After a wonderful three days of exploring the Little Rann of Kutch, we headed back to the Ahmedabad airport for our flight to Jaipur, the pink city in the colorful state of Rajatsthan. Our short flight was fairly turbulent, causing a poor passenger behind us more than a little distress, But we landed safely and were met by our driver and his assistant. They loaded us up in a spacious mini-bus for the 3 hour drive to Bharatpur. As we left Jaipur, it was getting dark, so we didn't get to see the city in its rosy splendor. Once out of Jaipur, we were on a national highway, which was quite nice and we made good time. After moving into our palatial marble room at Birder's Inn, we joined Susi and Butch for a late dinner and then went off to bed to get some sleep before our first early morning trip into Keoladeo National Park.
In the morning, we met our bicycle rickshaw drivers out in front of the hotel. They were a turbaned older gentleman, Mr. Singh and a young man, Devanger, and were our drivers for the entire visit. We made the short trip to the park where we were met by our wonderful guide, Brijendra Singh. We were so fortunate to have " Brije" with us for the entire three days as he is one of the premier birders, botanists and entomologists of the area. Much of his life has been spent in a village within the park and he knows its every nook and cranny. Within the 29 square kilometer park, he knew the exact tree in which to look for the brown hawk owl and the small roadside thicket where the Siberian rubythroat hangs out. After three tries at finding this splendid little bird, we were rewarded with some great views!
Normally this park is a wetland that is filled with flocks of thousands of overwintering birds from Europe, Russia and other parts of Asia...spoonbills, painted storks, Sarus cranes, and much more. However, the monsoons last summer brought far less water than they had in previous years and the water levels within the park were very low. What little water there was was nutrient-poor and not able to support the migrating birds. But we were not disappointed! It was still rich with a variety of species; just not in the usual numbers.
Although we used the rickshaws to get us to and from the park and to different areas of this large park, we were able to do a lot of walking within Keoladeo, which was a very good thing considering the amount of food we had been eating. Although most places offered "Continental and Chinese" fare in addition to Indian, we stuck with delicious Indian food for all our meals. And the food just kept coming! Most of the meals are buffet-style, with a range of wonderful Indian dishes from which to choose, but the staff keep bringing extras like naan, samples of dishes, desserts and the wonderful ever-present masala chai, sweetened, spiced tea with milk.
Butch was in search of a couple of rarer birds that cannot be found in the park so on one of our morning outings we headed out of the city into a nearby farming area. After passing many fields of mustard, wheat and cotton, the driver was directed to pull over next to a bare field...nothing growing but a few patches of shrubs. There was not a bird in sight...or so we thought. We were in search of the Indian courser, a beautiful, iconic bird of India but apparently hard to find....unless you know exactly where to look for it - and Brijendra did! Once we walked out into this desolate field we saw our first courser scooting across the ground....and then another, and another. By the end of our exploration we had probably seen 20 coursers along with several other new birds for us.
Next we were off to a village canal in search of the illusive painted snipe. Our driver dropped us off at the entrance to the little village and were it not for Bridje we would have quickly gotten turned around in its narrow, twisty streets. It was pretty evident that we were a curiosity to the villagers. Apparently two white women wandering through the village was an unusual sight, so we had a little entourage following us as we moved through in search of the canal. Once there, we were successful in finding the snipe as well as numerous other new shorebirds for us.
Although the birding was great, the village was another highlight for us. It just so happened that there was to be a marriage that day. Brijendra found the way to the bride's home and we were invited in to see her. Although we were a bit hesitant to barge in, we were welcomed so warmly that we had no choice but to go in, meet the bride in her beautiful wedding sari and take photos of the bride and her family. We were very honored. As we headed out of town, we met the groom and his buddies so more pictures....and I think we were actually invited to the wedding but graciously (we hope) declined. This was just one of many examples we have seen throughout the trip of how wonderfully welcoming and friendly people can be. Were we to show up at an American wedding party in the same way, we're not sure we would have been welcomed so.
