In Search of the Rare Wildlife of Western India

Arrive Mumbai (BOM) and walk to your hotel in the airport building.

In the morning walk to the departures area and take flight to Diu. Break for lunch before private transfer (approx. 2.5hrs) to the Gir National Park. Rest of day at leisure.

Enjoy morning and afternoon game private drives in the Sasan Gir National Park - escorted by local park guides. The park was established to protect the last remaining population of the Asiatic lion and the park now provides a home to over 600 of the endangered lions (from a low of 20 in 1900).

Sasan Gir is a hilly and rocky forest and consists of teak with a mixture of deciduous trees, including sal, dhak, and thorn forests. Lions can often be seen early in the morning and at dusk and there is plethora of other wildlife here including a good leopard population, jungle cat, golden jackal, nilgai, chousinga (four-horned antelope), spotted and sambar deer, and troops of langur monkeys.

The 200-plus bird species include the peafowl, Bonelli's eagle, crested serpent eagle, jungle bush quail, painted sandgrouse, common green pigeon and several species of dove. Sasan Gir is also home to the marsh crocodile which can be sighted easily in its rivers and particularly in the lake of the Kamaleshwar dam.

Enjoy morning and afternoon private game drives in the Sasan Gir National Park. As well as the excellent wildlife, you can also see some of the Maldhari herders that also make the park their home.

Morning private transfer (approx. 4 hours) to Velavadar. Afternoon game drive in the Blackbuck National Park - escorted by local park guide. The park is a 36 square kilometre patch of savannah-like grassland well suited to the requirements of large herds of the beautiful, endemic blackbuck antelope. Other wildlife seen include herds of nilgai, jungle cat, golden jackal and Indian hare and there is a small but increasing population of Indian wolves and striped hyenas that are now being seen quite regularly. Birdlife includes sandgrouse, larks, lesser floricans and one of the world’s largest winter roosts of harriers.

Morning and afternoon private game drives in the Blackbuck National Park - escorted by local park guides. As well as the endearing antelopes you will also be on the look-out for their predators. The Indian wolves generally hunt in pairs or small packs whereas the striped hyenas tend to be more solitary, that is unless you are lucky enough to find some with pups in a den.

Morning and afternoon private game drives in the Blackbuck National Park - escorted by local park guides. As well as its exotic mammals, the park is also famous for its birdlife. Harriers roost here in large numbers (mostly Montagu’s harrier with the occasional pallid harrier and marsh harrier) with other raptors including eagles (short-toed , Aquila, greater spotted and steppe), kestrels, kites and the abundant shikra. Eurasian eagle owls can occasionally be seen hunting during daylight here. The shallow lake and waterways surrounding the park also attract large flocks of demoiselle and common cranes plus sandgrouse coming to drink.

After an early breakfast you depart by private transfer for the Little Rann of Kutch to explore the Wild Ass Sanctuary. The journey to Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) should take about 4.5hrs. You should arrive by lunchtime and settle in before beginning to explore the park this afternoon.

The Rann of Kutch is a geographically unique landscape that was once an arm of the Arabian Sea. As the land separated from the sea by geological forces, it became a vast, featureless plain encrusted with salt that is inundated with water during the rains. The area is now within the Dhangadhra Sanctuary and protects a vast, arid, desert-like landscape, home to an array of desert-adapted fauna and flora. The star species is the Asiatic wild ass (onagar), an attractive wild horse now very rare and completely confined to the area. Other mammals that could be seen include blackbuck, chinkara (Indian gazelle), nilgai, Indian hares and jerboas. The main carnivores of the Little Rann of Kutch are the endangered Indian wolf, desert fox, Indian fox, jackals, desert and jungle cats, and a few hyenas.

Birds include many species of sandgrouse, desert warbler, hoopoe, larks and thousands of wintering waterfowl and flamingos.

Morning and afternoon private game drives in the Little Rann of Kutch - escorted by private lodge guides. As well as the rare and unusual mammals of the park, the area is particularly good for birds and has been declared a RAMSAR Site. Here you can see large flocks of larks, and other dryland birds like sandgrouse, coursers, plovers, chats, warblers, babblers, shrikes. During the winter months, huge numbers of birds gather in the lakes and marshes in and around the Rann including both demoiselle and common cranes plus flamingos, pelicans, storks, ibises, spoonbill, a variety of ducks and other waterfowl. The Rann is also the hunting ground of raptors like the short-toed eagle, aquila eagles, six species of falcon, buzzards and three species of harrier.

After an early breakfast, pick up and drive (6 hours) to Jawai Bandh. Lunch at the lodge, then enjoy an afternoon private jeep safari in search of leopards and other wildlife - escorted by private lodge guides. The leopards here have a unique, harmonious relationship with the local sheep herders; spending their days sheltering in the granite hills and descending to prey on livestock in the late afternoons and evenings.

Another day looking for leopards by private jeep.

Spend a final morning looking for leopards in the hills of Jawai. Then private transfer through miles of desert scrub and farmland (approx. 6 hours) to the Rajasthan heritage hotel of Shahpura Bahg.

Depart hotel and private transfer (approx. 4 hours) to Ranthambore. Lunch at your hotel and enjoy your first private tiger safari in the afternoon. Ranthambore is one of the largest and perhaps best known of all of India’s tiger reserves, with beautiful semi-arid scenery with the spectacular Ranthambore Fort as a backdrop.

Morning and afternoon private jeep safaris in search of tigers and other wildlife - escorted by local park guides. Other mammal highlights here can also include leopard, jungle cat, caracal, desert cat, sloth bear, golden jackal, Indian fox, striped hyena, sambar deer, spotted deer, blue bull, Indian gazelle and ruddy mongoose.

Morning and afternoon private jeep safaris in search of tigers and other wildlife - escorted by local park guides. OPTIONAL guided visit of Ranthambore Fort.

Enjoy a final morning private jeep safari in Ranthambore. Transfer (approx. 4hrs) to Jaipur airport and board flight to Delhi. OPTIONAL day use of hotel before your fly home.