Cut off from the world, the hours and days were filled with sights and experiences. Birds, inclement weather and elusive mammal sightings made this trip to Pangot memorable. It was digital detox royale! Continue reading Trip Report – In Pangot, a feast of Himalayan birding… and then some
Hailing from a family known as the ‘beautiful squirrels’, the Hoary-bellied Squirrel is handsome enough despite the plainness of its coat. To see this mammal in the wild, head for the forests of northeast India Continue reading Encounter – Hoary-bellied Squirrel
Back to Kullu — and woeful civilization — after a half-done but nonetheless fulfilling trek in the Great Himalayan National Park. And, with that, we conclude this series by Sandeep Somasekharan. Continue reading GHNP Trek Day 7-9 – Lapa-Neuli-Kullu and civilization
On Day 6 of our Great Himalayan National Park Trek we detour to Lapa from Dhel Thatch, making a slippery and treacherous descent Continue reading GHNP Trek Day 6 – Descent or plummet to Lapa?
Our Great Himalayan National Park trek plan gets altered, as the path to Ghumtarao is snowed out. We end up doing local excursions at Dhel Thatch on day four and five, trying to spot some wildlife, and enjoying the fauna and the Himalayan sun. Continue reading GHNP Trek Days 4-5 – Exploring Dhel and foiled plans
Day 3 of our Great Himalayan National Park trek takes us from Humkhani to Dhel Thatch (3500 m) – 7 km and 1400 m to climb. Sandeep Somasekharan continues with Part 4 of the travelogue Continue reading GHNP Trek Day 3: To Dhel, and the layers unravel
Once we are across the bridge, it feels as if behind us a huge wall of forest has grown, shutting us out completely. It is silent, dark and mysterious. Day 2 of our Great Himalayan National Park trek, recounted by Sandeep Somasekharan Continue reading GHNP Trek Day 2: Beyond the bridge, the wilderness
Day 1 was an ‘acclimatizer’. Ha. Acclimating is an oxymoron. Ask those who laboured up the slopes from Neuli to Shakti and ended up painfully breathless by the end of the day. Part 2 of Sandeep Somasekharan’s report of The Green Ogre trek to the Great Himalayan National Park in 2012 Continue reading GHNP Trek – Day 1: An oxymoron called acclimating
Even birders rarely felicitate bulbuls with a second glance, worse if they are Red-whiskered or Red-vented Bulbuls. But when we head up to the hills, the sight of the Himalayan Bulbul is a joy to us. For it means we are in the hills, and there’s a bounty of birdlife waiting to be discovered. Continue reading Encounter – Himalayan Bulbul
Warming up for our trek to the Great Himalayan National Park, the Ogres spend time in Delhi, waiting impatiently to get there. Part 1 of a new series by Sandeep Somasekharan Continue reading Great Himalayan National Park Trek – Day Zero – Warming up
The first time I came upon ‘chough’ I thought it was a dictionary entry for an act of expectoration by one with a North Indian surname. It would be a few years before I got the hang of what it was really – a kind of crow Continue reading Chuffed by a chough
For many years, the Spotted Forktail was just an apparition in a dream. Now, happily twitched off the list, it is one of my favourite Himalayan birds. Continue reading Encounter – The Spotted Forktail