Happy customers of Enchanted India

I had the pleasure of travelling with my old friend Ken Legget  and Nikhil in Sikkim in the spring of 2010.  I had no idea what exalted company I was keeping till I discovered that he had taken most of the pictures in one of the bird books I was using. The only challenge I set Nikhil was to show me a wild satyr tragopan.   With a driver we set off into the mountains of West Bengal and then crossed into Sikkim. The birding was brilliant and everywhere we went Nik seemed to have local birding mates who would join us for a day. Our lodgings were simple but universally friendly and satisfactory. Our trail led from valley to valley in what I would term mid altitude Sikkim. All the while we could gaze up to see Kanchenjunga up among the clouds. Highlights were calling for Crakes on a holy lake,trekking up to see honey guides and rising at dawn to go birding in jungle while awaiting the first pink glow to fall on Kanchenjunga. Nikhils local knowledge took us to places we would never have known of had we been on our own. Doors opened for us which would have remained secret without his contacts and knowledge. Even roadwork traffic control seemed to be subject to his command!  As to the challenge I set him; his answer was to take us to the junction of India,Nepal and Sikkim where we ascended in a wonderful series 1 Landrover to the army border post at 3400m. Here he again called up birds for us, this time blood pheasants. Descending to the forestry station down some spectacular road(not for the fainthearted) we then rose at dawn and I and Ken had the thrill of rounding a corner on a disused forrest track so be confronted by a satyr tragopan in all his glory. We also saw a female.Elated beyond measure we returned to Darjeeling and treated ourselves to  tandoori chicken having been obligate vegetarians during our meanderings in Sikkim.

Subsequent to this, I have been copied in to the Delhi Bird Club website which brings me stunning pictures by Nikhil and a multitude of other members.   I cannot recommend strongly enough the travel service which Nikhil’s team makes possible. You simply won’t get anything like this on the regular tourist circuit. More power to you Nik and more power to the Indian conservation effort of which I think this is an important part. Cant wait for my next trip.

If you are looking for a grand bird-watching experience in India, designed just for you, with great birds, great scenery, great accommodations and food, and a guide who is caring and fun to travel with, we would highly recommend Nikhil Devasar of Enchanted India.

My husband and I spent at least a month corresponding with a variety of other birding guides but none of the others were able to design a trip that would meet our physical needs and help us see the birds we wanted to see. My husband and I are in our 70’s and have bad knees so we needed to avoid steps or steep paths as far as possible.

The other companies didn’t even come close. Nik suggested a variety of great birding locations we worked together over several months to design our dream trip – 6 weeks starting with 10 days in Bhutan following by visits to, Kaziranga National Park in Assam, the Andaman Islands, Delhi area, Bharatpur with a trip to see the Taj Mahal, and finally a desert area west of Delhi. Actually the plan was to end up in the mountains north of Delhi, but when I got bronchitis and doctors said “No more mountains,” Nik quickly made arrangements to do the desert instead and what a great choice!

One of the things I appreciated most was that he understood that our goal wasn’t to see the largest number of birds but to see great birds – as I like to say – birds that are very large, brightly colored, different from other birds, and will pose nicely for pictures. I hate just seeing part of a bird’s tail. I want to see the bird clearly and be able to identify it. But I’m sure that if your goal was to see the largest number of birds, Nik would work with you on that. I actually wrote out the lists of the birds I’d most like to see and Nik revised some of his plans based on my lists. I was clear, that I didn’t expect to see all of them, and we didn’t, but we did see an amazing number of my birds.

Nik met us at the airport and was with us all through the trip. When I got sick, we could count on Nik to get me to the doctor or hospital and help out when a translator was needed. In addition, he hired some really outstanding local guides. They knew the best places to find the local specialities. The accommodations were great, the food great, and the scenery was fantastic.

We really had a great time together. Every day of the trip there were new and exciting adventures making this a trip of a lifetime.