Wild India with the Brahmaputra River

Travel to India, a country steeped in beauty and diverse wildlife habitats that can equal those of Africa for drama and for profuse concentrations of animals. Please contact Westgate Travel for more information or to book this trip.

Please Contact Us for Pricing and Availability -- (800) 877-3778

Summary:
Our India wildlife safari is led by expert naturalists who reveal thousands of birds, herds of grazing deer, bison, and elephants and, we hope, the elusive tiger. We invite you to join us on an adventure that will unveil an India unseen by most including a private Brahmaputra River cruise.

Dates:
November 19 - December 7, 2010

Activities:
Birding, Culture, Hiking, Natural history, Photography, Sightseeing, Wildlife viewing

Day by Day Itinerary:

• Friday, November 19 -- USA / Delhi, India
  Depart the USA on your international flight to Delhi, India.
• Saturday, November 20 -- Delhi
  Arrive in Delhi late this evening and transfer to our hotel.
• Sunday, November 21 -- Delhi
  Our full day exploration of both Old and New Delhi allows us to take in the elegant President’s House and India Gate in New Delhi before we enjoy a rickshaw ride from the imposing Jama Majzid to Old Delhi.
• Monday, November 22 -- Delhi / Khajuraho
  After breakfast we take a morning flight to Khajuraho, the once opulent capital of Chandela. This afternoon we visit the World Heritage Site complex of 1,000-year-old Hindu temples—only 20 of the original 80 remain—famous for their fabulously detailed scenes of daily life including erotic carvings.
• November 23–25 -- Khajuraho / Bandhavgarh National Park
  This morning we journey overland through scenic landscapes of forest, hills, and picturesque villages where women conduct their daily business clad in brightly colored saris. We arrive this afternoon at remote Bandhavgarh National Park. Formerly a maharajah’s private hunting preserve, the area was designated a national park in 1968 and is now famous as one of the very best places to view Indian wildlife and to seek out the rare and endangered Bengal tiger. Dinner and overnight at our jungle lodge.
  Two full days are devoted to exploring this scenically diverse park set among the Vindhya hills of Madhya Pradesh. We travel by 4 x 4 vehicles in search of birds and mammals and take elephant rides when possible to track tigers.
• Friday, November 26 -- Bandhavgarh National Park / Kanha National Park
  After breakfast an overland journey takes us across a hilly terrain, through extensive teak forests and open agricultural areas to Kanha National Park in the lush Banjar Valley. This wonderful national park, even more remote than Bandhavgarh, is often referred to as the Ngorongoro of India, although Kanha is greener and its surrounding hills are more densely wooded. Dinner and overnight at our jungle lodge.
• November 27–28 -- Kanha National Park
  e spend two days devoted to wildlife viewing in Kanha’s beautiful wild country of forests and plains—a true wilderness and the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s classic, The Jungle Book. The diverse topography provides ideal habitat for animals, and photographers discover unrivaled opportunities to “capture” the wildlife.
• Monday, November 29 -- Kanha National Park / Raipur / Kolkata
  After a last morning game drive we depart for Raipur. Driving through rural India, is to be constantly exposed to ‘incidental’ culture as we pass through villages and seemingly endless small scale farming. We board an evening flight to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). Overnight at our hotel near the airport.
• Tuesday, November 30 -- Kolkata / