15 Apr: Siliguri -Birding Mahananda WLS - Kalimpong, 1400 m

As the sun rises one hour earlier we raised 4.30 am to check out before going by jeep to Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. Peter had arranged through his connections at the Wildlife Department that we could enter the park 2 hours earlier than the usually official scheduled 8 am open. We had a nice morning looking for birds along the riverbed. Although we did not see the famous elephants in the 280 km2 large reserve, we had to be careful not to enter too far into the forest. In the late afternoon we continued uphill towards Kalimpong at 1300 meters elevation along a winding ascending route for 80 Km which followed Tista River most of the 02.30 hrs drive. Unfortunately, the Government of India has decided to build 189 dams in the Himalayas and this beautifully feeflowing river will be dammed ot no less than 6 locations. We could see that this river was pristine and very suitable for rafting and sportfishing.

We had a nice overnight stay at Gurudongma House, Kalimpong, as guests of General "Jimmy" Singh. It was interesting to hear about the General’s carrier and his views on the USA invasion of Iraq. Just after arrival we had a big violent thunderstorm, - a kind a symbolic event to the war in Iraq. The house was beautifully decorated with all the gifts and medals the General had received during his time at the Chinese border in Aruschal Predesh.

16 Apr: Kalimpong - Birding Lava, 2200 m- Kalimpong

We departed early and drove along the highway to Lava. When we reached some degraded forest whitout the middle story, but nevertheless we were overwhelmed of the teeming birdlife. Everything went so fast that some of us were frustrated not getting on the birds. However after some time we scored most what we wanted such as the rare Blue-fronted Robin. John claimed to have seen some white in the tail which no other saw when it flew. As soon a White-tailed Robin appeared next to the Blue Robin, John had to succumb to reality and admit he had seen wrong. Any doubt was eliminated when the two species was sitting next to each other, as it was a perfect demonstration of the difference of the two species. I could not be more happy to see that! Shortly after having sorted out 35 species, we continued uphill in order to have a nice breakfast at the top of a hill overlooking the whole area.

Peter Lobo had brought chairs and porcelain in order to create a colonel style effect. The sun appeared from a partly overcast sky while he prepared both the toast, fruitsalad and eggs for us. Although we were at 2000 meters, it was no longer possible to see the third largest mountain in the world Kangchingzonga 8580 m clearly. In April it was quite hazy despite of the rain we had the previous night. In order to clear the 3 km thick haze over the plains, which also penetrate into the foothills, a widespread rainsystem is needed to drench the area. Peter told us that the infamours Indian haze has got worse during the last 10 years due to pollution, dust from deforestation and higher temperature.

After breakfast we descended through a plantation where we saw a flock of Little Buntings and thereafter we had opportunities to sort out several species of Laughing-thrushes and Scimitar-babblers in the Khampung Reserve Forest. We returned to Gurudongma House Kalimpong in the late afternoon for overnight stay.

17 Apr: Kalimpong- birding Lava - Kalimpong

Once again we drove towards Lava for a 06 hrs birding trek along a isolated forest trail. It was very successful as we spotted 75 species during 8 hours of birding. The highlight was a close up encounter of the rare and mostly wanted Yellow-rumped   (Himalayan ) Honeyguide, as the bird tried to attract a weasel or another type animal to a bee nest.

18 Apr: Kalimpong- Maneybhanjhan, 2134 m - birding trek to Meghma, 2900 m

We arrived to Maneybhanjhan by jeep in 4 hrs from Kalinpong. It was a cold overcast day when we met the porters. The first part of the trek was steep through partly reforested pine plantation until we reached the first teahouse at the cloudbase at 2400 meters. The adventurer and experienced outdoor Greenland expert Hans Meltofte complained about the phase of the ascent and needed a rest quite often. During one of our frequent rest stops, we had a coke at a guest house despite of my which to boycott all American merchandise because of the Bush Administration’s policies.

We later continued into the mist and cloud and reached some good forest. Here John spotted a Spotted Laughingthrush which for while could resist to be chased by a squirrel. A wonderful and beautiful bird which was a lifer for everyone. Late afternoon arrival to Maghma a desolated, clamp place with a rough tone to it. We slept on second floor in dormitory settings. The bedding could have been better so John did not sleep well. Peter got in contact with a fellow which claimed to know the whereabouts of Satry Tragopans and promised to take us the day after tomorrow. If we had accepted this offer, we would not have reached Sandakphu peak, so we politely asked him whether we could do this quest the next morning instead, which he reluctantly accepted. He was a bit cross that we did not stay at this tea house.

19 Apr: Birding trek Meghma - Garibas, 2621 m

We raised to bright sunlight to meet with the teahouse man who came 20 minutes late.. Shortly after we heard a Hill Partridge which he claimed to be the Tragopan. It took us ½ hour to figure out that the whole project was a flop, so we concentrated on finding other birds. We soon were rewarded with sightings of a pair of White-browed Shortwings attracted by tape playback. Later Ebbe found a Large-billed Leafwarbler to us and not long after a Darjeeling Woodpecker sat right out in the open in a small tree ready to be photographed. As I thought we were looking for Tragopans I did not bring the camera. After breakfast we started our climb up to Tonglu 3070 m and then trek down through Singelila National Park to Garibas in 4-5 hrs. A flock of school kids and 3 teachers followed us.

