sites in the north central region of this amazing country, and includes a visit to the fabled Ranthambhore National Park, the tiger reserve widely considered to be one of the best places to see this most magnificent of the world’s big cats! Join us in this unforgettable celebration of India’s incredible birds, iconic mammals, dramatic scenery and kaleidoscope of cultures!
Sarus Crane, Painted Sandgrouse, Painted Spurfowl, Dalmatian Pelican, Indian Skimmer, Plum-headed Parakeet, Sirkeer Malkoha, Greater Painted-snipe, Bar-headed Goose, Bluethroat, Red-naped Ibis, Small Pratincole, Verditer Flycatcher.
Tiger, Leopard, Sambar, Nilgai, Spotted Deer, Southern Plains Grey Langur, Golden Jackal, Ganges River Dolphin, Common Palm Civet.
wetlands, teak woodlands, rivers, sal (oak & rhododendron) forests, dry acacia woodlands
cool to mild in lowlands
8 with 1 local leader
undemanding
comfortable hotels & lodges
mostly unchallenging
Taj Mahal, Chambal River, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort
incredible
This was my first Rockjumper trip. I definitely will be a repeat customer. The booking process was easy and painless. The transport and hotel logistics during the trip were flawless. David Hoddinott and Ansar Khan were excellent guides and worked diligently to make sure we saw as many birds as possible.
The Andaman Islands were a first for RockJumper and a first for David Hoddinott. It was an incredible experience and also exciting to share the first of all new endemics with David .
This was a great trip. A terrific itinerary and we saw lots of birds and we saw tigers at Ranthambhore and Corbett. Glen and [the local leader] were excellent guides—great spotting skills, and they made sure everyone saw the bird. The logistics worked very well because Glen and [the local leader] were a great team.
This was the first group birding tour Ive ever taken (meaning, more than myself and either one or two other persons). Rockjumper and Nigel Redman made it a very pleasurable experience, with wonderful birds, beautiful landscapes, and good flexibility and adaptability to the various challenges and obstacles thrown our way on the trip. I heartily recommend both this tour and Nigel Redman as a tour leader! I would happily go on any tour for which Nigel was the leader; his knowledge of ornithology, history, and birding folklore is encycylopedic, and his easy humor and casual nature made for happy hours in our vehicles or over dinner tables (this, in contrast to the group next to us in some of the dining halls, where hardly a word was spoken by any tour member when the trip leader was going through the days list; that was a dictatorship; Nigels tour was a democracy in many ways.)
We had a wonderful trip with Rich Lindie and Stephan Lorenz, and we would certainly be happy to travel with either of them again. They were both excellent with the birds, had a great sense of humour, and were helpful and patient when individuals required extra assistance. In addition to the birding, we enjoyed a long list of mammals sighted in the various national parks. The accommodations and meals were also very good.
Tour Leader: Local Leader
India North Summer Test Tour (Tpss) - April 2024
India - Southern: Birding & Wildlife of the Western Ghats (Small Group) 2024 - January 2024
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers 2023 - December 2023
India - Assam Birding & Big Game Extension II 2023 - April 2023
India - Northeast: Eaglenest & Beyond 2023 - April 2023
India - Assam Birding & Big Game Extension I 2023 - March 2023
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers (Small Group) 2023 - January 2023
India - Western: Forest Owlet Extension 2023 - January 2023
India - Western: Desert Specials 2023 - January 2023
India - Southern: Birding & Wildlife of the Western Ghats (Small Group) 2023 - January 2023
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers 2022 - December 2022
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers (Small Group) 2020 - February 2020
India - Southern: Birding & Wildlife of the Western Ghats (Small Group) 2020 - January 2020
India - Highlights of the North 2019 - December 2019
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers 2019 - December 2019
India - Highlights of the North 2018 - December 2018
India - Southern: Birding & Wildlife of the Western Ghats II 2018 - November 2018
India - Andaman Islands Endemics 2018 - November 2018
India - Southern: Birding & Wildlife of the Western Ghats I 2018 - January 2018