West Bengal & Sikkim

This time it was West Bengal & Sikkim. One more section of the Great Himalayas. We could see the Kanchanjungha Peak (Highest peak inside India) most of the time as we tried to shoot the score and twenty small birds in the area. From the 4th to the 11th of December we were shooting in this area from 8000 ft up to 600 ft down. It was a fast paced trip to really call it a photography trip as we stayed in five different resorts in seven nights!,.. but we did manage some good images as there were plenty of birds all along! A great exploratory trip for me.

Sumit Sen from Kolkata initiated this trip (Thanks Sumit!) Sudhir, Ramki, Swarna, Murali, Giri and myself went from Bangalore. We all met up with Sumit at Baghdogra Airport , Siliguri, a short flight from Kolkata. We could see the “Everest” as we flew ! Raj from Help tourism met us at the airport and was with us until the 11th when we came back to the airport after some great birding! Raj was a great asset all the way! We traveled all the 8 days in two jeeps.

On the 4th we reached Hotel Mount Pandim, Pemayangtse, West Sikkim. A superb place for birding. For most of us from the south, almost every bird species we saw was new.

On the 6th we reached the Bliss Resort, Biksthang, Mangalbarey, West Sikkim Just one night here and we were off to Kalimpomg.

The 7th night we spent at Hotel Silver Oaks, Kalimpong. Nice small town. Some shopping.

We then spent a night (8th) at the Rishyap Tourist Centre, Village:Rishyap.Kalimpong Sub-division. This was high and cold! About 3 degrees I am told.

9th and 10th night we decended to the Garumara Jungle Camp, Village:Mangalbari P.O:Chalsa , District:Jalpaiguri . My first Rihno and first local folk dance!

On the 11th night we were back home!

Well, what can I say, between the lack of sunlight (50-50) and the hectic (almost everyday) traveling , bird photography was quite challenging. Our team recorded close to 200 species of birds and as four of us were shooting we would have about 50 good images between us I guess. Please do visit www.kolkatabirds.com and www.thejunglelook.com for more on this trip.

If you ever want to go to the east, please do contact Asit Biswas of www.helptourism.com .

I was able to manage the following images for your viewing pleasure (while Giri managed to record the calls of a few birds)… Vijay Cavale December, 2004