Guest testimonials & Tour Reviews

Hi Sharad,

Apologies for taking so long to get this to you. It may be too long to put on your website – but here is my recommendation for the trip. 

Sharad Vats the owner of Nature Safari set up the entire trip for me and created a brilliant plan with the absolute best trackers and guides imaginable to see the various species of wildlife I had targeted. Here is the overview of the trip. I was using a Nikon Coolpix P1000 camera that has a 24mm – 3000mm zoom lens

1)  Assam, India with the International Rhino Foundation:

Sharad set up a visit to Assam for our Rhino Foundation group to check on the status of the growing population of greater one-horned rhinos. 

The group was joined by Bibhab Talukdar who represents the Rhino Foundation in India. We spent ten days traveling through Assam, heading east. Our guides brought us to grazing rhinos, who wandered over to our jeeps seemingly unconcerned we were photographing them. During the 10 days we saw over 100 individual rhinos including babies. 

A couple of white bellied herons were seen at Kaziranga National Park as well as one Bengal florican. We saw three species of hornbills including the macabre pied hornbill, oriental pied hornbill, and the great hornbill.  Sunbirds, owls, drongo, woodpeckers, hawks, eagles and falcons looked out across the grasslands while jungle fowl and peacocks preened in the bushes. Some of the eagles we saw include the black eagle, steppe eagles, Indian spotted eagles, changeable hawk-eagles, grey headed fish eagle, lesser fish eagle, and pallas fish-eagle. Indochinese rollers flew between trees, and black necked storks, bee eaters and kingfishers were found everywhere. 

A large family of smooth coated otters was seen playing in the river catching fish. Gaur, the giant wild cattle were seen, as well as jackal, and wild elephant that wandered through the trees. The anti-poaching teams rode elephants through the park to ensure the rhinos were protected. Even a tiger came out of the grassland to look at the jeeps. In the evening a black panther was seen sitting on a tree branch that extended over the river. 

One afternoon we drove to the Brahmaputra near Morigaon to watch the Brahmaputra River Dolphins leap across the river. Another day we traveled to Saulkuchi – Noh Para, India’s capital for spinning gold Muga silk from the Antheraea mylitta worms and weaving it into cloth. Several different species of langurs were seen, including a trip to the Manas River to see the very rare Gee’s golden langurs. These langurs came into the village to see us, and climbed down from their tree tops sitting on branches only a few feet away to look at the odd visitors who took their photos. We also saw the rare and endangered Phayre’s leaf monkey near Nagaon – Kaliabor. This was an excellent introduction to the wildlife of Assam and a wonderful trip for all of us.

From there Sharad set me up to travel to several other sites, National Parks and Sanctuaries.

2) Keoladeo Ghana National Park, in Rajasthan aka Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary: Guide Arvind Singh A+++

This is a World Heritage Site and one of the world’s most important bird breeding and feeding grounds. My tiger safari guide Arvind in Bharatpur was the absolute best guide I ever had the good fortune to meet. He is incredibly knowledgeable and knows where to go to find the rare and unusual birds! 

We spent three days traveling around the sanctuary looking at the birdlife and wildlife, including going to the new nest of the Indian Eagle owl who had two large half-grown fledglings. Arvind located several rare and unusual birds such as the white headed duck, and the ferruginous duck. We saw the Siberian and the Sarus crane alongside the black necked stork and painted stork. Several species of eagle were seen as were many species of hawks and falcons. Of the 6 species of kingfisher including the black-capped kingfisher, we saw all but the stork-billed kingfisher. All three species of parakeets were seen, as well as numerous passerine birds. 

Various sambar deer and nilgai antelope inhabit the wetlands. One of the buck chital, spotted deer, we saw had antlers we conservatively estimate to be over 44 inches. We took photos of it and although there is no way to prove the length of the antlers, we believe it is definitely longer than the existing 41 inch record for the chital. Turtles including the Indian narrow-headed soft-shell, the Asian giant soft-shell, Indian soft-shell, and species of roof and tent turtles could be seen. Bengal monitors, and water monitors moved around on the banks of the lakes. Rock pythons and several cobras and water snakes were seen.  

3) Chambal River in National Chambal Sanctuary: Guide Bachchu Singh A++++

Our next stop was spent looking at Gharial a type of fish-eating giant crocodilian and numerous other birds. The male Gharial have a large boss at the end of the snout, that resembles an earthenware pot called a ghara, thus the name Gharial. The first day out on the river we saw many of the narrow snouted female Gharial. These ranged in length from three to four + meters. Around noon of the second day as the temperatures went up, the male Gharial crawled out to sunbathe and warm their bodies. Some of the males were much longer than five meters in length, at least two of them appeared to be close to six meters. The males are much more skittish than the females and we had quietly head up river then slowly drift down past them to get good photos, peeking over the gunwale to photograph them. We managed to come within less than 50 feet of a very large male with immense boss. Mugger crocs lay on the banks and provided excellent photo opportunities. Beautiful white teeth on all the Gharial and crocs. 

