Dehradun, Rajaji, 14-181124: deponti

deponti

Dehradun, Rajaji, 14-181124

Nov 18, 2024 22:39

Fixed up with Dilip Gupta of Avian Trips. Cost Rs.21K + Rs 2K extra for food and tips. Paid Rs.10K as advance and the rest on 191124 after the trip.

One Innova, one Dezire. On safaris, Deepjoyti, Damini and I on one jeep with either Dilip or Veeru /Sukhbeer(our guide), the others in the other jeep..

We reached Ganeshpur, Tanwar GH, about 2 hours journey, at about 7pm but waited for others for a while so finally we ate dinner at 8.30pm. The others arrived only after 9pm.

Participants (6)

Damini (51), Deepjyoti (Retd, lost his wife to cancer, daughter lives in Ranchi, no g'children, Rajarhat,Kolkata) Hari Gopalakrishnan (Company Secy.Mumbai) Lawrence K C(Electrical Engineer with Kerala Elec Bd, Kochi), Saurabh Kalia (Gastro surgeon,Jaipur). Damini, no camera, I had bridge camera, all the others had DSLRs and big lenses, Deepjyoti's was the biggest of the lot (probably 800 mm).

Drivers: From Dehradun, Kamlesh. On Chilla range, Talib. Sukhbeer (Beeru) was our guide, excellent.

Required list by Dilip:

ELECTRONICS & ACCESSORIES

1) Extra Camera Battery (Must)

2) Extra Memory Card (Must)

3) Laptop and HD for daily image Backups (Must)

4) Torch with extra battery

5) Spikeguard (Multiple socket points) (Must)

6) Extra Camera and lens (If you have one)

7) Binocular (Optional)

MISCELLANEOUS THINGS

1) Medicines

2) Slippers/sandals

3) Flask for hot water

4) Baby Wipes

GARMENTS FOR THE TRIP

1) Full Thermal Wear (1 qty) (I did not need it)

2) Fleece (I did not need it)

3) Gloves (my cotton top covering my hands with thumb opening was enough)

4) Monkey Cap or hat which covers the ear (I did not need 3 and 4 as my hooded top that covers my hands was sufficient)

5) Face mask (if you do not have the monkey cap) (Did not need it)

6) Winter Jackets (for 5 deg) (My raincoat/jacket was enough)

7) Winter Socks (2 qty) + normal socks (2 qty) (my normal socks were enough)

8) Trekking Shoes (Which have good grip) (my regular birding shoes were enough, we were in the car almost all the time as we were on safari)

9) Bedsheet. (Require at the Coffee house) (I always carry my own cotton bedsheet, it was enough. The bedlinen and blankets at both places was adequate. At Tanwar we got small bath towels, at Rajaji Retreat we got larger towels, hand towels, soap.)

We did not require room heaters at either place.

IMPORTANT POINTS & RULES

1) Wear dark and dull color clothes. DO NOT WEAR BRIGHT COLOR DRESS

2) Do not wear or carry any Jewellery and other expensive items.

3) Do not litter anything inside/outside the park/Jungle.

4) Speak softly in the jungle.

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PRECAUTIONS IN VERY COLD AREAS

Do cover your ears, and head all the time.

️ Drink water regularly.

️ Carry some protein bars / Dry fruits / Chocolates

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Photography:

1. Be well-versed with all the settings and shortcuts of your camera and its equipment. This will help us in controlling the setting while we are seeing through the viewfinder. We all know how important the timing is to get that perfect shot.

2. Enable the back focus button on your camera and practice it properly to get a hang of it.

3. Do make sure that you carry your lens hood. This will keep light from falling across the lens and causing unwanted flairs and a washed-out, low-contrast look.

4. Do not use any filter as it reduces the sharpness and focus of your pic.

5. Don’t get excited when you see a bird for the first time. You should focus on getting your click post which you can let others know.

6. Do not cross over or block the view of other people in the group. Always make sure that we stay with the guide and the tour leader. The reason they are around is coz they are well-versed with the location and will help you in finding the birds and get the perfect shot.

7. Focus on all the Local birds. Try to avoid common birds like Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Common Myna, etc. However, if you notice something unique or different with these birds like on a good perch or something then do go for it.

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Flights: My PNR for Indigo PNR-V8M2VE

Outward: 141124: With Damini: Indigo Blr-Dehradun (direct) Indigo Flight SE 852, arr Dehradun 1705 hrs, KIAS 14 from MICO Checkpost (front gate) at 0905. Reached at 11.15am.

