Choosing The Best Lodges For India & Sri Lanka

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Tara

Yesterday, I showed you how I put together an itinerary for a birding adventure in southern India & Sri Lanka. Today, I will show you how I chose the accommodation in each place. In all cases (except Bangalore) I was prioritizing lodges that were located in birdy locations as I love being able to sit on a deck and watch birds any time of day! Oh yeah, and we were on a tight budget being a somewhat impromptu trip!

I will be doing detailed reviews with photos on each individual lodge in subsequent posts.

BANGALORE

The first night, we would be arriving around midnight and getting a bus to Coorg early the next morning. Bangalore has horrible traffic jams so I wanted to stay as close as possible to the Mysore Satellite Bus Stand. I used a Google map to zoom in on the bus stand and found the Transit Hotel Mysore Road right across the street. I Googled the name, saw it bookable on Agoda (unfortunately not on Pointshound) and booked an AC room for a whopping $12!

COORG

On a previous visit, I had accompanied some friends to the wonderful SAI Sanctuary and really wanted to stay there. Unfortunately, their staff had left and they couldn’t accommodate us but they booked us at a guest house just down the road called Jungleside Homestay. We made a day visit to SAI to visit our friends and watch birds.

WAYANAD

I had no idea where to stay so I checked on Expedia since I had a $50 credit in my account. I found a nice-looking place called Grassroots Wayanad, checked the photos & reviews on Trip Advisor and decided it sounded like my kind of place. I booked it on Expedia to use the $50 credit.

MUDUMALAI

I was researching the sanctuary online and wanted to stay in their accommodation. However it seems you can only book it with their office in Ooty or at the facility and they had no email. I resorted to Google mapping the area and found the nearest town was called Gudalur. I searched Gudalur on Trip Advisor and found a place called Gouri Farm which sounded good. They weren’t on any booking sites so I emailed them and booked and they agreed to let me pay on arrival since we were there on a weekday.

BANGALORE

We would be arriving in the evening by bus and I have plenty of Club Carlson points so I booked the Park Plaza.

KITHULGALA

I read a few birding trip reports that highly recommended the Kithulgala Resthouse. I wanted to book and pay on arrival so I used Booking.com which was the only booking agency that allowed for this.

SINHARAJA

Unfortunately this visit fell on a weekend and my first & second choices (Martin’s Simple Lodge & Blue Magpie Lodge) were booked up (according to Sri Lankan travel agency Red Dot) and they tried to get me to book a place for $200 a night that looked lovely but was out of our budget. I did some researching online and stumbled across a place called Rock View Motel Kalawana which had room so I grabbed it.

Flights and accommodation booked…………………..the journey yet to begin!

India & Sri Lanka – Birding “On The Fly”

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Tara

I usually plan trips at least a year in advance and book them when the last segment I need is within the 11 month booking window. So hastily throwing together a trip to India & Sri Lanka was totally out of character for me. I had been planning to do this trip in 2015 but when US Airways announced a major rebate promo, I couldn’t resist bringing it forward!

I knew which parrots I was targeting. I never tire of seeing India’s beautiful Malabar Parakeets, Alexandrines and other psittaculas. I was also dying to see the stunning Layard’s Parakeet, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot and many other bird species.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

I had enough miles to book us in business class on Thai outbound and Singapore return. This is a Central Asian award.

Since Sri Lankan Airlines hasn’t yet joined One World (only 4500 with Avios) and Air India hasn’t yet joined Star Alliance I had to pay for a bridging flight between Bangalore (via Chennai) and Colombo. The cheapest flight was on Spice Jet which I booked on their website.

I spent a day reading reports of bird sightings and put together the itineraries for both countries based on which locations had my desired parrot species and as many other species. In India, I knew I wanted to visit Coorg, Wayanad and Mudumalai.

In Sri Lanka, I knew I wanted to visit Kithulgala & Sinharaja.

With itineraries chosen, next step was to find accommodation…………………….

My Top Twenty-Five Bird Sightings Of 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Tara

Following on from last year’s post in which I highlighted only parrot sightings, this year I have expanded to all bird species. There were just so many birds who made a major impression on me! I have also increased the number to 25 since we did 3 birding trips this year. I didn’t always get good shots so I will put my own photo when I got one. Some of them were pretty quick! They are being presented in chronological order.

1. Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) – seen at Nimbokrang & Waigeo, Indonesia; March 2013

2. Lesser Bird-of-paradise, (Paradisaea minor) – seen at Nimbokrang, Indonesia; March 2013

I couldn’t get a photo as he stayed in the trees so here’s one taken in Jurong Bird park, Singapore.

3. Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria) – seen at Nimbokrang, Indonesia; March 2013

Victoria Crowned Pigeons, Nimbokrang

4. Western or Arfak Parotia (Parotia sefilata) – seen at Siyoubring, Indonesia, March 2013 I’ll never forget this feathered Lord of the Dance trying so hard to woo 3 aloof females!

One female Western Parotia comes in for a closer look while the male shows his best moves. There were a couple other females higher up in the branches.

5. Vogelkop Bowerbird (Amblyornis inornata) – seen at Siyoubring, Indonesia, March 2013

OK lady Bowerbirds, come and check out my awesome bower!

6. Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus roratus) – seen near Nimbokrang and on Waigeo Island, Indonesia, March 2013

7. Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise, (Cicinnurus respublica) – seen on Waigeo Island, Indonesia in March 2013. This little guy played hard-to-get with the camera.

Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus respublica

8. Red Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea rubra) – seen on Waigeo Island, Indonesia , March 2013.

Red Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea rubra), Waigeo- dancing in the trees

9. Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis) – seen at Crooked Tree, Belize, Tikal, Laguna del Lagarto, Carara, Soberania, August 2013. This was the first parrot we saw after arriving in Central America so I chose him to represent all the Amazon species seen all over Central America.

Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)

10. Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) – seen at Crooked Tree, Belize, Tikal, Selva Verde, Laguna del Lagarto, Soberania, August 2013

11. Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus) – seen at Selva Verde & Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica, August 2013

12. Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata) – seen at Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica, August 2013.

13. Brown-hooded Parrot (Pyrilia haematotis) – seen at Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica, August 2013.

14. Collared Araçari (Pteroglossus torquatus) – seen at Selva Verde, Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica, Soberania. August 2013.

15. Hummingbirds (all of them) – seen at Laguna del Lagarto, Monteverde, Savegre, Soberania. There is no way I can single out one species, they are all spectacular!

16. Chestnut-coloured Woodpecker (Celeus castaneus) – seen at Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica, August 2013

17. Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) – seen at Monteverde (Curi Cancha) & Savegre. I will never forget both sightings of this stunning bird! The first one because I found him by myself and the 2nd one because there were several of them and they hung around a while so I could watch them.

18. Sulphur-winged Parakeet (Pyrrhura hoffmanni) – seen at Savegre, Costa Rica, August 2013

I haven’t started the India & Sri Lanka series yet, we only got back a few weeks ago and I have been playing catch-up. These birds will be covered first thing in the New Year. The photos are a sneak-peek!

19. Malabar Parakeet (Psittacula columboides) – seen in Coorg, India; Nov. 2013. This time there were only fleeting glimpses of a flock flying overhead so the photo is one I took in 2011 in Kerala.

20. White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) – seen at Kithulgala, Sri Lanka. Dec 2013.

21. Layard’s Parakeet (Psittacula calthropae) – seen at Kithulgala & Sinharaja, Sri Lanka. Dec 2013. They were swift flyers and refused to perch & pose.

22. Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot (Loriculus beryllinus) – seen at Kithulgala, Sri Lanka. Dec 2013. At least he posed, albeit with the sun behind him!

23. Alexandrine Parakeet – (Psittacula eupatria) – seen at Kithulgala & Sinharaja, Sri Lanka. Dec 2013.

24. Malabar Trogon (Harpactes fasciatus) – seen at Sinharaja, Sri Lanka. Dec 2013. He only let me get one shot before turning his back.

25. Sri Lanka Blue Magpie or Ceylon Magpie (Urocissa ornata) – seen at Sinharaja, Sri Lanka. Dec 2013.

I didn’t get a photo of them since they stayed in the trees so here’s one from Wikipedia.

India May Extend Visa On Arrival To More Nationalities

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Tara

After hastily throwing together a trip to India & Sri Lanka prompted by last week’s US Airways promo I have now turned my attention to the formalities. Both countries require visas of Australians, Americans, Canadians and most Europeans. A full list can be found on the new story. HT: The Wandering Aramean

I spent this morning filling out applications for me and my husband. Sri Lanka was easy. A short application that was approved less than 5 minutes after submitting it. The approval went to my spam folder but I eventually found it.

India is more difficult. This isn’t our first trip but the visas Australians get a visa valid for 6 months, double entry and there must be a gap of 2 months between entries. Our last visa issued and used in 2011 was long expired. I filled out the apps for both of us, uploaded passport photos and printed it out. India wants to know EVERYTHING about us, our parents, religion, employment, what countries we’ve been in the last 10 years – I ran out of room! Thankfully there is an Indian visa centre in Brisbane so we don’t have to mail our passports off.

So my prediction of when this new visa on arrival will happen? The day after I lodge our visa applications and pay the fee!

Too Good To Resist!

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Tara

Yesterday I blogged some fantastic deals, one of which was the US Airways 25% rebate on awards. There is a cap of 30,000 miles which is still a nice round-trip from Brisbane to Tahiti or Rarotonga or any other Pacific Island.

I have had a trip to India and Sri Lanka in the works but planned for 2015, not later this year. I spent all day yesterday and most of today scrambling to see if I could squeeze in a brief version of the 3 week trip I had planned. We just got back from Central America and needed a bit of a breather to replenish the travel budget. Miles and points don’t cover everything, we still have to pay for eco-lodges, public transport, park fees and guide fees. I was able to scale back to a 12 day trip and still get all the endemic parrot species and lots of other bird species. I spent hours reading trip reports on Surfbirds, researching bus and train routes and accommodation. We don’t have a lot of time to play with since we are planning a birding trip to Australia in Feb & March and award seats are rare during the holidays so we needed to do it before school let out in Dec. We also needed a buffer to save some more cash as many of the places we are going to don’t take credit cards. I don’t post exact dates of my trips before they happen but you can expect to read the reports during school holidays!

The target parrots I will be looking for are: Alexandrine Parakeet, Malabar Parakeet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Vernal Hanging Parrot, Emerald-collared Parakeet, Sri Lankan Hanging Parrot and the ever-present Rose-ringed Parakeet.

The reserves and sanctuaries I want to visit are: SAI Sanctuary, Wayanad National Park, Mudumalai NP, Kitugala and Sinharaja.

Yesterday, I used the United Airlines tool to identify available seats, then called US Airways to put them on hold. Today, after completing my research and “making it work”, I called them back to issue the tickets. We have Thai Airways outbound, Singapore Airlines on the return and a 16 hour layover in Singapore so we can pay a visit to Jurong Bird Park. We’re in business class too – why not when we are getting a rebate of 30,000 miles!

Tomorrow, I will resume my series on Belize, thank you for your patience!

Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala)

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Tara

The Plum-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. They are found from the foothills of the Himalayas south to Sri Lanka. They are not found in the dry regions of western India.

The photos above were taken in Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala, India. It’s very easy to get to India using airline miles. I have details in my blog post about “Getting to Central Asia using Miles“. You can also see them in Nepal in the Chitwan National Park by flying into Kathmandu.

Plumheaded Parakeet Range with red dots on Chitwan National Park and Thattekad Bird Sanctuary

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

Wikipedia

VIDEO

Sri Lankan Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger)

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Tara

The Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Sri Lankan Frogmouth or Ceylon Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger) is a small frogmouth found in the Western Ghats of south India and Sri Lanka. Related to the nightjars, they are nocturnal and are found in forest habitats. The plumage resembles that of dried leaves and the birds roost on branches, sitting still and appearing like a dry branch, making them extremely difficult to locate. They however have favourite roosts that they use regularly unless disturbed. They have a distinctive call that is usually heard at dawn and dusk. The sexes differ slightly in plumage.

Sri Lankan Frogmouth

You can see how well camouflaged they can be but luckily my guide at Thattekad knew where these two (one is behind) normally roost. They weren’t the least bit bothered about our presence.

Sri Lankan Frogmouth Range

This species is found in the Western Ghats of southwest India and Sri Lanka. Its habitat is dense tropical forest usually with dense undergrowthbut sometimes found in more disturbed habitats including plantations. Use my guide to Getting to Central Asia to plan your trip there to see them and many other birds.

This bird has very interesing brooding behaviour, I’ll let the video speak for itself!

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