Another adventure while we were in Bharatpur was a visit to the pharmacist. Since we had both been experiencing sniffles and a sore throat for several days, we decided it would be a good idea to seek out the medical shop which was a short distance from the inn where we were staying. Typical for all of the shops we had seen along the way, it was a small open-fronted store lined with shelves stocked full of medications. The shop keeper listened to our symptoms and provided us with the Indian equivalent of Tylenol and some cough drops. Before leaving we snapped a few photos and posed with the owner who wanted his picture taken with us!
In the morning, we met our bicycle rickshaw drivers out in front of the hotel. They were a turbaned older gentleman, Mr. Singh and a young man, Devanger, and were our drivers for the entire visit. We made the short trip to the park where we were met by our wonderful guide, Brijendra Singh. We were so fortunate to have " Brije" with us for the entire three days as he is one of the premier birders, botanists and entomologists of the area. Much of his life has been spent in a village within the park and he knows its every nook and cranny. Within the 29 square kilometer park, he knew the exact tree in which to look for the brown hawk owl and the small roadside thicket where the Siberian rubythroat hangs out. After three tries at finding this splendid little bird, we were rewarded with some great views!
Normally this park is a wetland that is filled with flocks of thousands of overwintering birds from Europe, Russia and other parts of Asia...spoonbills, painted storks, Sarus cranes, and much more. However, the monsoons last summer brought far less water than they had in previous years and the water levels within the park were very low. What little water there was was nutrient-poor and not able to support the migrating birds. But we were not disappointed! It was still rich with a variety of species; just not in the usual numbers.
Although we used the rickshaws to get us to and from the park and to different areas of this large park, we were able to do a lot of walking within Keoladeo, which was a very good thing considering the amount of food we had been eating. Although most places offered "Continental and Chinese" fare in addition to Indian, we stuck with delicious Indian food for all our meals. And the food just kept coming! Most of the meals are buffet-style, with a range of wonderful Indian dishes from which to choose, but the staff keep bringing extras like naan, samples of dishes, desserts and the wonderful ever-present masala chai, sweetened, spiced tea with milk.
Butch was in search of a couple of rarer birds that cannot be found in the park so on one of our morning outings we headed out of the city into a nearby farming area. After passing many fields of mustard, wheat and cotton, the driver was directed to pull over next to a bare field...nothing growing but a few patches of shrubs. There was not a bird in sight...or so we thought. We were in search of the Indian courser, a beautiful, iconic bird of India but apparently hard to find....unless you know exactly where to look for it - and Brijendra did! Once we walked out into this desolate field we saw our first courser scooting across the ground....and then another, and another. By the end of our exploration we had probably seen 20 coursers along with several other new birds for us.
Next we were off to a village canal in search of the illusive painted snipe. Our driver dropped us off at the entrance to the little village and were it not for Bridje we would have quickly gotten turned around in its narrow, twisty streets. It was pretty evident that we were a curiosity to the villagers. Apparently two white women wandering through the village was an unusual sight, so we had a little entourage following us as we moved through in search of the canal. Once there, we were successful in finding the snipe as well as numerous other new shorebirds for us.
Although the birding was great, the village was another highlight for us. It just so happened that there was to be a marriage that day. Brijendra found the way to the bride's home and we were invited in to see her. Although we were a bit hesitant to barge in, we were welcomed so warmly that we had no choice but to go in, meet the bride in her beautiful wedding sari and take photos of the bride and her family. We were very honored. As we headed out of town, we met the groom and his buddies so more pictures....and I think we were actually invited to the wedding but graciously (we hope) declined. This was just one of many examples we have seen throughout the trip of how wonderfully welcoming and friendly people can be. Were we to show up at an American wedding party in the same way, we're not sure we would have been welcomed so.
Another adventure while we were in Bharatpur was a visit to the pharmacist. Since we had both been experiencing sniffles and a sore throat for several days, we decided it would be a good idea to seek out the medical shop which was a short distance from the inn where we were staying. Typical for all of the shops we had seen along the way, it was a small open-fronted store lined with shelves stocked full of medications. The shop keeper listened to our symptoms and provided us with the Indian equivalent of Tylenol and some cough drops. Before leaving we snapped a few photos and posed with the owner who wanted his picture taken with us!
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