30 Mar 2027 - 10 Apr 2027 (12 days)
USD5,595 SPACES AVAILABLE
Tour Leader: Jan Pienaar
Tour Price (Per person): USD5,595 (GBP4,256 * EUR4,897 * AUD7,996)
Single Supplement: USD910 (GBP692 * EUR796 * AUD1,300)
This tour pairs with: India - Bengal Tiger Extension 2027
07 Apr 2028 - 18 Apr 2028 (12 days)
USD5,900 SPACES AVAILABLE
Tour Leader: James Wade Lee
Tour Price (Per person): USD5,900 (GBP4,488 * EUR5,164 * AUD8,432)
This tour pairs with: India - Bengal Tiger Extension 2028
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*
06 Apr 2029 - 17 Apr 2029 (12 days)
USD6,200 SPACES AVAILABLE
Tour Leader: Stephan Lorenz
Tour Price (Per person): USD6,200 (GBP4,716 * EUR5,426 * AUD8,860)
This tour pairs with: India - Bengal Tiger Extension 2029
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*
This birding adventure takes us to the rarely visited and remote destinations of Munsiyari and Chaukori in the Western Himalaya. We will have the rare opportunity to search for a host of Asia’s most tantalising and desirable species, including the stunning Satyr Tragopan, metallic Himalayan Monal, Cheer, Kalij and Koklass Pheasants. We’ll also visit the better-known sites of Sattal in the Kumaon Himalaya foothills and Jim Corbett National Park in search of numerous woodpeckers, hornbills, parakeets, and babblers, as well as several mammals including the scarce Bengal Tiger, several deer and Asian Elephant.
Himalayan Monal; Satyr Tragopan; Cheer, Kalij & Koklass Pheasants; Black Francolin; Rufous-throated & Hill Partridges; Himalayan Owl; Snow Pigeon; Long-billed Thrush; Great Hornbill; Black-necked Stork; Pallas's Fish Eagle; Collared Falconet; Himalayan Black-lored Tit; Altai, Black-throated & Alpine Accentors; Himalayan Beautiful, Dark-breasted & Pink-browed Rosefinches; Scarlet Finch, Alpine & Chestnut Thrushes; Red-fronted Serin; Golden Bush Robin; Plain Mountain Finch; Blue-capped & Blue-fronted Redstarts; Fire-breasted Flowerpecker; Variegated & Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrushes; Chestnut-headed Tesia; White-browed Fulvetta.
Bengal Tiger (rare); Sambar; Chital; Hog Deer; Yellow-throated Marten; Jungle Cat; Asian Elephant; Tarai Grey Langur; Golden Jackal; Northern Red Muntjac.
teak woodlands, rivers, sal (oak & rhododendron) forests, Himalayan foothills, grassland
Cool to mild in lowlands, cold in Himalayan foothills with a chance of snowfall
8 with 1 Rockjumper leader
UNDEMANDING: This tour is ideal for birders and wildlife enthusiasts of all experience levels. It’s suitable for most mobility levels and offers a relaxed pace, ensuring an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Moderate to undemanding. Suitable for all birding / wildlife interest levels. India is an assault on the senses first time around, requiring a little tolerance to begin with.
Comfortable.
Undemanding. Most species provide good visuals in open conditions. Some forest edge, but true forest birding is limited.
Himalayan scenery
Good to excellent. From vehicle and in lodge gardens.
Our India-Northern birds and Tigers was a great tour. Our guide, Glen, was, as usual, superb. He worked very hard at getting us not only the “usual” birds but worked with our local guide Robin to find some incredibly rare and hard to find birds, two of which were lifers for Glen. The food was great during the tour, and the logistics well-planned and executed.
We had a great tour. It was smaller even than usual, as two of the participants departed after two days due to illness. Glen, was as always his uber-keen birder, cheerful self. His magic pulled out quite a few surprising sightings.
An excellent tour! Paul Josop lived up to our expectations for a Rockjumper guide - excellent knowledge of the birds; conscientious about getting everyone on the birds; on top of all the arrangements for meals, lodging and transportation; worked well with the local guide; and shared his excitement and good humor throughout the trip. The WhatsApp group that he set up was brilliant. He shared photos with us, as did other participants, and it was an easy way for us all to keep in touch. We would love to travel with Paul again.
This trip was great! We were told the trip should generate about 250 bird species and our total was very close. Peter was excellent at finding birds, leading us and keeping a positive group atmosphere. The local guides also were competent and helpful. Accommodations are not an important aspect of a trip to me but the ones we stayed at were excellent, as were the meals. The trip was an excellent introduction to India for me tho I was happy to have it very much concentrate on birding.
Feedback for India – Western Deserts 2026 Overall, this was quite a trip. I had gone on the India – Northern Birds & Tigers just prior to this trip, so the number of new birds for us was low. However, we got most of the birds we were hoping for, a testament to Dušan and the highly-skilled local guides. We were well taken care of during the trip and all the accommodations were first class. The group were all serious birders, and we all got along together well and were able to contribute to the very respectful tally of the birds. The travel was a lot more than I anticipated. Several days were essentially all driving, with a brief stop or two to stretch and check for birds. I strongly recommend adding a day at Mt. Abu. We had only a few hours of birding there, sandwiched between very long drives. Adding a day there will be a great relief from spending so much time in the bus and allow us to catch up a bit on our sleep. I did a survey among our group and all greed that adding a day would be a great relief and would not keep any of us from choosing the trip. The birds were nearby, which helped a lot as we didn’t have a long drive to get to the birds. One location in particular, Desert National Park, was almost two hours. A closer accommodation needs to be scouted out. Dušan did a great job, and his enthusiasm kept us going when sleep depravation was hitting us. The guy never wanted to quit. We got all three mega birds, the Hypocolius, the Indian Spotted Creeper, and the Forest Owlet, quite well. All three were a great experience, especially the Hypocolius, as most of the group were family listers. We even had one of our group finish off the families during the trip! Thanks for offering and recommending this trip.
India - Western: Desert Specials 2026 - February 2026
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers (Small Group) 2026 - January 2026
India - Southern: Endemics of the Western Ghats (Small Group) 2026 - January 2026
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers 2025 - November 2025
India - Northeast: Mishmi Hills & Assam specialities 2025 - April 2025
India - Northeast: Eaglenest & Beyond 2025 - April 2025
India - Northwestern Himalayas 2025 - March 2025
India - Red Panda Quest 2025 - March 2025
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers (Small Group) 2025 - February 2025
India - Weakland (North) 2024 - November 2024
India - Assam Extension II 2024 - April 2024
India - Assam Extension I 2024 - March 2024
India - Southern: Birding & Wildlife of the Western Ghats (Small Group) 2024 - January 2024
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers 2023 - December 2023
India - Northeast: Eaglenest & Beyond 2023 - April 2023
India - Assam Birding & Big Game Extension II 2023 - April 2023
India - Assam Birding & Big Game Extension I 2023 - March 2023
India - Northern: Birds & Tigers (Small Group) 2023 - January 2023