There were many turtles sunbathing on the banks of the river. These included the afore mentioned roof turtles, and soft-shells, including the Indian peacock soft-shell.  

In the early morning of day two we went out to see the Indian skimmer a rare bird that inhabits the Chambal. These birds have a lower bill that extends out one-third longer than the upper bill. This is to allow the birds to skim across the water to catch fish. Black-bellied terns and river terns joined the skimmers. 

We photographed many other uncommon birds including the Egyptian vulture, white-rumped vulture, slender-billed vulture, (we believe we saw an indian vulture in the grasslands), crested-serpent eagle, Pallas’s fish-eagle, changeable hawk-eagle, tawny eagle, pallid harrier, common pochard, river tern, black-necked stork, Asian wholly-necked stork, Asian open-billed stork, Sarus crane, ferruginous duck, dunlin, and many others.  We spent the evenings looking at and filming the Indian civet cats that came down from the trees to rummage in the camp. 

4) Kanha Tiger Reserve: Guides Sonu and Virendra A+++++ These guys were unbelievable! Put me in front of the tigers every time! Every morning, over 40 jeeps lined up to get in the park, my guides were able to avoid them and find the tigers first! 

Kanha Tiger Reserve is approximately 940 square kilometers, made up of two parks in two districts. There is an additional 1067 square kilometer buffer zone around the parks. Kanha Tiger Reserve hosts populations of chital, sambar, barasingha, gaur, Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, dhole, sloth bear, Indian jackal and Bengal fox. We missed a photo of a leopard by a minute or two, and never saw the dhole. We did photograph the rare Blackbuck. 

Tigers were our first priority, but we did see many other animals and birds. We located four different tigers, a mother, and her 4 year old daughter. A young male tiger crossing a small river, and the largest male tiger in the park, named Umarpani. We had arrived earlier than most of the tourists and were at the head of the line of jeeps. Signed in and then waited for the rangers to let us in. We drove for about 40 minutes deep into the park until we came to an area where the tigers were known to come out of the forest. We circled around the area looking for the spoor then pulled up on the edge of the road to wait for the tiger to show itself. Suddenly from the right through a small ravine a female tiger walked up to our jeep. There were some twenty jeep, behind us and two in front, but because of our position next the ravine, the tiger passed right in front of our jeep. OI photographed her for about 15 minutes until she passed out of sight in the woods.

The next morning we came back out and my guides followed the spoor until we pulled up a hill, and there in front of us the daughter of the prior tiger stood watching us. We stopped and for the next 10 minutes, with no other jeeps around us, could photograph the beautiful tiger. She lay down in the roadway and posed as though the was a model. Soon after, other jeeps arrived and after a short time we moved off to look at other wildlife. In the afternoon we saw a male tiger passing across a stream, then went back to bird watching. In the morning we found the mother again and photographed her as she crossed back and forth on the roadway looking for a meal. The next day we drove across the park to the other side to find Umarpani, the largest tiger of the park. He had made a kill and was staying the vicinity so we tried to locate him. After a couple hours we saw several jeeps on the side of the roadway and we pulled up to see Umarpani sitting behind several large bushes. He eventually walked out of the bushes and although not clear of the grasses, could be photographed. 

In addition to the tigers, we saw many Gaur. They graze on the grasses next to the small lakes, and live in herds that can vanish into the forest as suddenly as they appear. The bulls of these giant cattle have massive muscularity and can stand in excess of 7 feet at the shoulder, and weigh up to 3500 pounds.   

The hard ground Barasingha deer were close to extinction., but have recovered in Kanha Park and are now a part of a successful breeding program. They feed on the water plants in the lake. The swamp deer stick their heads up to a meter underwater to eat the greens holding their breath for several minutes at a time. Their coats are thick long hair rust colored and scruffy looking. The bulls have long many tined antlers that spread out magnificently creating a giant web of antlers.   

5) Gir Forest National Park: Guides Faruk Bloch, two days. Other guides on other days. Faruk excellent Guide understand how photographers need to get in front of animals for good photos. The Gir is over 1400 square kilometers in size. It was originally the Nawab of Junagarh’s private hunting area. The Gir has the largest dry deciduous forest in India. It also has savannah, and scrubland. There are approximately 675 lion in the Gir.

