Therabu goes to Asia

[Therabu]

I'm in the phase of planning a long trip 6 to 7 months in Asia that will start in December 2024. Current plan is to visit only 2 countries but not the least: India and Indonesia.

I will travel with my girlfriend and we will not look only for wildlife but for sure that will be one of the priorities for me. I intend to visit following areas :
- Ladakh (snow leopards?)
- Uttarakhand (Himalayan wildlife)
- Gujarat (Asiatic lion, blackbuck, striped hyaena and wild ass)
- Sikkim (red panda and birdlife)
- Assam ( rhino, buffalo, langurs and gibbons)
- Nilgiri mountains (thar, langur, lion-tailed macaque and main Indian fauna members like tigers, gaurs and elephants)

On Indonesia, it will be mainly Java, Sulawesi and Flores for sure. Other regions might be added but not sure yet.

Now we all knows that wildlife tours are not the cheapest, even when organised locally and by yourself. So better be a small group to spread fixed cost. The whole organisation of the trip is still flexible somehow so if anyone would be interested to visit one particular area with wildlife focus, I would be glad to discuss and share plans in the hope of finding opportunities to travel together in 2025.

Looking forward to hear from you!

 

[Therabu]

A bit of update on travel plans as things are getting more precise :
- birding week in Himalayan foothills of Uttarakhand (last week of december)
- first week of February will be in Sikkim looking for red panda and other wildlife of the rhododendron cloud forest
- straight after, for 2 weekds, will be spent in Assam, looking for Indian megafauna and primates (gibbon, golden and capped langurs, 4 to 5 species of macaques...) and the birds of grasslands
- first week of march will be in Ladakh, in rustic homestays, looking for snow leopard and other mountain wildlife
- 2 first weeks of April will be dedicated to Nilgiri region, going from Mysore to Thattekad bird sanctuary and spending time in Ooty area, Valaparai (thar and lion-tailed macaque) and Munnar. We will finish our stay in India with the Thrissur Pooram, a cultural experience that would impress more than one zoochater I'm sure !(check it online as an image often works better than a thousant words)

After that, I will head of to Sabah in Malaysia, to join a couple of friends and discover the Bornean rainforest for 15 days.
Finally, I aim to go to Indonesia and visit Java, Flores/Komodo and Sulawesi without a specific order identified yet.

Any advice from zoochaters who have been to those areas ?
Anyone interested to join one part of the trip ? Fixed cost makes travelling alone or just 2 expensive for wildlife so we're happy to join forces. So parts of the plan are still flexible so please do not hesitate to reach out even if it does not match perfectly with your constraints.