Namaste!

When we started planning our trip to Nepal and we came upon Nepal Birding Holidays little did we know that we struck gold and we’re about to have one of the best wildlife experience we ever had. As a small team of three professional biologist from Romania (one ornithologist and two botanists) our main goal was to see as many species and habitats as possible in one month, with the help of a local experienced guide (although we are well-traveled, this was for all of us the first time in Asia). Already, at this point, Prem amazed us by skillfully tailoring a personalized trip for us, best suited for our needs and financial possibilities. All along as we went through the different phases of the trip (from the Annapurna region to the Terai) we felt the blessings of the impeccable logistics provided by Prem and his colleagues. Basically, we could just focus on birds&plants, instead of worrying about technicalities. And then there was Bishnu (Raj), our designated guide, who proved to be one of the best birder and guide we have ever met. He was obviously extremely well-versed regarding the natural richness of Nepal and his knowledge extended well beyond basic bird-twitching as his observation regarding other fauna and also habitats were amazingly accurate and truly helpful in our endeavour to explore the wild side of Nepal. Not only that, but he turned out to be a very likable guy: besides showing a heroic amount of patience toward our approach to exploring nature (basically we tend to walk slowly and stop a lot for plants&other creatures, as biologist do) we instantly connected through our shared taste for fun and witty humor. Things kept getting better (and our species list growing bigger every day) as we moved from the mountain to the Terai region. If you want to experience the thrills of exploring the jungle on foot, Bardiya National Park is definitely the place to visit. Right at the edge of the National Park was Samsara Safari Camp, our base for the next unbelievable 8 days. The camp is quite perfectly suited in every sense for someone who loves nature: you have all the basic facilities, a wonderful catering and service from the staff (amazing food!) and all this in a very nature-friendly way. Just while relaxing and having a masala tea in the astonishing garden you can enjoy watching a lot of bird species fluttering about, not to mention the Gorkha beers you can enjoy in the tropical evenings :). And there was our local guide from Bardiya, Santa. We suspect he has some kind of black magic skills as he was able to locate everything we expressed a desire for, let it be a rare bird species or snakes. He also turned out to be a wonderful person to have a jolly good time with. Not only we added more than 300 bird species to our lists (and many more plants and other creatures, big and small) but even more importantly we found some new good friends in the person of Bishnu, Santa and Prem, who showed us just how wonderful the people of Nepal really are. After so much fun&thrills in just a short month we sincerely recommend to anyone (and especially biologists) keen on discovering the wonders of Nepalese nature and culture to choose Nepal Birding Holidays, Samsara Safari Camp and the company of expert guides&gentlemen Bishnu and Santa, as you will definitely not regret it! You can be rest assured that beautiful moments lay ahead for you.

Anna, Judit & Mátis, Romania, 2016


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