Spent the arrival afternoon at the river looking at mugger crocs, and a variety of birds. Then returned to hotel for a nice dinner. Early in the morning we headed out to the office of the Park, and arrived 45 minutes before the gate opened. There were already three jeeps in line. My assistant Sharad assigned to me who traveled to the Gir, then to the Blackbuck Reserve crowded in and got my booking for the trip into the Gir.

There are two entrances to the Gir from where we stayed. One to the South and the other to the North. The first day we went to the South Gate and waited until the Park was opened. The total number of jeeps behind us was about twenty when we entered. We took the southern most dirt road and drove into the park. We As the sun began to rise and the dim light made it possible to see wildlife, we saw an old gnarled male lion feeding on a sambar deer.

Then we drove further east into the park taking photos of the birds. Took photos of the many owls, hawks, eagles, bee eaters, parrots, sunbirds, woodpeckers, and other birdlife. The owls mostly sat looking cute from their nests in the boles of the trees. The hawks and eagles were perched on the tops of the trees, and the sunbirds, bee eaters, and other birds fed on the scarlet flowers of the flame of the forest. Birds we photographed included the following: Crested serpent eagle, Bonelli’s eagle, greater spotted eagle, oriental honey buzzard, changeable hawk-eagle, brown fish owl, Indian eagle-owl, spotted owl, yellow-legged green pigeon, dove, rock bush-quail, nightjar, cuckoos, different Drongo species, Indian peafowl, brown-capped pygmy woodpecker, black-headed oriole, crested tree swift, Indian pitta plum headed parakeet, Alexandrine parakeet, rose ringed parakeet, purple sunbird, and many other birds. 

We spent two hours looking at birds, sambar deer, wild boar, chital, crocs, and jackals, then came around a bend to where more than two dozen jeeps were lined up to watch the mating of a male and female lion. We spent about 45 minutes jockeying around until we managed to get to the front of the lions where I got spectacular shots of them mating. The lion do not appear to mind the jeeps, and ignored them while the mated every few minutes. Then we drove off to find a group of female lion with their cubs. Took many photos of these. Then we returned to the hotel for lunch. 

In the afternoon, more owls, jackals, sambar, and lion. We pulled up to two female lion with their cubs. One female had two year old cubs, and the other had three six week old cubs. They all got along and played endlessly with one another. The next day we found another harem of several females with their cubs. A large male and female walked right past the door to our jeep completely unconcerned. If I reached out, I could almost pet the male on the head! Lots of photos of the lioness and cubs. The cubs were suckling and made great photos!

6) Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar, Gujarat. Guides: Amit Velavadar, and excellent driver A++++ Got me right in front of the wildlife I was photographing. Great naturalist guide and very knowledgeable. 

We headed out in the morning to see the striped hyena and blackbuck. There are 8 hyena individuals living in the park. We managed to photograph all of them. There are also 5 members of the Indian wolf pack living in the park. We were fortunate enough to photograph these too. Also photographed the Bengal fox jungle cat. In the morning we photographed many hawks and eagles including the short-toed snake eagle, booted eagle, Montegu’s harrier, pallid harrier, Amur falcon?, Kestrel, black-winged kite, eastern imperial eagle, Indian eagle-owl, spotted owlet, and others. The common crane is found here, as is the lessor flamingo, Dalmatian pelican, Eurasian spoonbill. Also got photos of the Eurasian hoopoe, sunbirds, kingfishers and many other birds.

We were very fortunate to photograph the families of striped hyena that included a female who had just given birth that night to cubs. She was looking to move them to a different den because of the wolf pack following her. The hyena were feeding on two blackbuck that had been killed by the wolf pack. Got some incredible photos of the social interaction of these two animals. We also photographed a Bengal fox that took off when the wolves got too close. The blackbuck herds moved across the grasslands in the morning and appeared to pay little attention to the wolves and hyena. 

A Bengal monitor lives in the concrete block name fixture of the Blackbuck Park, and usually comes out in the morning. Mongoose appeared by the lakes and we found a The jungle cat are quite prevalent and we saw them everywhere. They even allowed us to come within 6 meters of our jeep and photograph them. Photographed an Indian hare and a savannah nightjar that was sleeping right next to our jeep.

My driver for the majority of the trip was J.S. Mann. He was outstanding and such a pleasure to have with me. 

Sharad set up the perfect trip and I could not have asked for anything more. 

Overall it was the best and most knowledgeable guide service I have ever had. 

Thank you Sharad for setting it up!

Kind regards, 

Erik Klee