During our first rest stop, one teacher moved very close to us and started to steer down in Hans’s bag, while he was packing. This was too much for Hans, so the teacher was politely asked to find another place to watch the scenery away from us. I presume this habit of steering and get too close is not suitable for everyone-but it is a common feature among some people in India. I have experienced this quite often in other places like on trains and airports. During our trek down to Garibas we passed some nice forest areas with bamboo. Here we found two really rare birds: Rufous-throated Wren-babbler chased out of the bushes by one of our porters and a fast moving Slender-billed Scimitar-babbler.

We arrived to Garibas around 3.30, just in time before a massive monsoon like downpour started. It rained for 6 hours on and off in massive waves. It was concerning, as we thought the monsoon has started early. This year the dry summer was quickly interrupted by early pre-monsoon weather which normally is due to arrive mid May. We later found out a massive cyclone hit the Bengal Bay flooding huge areas and killed 350 people. A cyclone of this magnitude made the weather pattern unusually unstable at Sandakphu despite we were 1000 km away from the scene of chaos.

A lot of school children stayed in a cramp room below and in some in the tents outside. Despite of fears from excessive noise, we all managed to sleep early and well. Again thanks to Peters extraordinary planning we had two rooms with 2 beds for ourselves, despite of that the place was overbook 10 times!!

At Garibas an American Red Panda researcher stayed in one of the rooms. It later appeared to us that he was not a real researcher and he had no visa to India, and no permit to carry out his tasks. Peter Lobo a keen conservationist reported him to the manager and his friend at the Wildlife Department upon our return.

20 Apr: Birding trek Garibas - Sandakphu, 3636 m

We woke up to a misty but not to dark morning. We could even see the moon and blue sky through the light mist, unknowley how the weather would behave we started our 1000 meters altitudal climb. as the morning progressed it got darker in the mist, it became so dark that I thought the sun would set and the earth had started to rotate faster. After a massive thunder rumble in the mist It suddenly cleared and a large thunderstorm was ghastly moving in. A little ray of sunlight behind the monsoon clouds made the scene dramatic especially when the lighting display started. We found refuge in a teahouse. After 2 hours of thundery weather it suddenly cleared. Unfortunately the wind picked up at the same time, so the birding was very poor that day. During our ascent to the top of Sandakphu we could see Kangchingzonga 8580m appear out of the clouds in the north. A massive mountain which is unnaturally large in comparison to the mountain chain of peaks of 6000 meters. We had a confortable but chilly overnight stay in Wildlife Guest House, a place reserved to VPfolks on courtesy of the wildlife manager. It was cold inside so we had to organized firewood. Alternatively we would have to stay in overcrowded and noisy huts nearby. We were all grateful to Peter.

21 Apr: Birding trek Sandakphu- Garibas

In the morning we went out to see spectacular views of Everest and Kangchinzonga at sunrise and the view was fantastic. As the sun rose lincecularis wave clouds (whale-back) ware forming over the peaks which indicated a very unstable airmass. Shortly afterwards we went down to a meadow to look for birds. The wind was quite strong, but we managed to find a pair of Fire-tailed Sunbirds, Rufous-breasted Accentor, Edward’s Rosefinches and best of all a singing Spotted Laughingthrush. First we thought it was a beautiful female human singer. I have never heard such a sweet and complex song from a bird before. Even better I went down a got close up views of this crippler!

After breakfast we went down hill to return to Garibas. The birding was poor due to the strong wind. First when we got down to 2800 meters, we took another remote but very birdy route back to Garibas. As we descended, the sky became more or more cloudy and misty. Peter went ahead as it becam late in order to ensure that we could keep our booked rooms in the crowded Garibas hut. Nut long after Peter left with a porter, the latter rturned to get us quickl. Peter had just down the bend found a family of Satyr Tragopans, but unfortunately the male had disappeared just before we managed to reach the spot. However 3 females reappeared and at least we got the species nailed down on our lifelists!.

Just after that sighting we managed to spot a flock of Black-throated Parrotbills in the bamboo. Peter told us that it would be unsafe to stay out in the forest after dark, because the area has a quite large Black Bear population. The evidence for this warning came clearly to our mind when we found a few of foot prints on the path. Just before it got to dark, we just reached the trekkers hut at Garibas, just in time before the heavens opened up for another massive downpour and associated thunder.

22 Apr: Birding trek Garibas- Maneybhanjhan. Drive to Darjeeling

The next morning we had bright sunshine and we had a pleasant walk for about 6 hours downhill along a small river towards Pos Basti. We did not see too many birds before reaching 1800 meters. Just near a village we found White-throated Laughingthrushes and got nice views of a Golden-throated Barbets. Higher op in a tree a brownish pink orchid was spotted. Unfortunately people collect orchids and they have become much rarer in recent years.

In the valley the whole village of 500 people were busy excavating a channel in order to pump water through a pipe to generate hydroelectical power. Peter later found out the company had not obtained a proper Environmental Impact Statement, and consequently the project had to be relocated to another site because it would negatively impact the waterflow in a wildlife sanctuary nearby.. In India it is important to have the paperwork completed before a project is commenced. During our transfer in jeeps towards Darjeeling we passed through a hailstorm, which had ravaged the area with 5-10 thick layer of hail downpour. Several tree, leaves, flowers and bamboo was damaged and washed down on the road or destroyed by lighting strikes and the 4 cm. large hail stones We arrived in late afternoon to an old but refurbished colonial english tea hotel. We had suite rooms, but the electricity in Darjeeling was so unreliable so we had problems with catching up with the news.

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Gurudongma Tours & Treks