Return: 181124: 6E 6344/ 757,DED-CCU/CCU-BLR 1305-1505/1700-1940 hrs. KIAS 14 left at 2035 hrs, reached Gopalan Mall at 2145 hrs.

Total cost about Rs.21k (incl seat cost about 200 for each leg. 4F every time. on the way out, got a good view of the Himalaya from the window). Did not order food as airport lounge access got me good food. (I have Sapphiro credit cards Amex and Mastercard and World Debit Card. I did not use the last one. My DreamFolks card was not valid)

Lounge and Credit Cards:

At Bangalore, sed the BLRlounge (Master Card). 080 Lounge uses Amex, I did not go there. Good food,

Used the lounge at Dehradun (no signage, I had to take the lift or stairs), used Mastercard for myself, Amex for Deepjyoti.

Used lounge at Kolkata. No signage again, found the place on 2nd floor after asking. Travel Lounge said my Amex is full and it doesn't use Mastercard. Went to the second lounge and used MasterCard. Everywhere I was told that DreamFolks card is only for international travel.

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Stay:

Ganeshpur, about half hour from the Mohand Range gate:

Tanwar Guest House, Prop. Praveen Kumar Tarwar, 8375838470, Vipin Kumar Tanwar, 9582737262.

It's actually started as a hostel for students, who are now put up in the 9 new rooms upstairs. There are 9 rooms downstairs. We were given the room next to the kitchen. The bathroom" Western W/C, Quite clean. However, the drain was near the door and water stagnated, so we had to keep cleaning after our baths.

The kitchen works like a home kitchen, only 2 gas burners, food took a long time to be ready. Brefus, eggs, poha, paratha, dahi, sabji. We had brunch each day around 11.30am after returning from the safari and some people had dal/chawal at 12.30pm. Dinner was very late the first day and by 7.30pm the next day. No non-veg as far as I could see.(I didn't eat eggs either)

Haridwar, about half an hour from the Chilla Range gate, Rajaji Retreat. All rooms on ground floor with a lawn in front. Quite clean. Had to ask for hand towels, and an extra bath towel. Toilet tissue provided on request. Our room (104) did not have any water from 4.30am on the second (18/11) morning, it started after I woke up one of the staff at 6am. Drainage once again needed the floor cleaner to be used. \

Veg food, parathas, poha, dahi, dal.sabji. Well made.

Enough plug points at both places, but having a power strip was necessary.

Good wifi at both places.

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Dust and access for safaris

Very dusty, Chilla range (more for mammals and big cats) is even more dusty than Mohand. 151124 morn and even, and 1611 morn, Mohand range. 171124, morn and eve, Chilla range We never did the Jhilmil range (more for birding)at all. It is 30 km from Rajaji Retreat.We should have done Jhilmil range on 171124 morning and Chilla range in the evening, We decided against Jhilmil range on 171124 eve as it is further (returning in an open jeep in the cold after darkness) and evening birding would not be as good as morning birding. We should have done Jhilmil range on 171124 morning and Chilla range in the evening.

We got leopard sightings at Mohand but no big cat sightings at Chilla in spite of going there twice.

Other sightings were good.

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iNat:

151124, Mohand Range, Rajaji TR:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-11-15&subview=map&user_id=deemopahan

161124, Mohand Range, Rajaji TR

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-11-16&subview=map&user_id=deemopahan

171124, Rajaji, Chilla range:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-11-17&subview=map&user_id=deemopahan

181124, around Rajaji Retreat

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-11-18&subview=map&user_id=deemopahan

Flickr:

141124, from Blr to DD and to Rajaji

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720321936967/ (10 photos)

151124 morn

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720322010398/ (83 photos)

151124 eve

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720321997492 (93 photos) Leopard

161124 morn

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720322063753/

161124 eve

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720322069512/

171124 morn (Haridwar, Chilla range)

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720322072920/

171124 eve

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720322071911

181124 morn and flight back to Bl

https://flickr.com/photos/86494503@N00/albums/72177720322090424

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eBird: 15th and 16th, Mohand Range of Rajaji TR

151124, morning

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202515526 (33 sp)

151124 eve

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202531404 (39 sp) (Dilip)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202553743 (31 sp)

161124 morn

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202612857 (39 sp)

161124 eve

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202636002 (48 sp) (Burmese Python)

171124 morn

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202738616 (35 sp) (Dilip)

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202743048 (33 sp)

171124 eve

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202758840 (79 sp)

181124, around Rajaji Retreat:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S202868980 (34 sp)

Shared all with pinkoriole, some with dilipgupta

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Videos

151124 morn

0058 Male Plum-headed Parakeet