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India - Western: Desert Specials

© Demoiselle cranes by Adam Riley
India - Western: Desert Specials 2026

16 Feb 2026 - 28 Feb 2026 (13 days)

USD4,695 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Dušan Brinkhuizen

Tour price (Per person): USD4,695 * GBP3,437 * EUR3,981 * AUD7,142

Single Supplement: USD720 * GBP527 * EUR611 * AUD1,095

Flight costs: USD280 * GBP205 * EUR237 * AUD426

India - Western: Desert Specials 2027

16 Feb 2027 - 28 Feb 2027 (13 days)

USD4,800 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth

Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated, and dates may change*

Tour price (Per person): USD4,800 * GBP3,514 * EUR4,070 * AUD7,302

Flight costs: USD310 * GBP227 * EUR263 * AUD472

The wonderfully diverse nation of India is well-known for its verdant landscapes and the snow-capped Himalayas. It therefore surprises many people to learn that India is also blessed with some incredible deserts, and our tour showcases this much-underrated habitat by exploring some of India’s less frequented parks and reserves in the county’s dry, western parts. Desert National Park, Tal Chappar and the Great and Little Ranns of Kutch are amongst the most important of the protected areas of western India and we will visit all of them.  We will also pay a visit to the more verdant Mt Abu. 

Along the way we are going to see some of the most threatened and rare birds not only of India but of the whole world. Species we are searching for include the Great Indian Bustard which sadly teeters on the brink of extinction, the almost equally rare White-browed Bush Chat, along with Indian Spotted Creeper, Yellow-eyed Pigeon, Green Avadavat, Sociable Lapwing, Macqueen’s Bustard, White-naped Tit and Marshall’s Iora. We also stand a great chance at picking up two of the more difficult monotypic families in the world, namely Crab-Plover and Grey Hypocolius. The general birding is excellent with lots of breeding specialties supplemented by vast numbers of overwintering northern migrants including famous congregations of cranes, impressive flocks of waterfowl and waders and several interesting passerines. Mammals are yet another interesting feature of this trip and along the way we can expect to see Blackbuck, Indian Gazelle, and Indian Wild Ass amongst others!

 

Top Birds

Great Indian & Macqueen’s Bustards; Grey Hypocolius; Crab-plover; huge numbers of Demoiselle & Common Cranes; Dalmation & Spot-billed Pelicans; Green Avadavat; Indian Spotted Creeper; Sociable Lapwing; Indian Courser; Red-headed, Cinereous & White-rumped Vultures; Eastern Imperial Eagle; White-eyed Buzzard; Laggar Falcon; Painted, Spotted & Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse; Sykes’s & Savanna Nightjars; White-naped & Indian Black-lored Tits; Marshall’s Iora; Brown Rock Chat; Pied & White-browed Bush Chats; Bimaculated, Rufous-tailed & Sykes’s Larks; Desert Whitethroat; Bay-backed Shrike; Rufous-fronted Prinia; Eastern Orphean & Asian Desert Warblers.

Top Mammals

Asiatic Wild Ass; Blackbuck; Nilgai; Chinkara (Indian Gazelle); with chances for Golden & Grey Wolves; Bengal and the desert subspecies of Red Fox; Striped Hyena; Jungle & Wild Cats.

Habitats Covered

semi-desert scrub, salt-flats, seasonal wetlands, grassland, scrubland, dry deciduous forest, coastline

Expected Climate

Variable temperatures from very cold to warm.

Max Group Size

8 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local birding leader

Tour Pace & Walking

MODERATE TO CHALLENGING: This tour requires a good level of fitness, stamina, and overall health. It’s best suited for experienced birders who are comfortable with a more active itinerary. Please note that it may not be ideal for avid photographers, new birders, or those with mobility or health concerns.

Moderate. Long travel days, many target species.

Accommodation

Variable. Comfortable in larger towns to basic at some sites.

Ease of Birding

Moderate to easy. Most species provide good visuals in open conditions but may require repeat attempts. Target driven tour with long days.

Photographic Opportunities

Good to very good in open conditions, lighting can be difficult. No dedicated hides.

What our clients say about us

Glen Valentine
DH - India 2024

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.

Gregory de Klerk
HS, India 2018

Greg de Klerk and David Erterius were great - super knowledgeable and really kind. You can tell that they both care about birds and their guests. I hope I can go on a Rockjumper tour with them again.

Stephan Lorenz
LC & PD, Northern India 2017

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.

Nigel Redman
MC, India 2023

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.)

David Hoddinott
TM, India 2018

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.

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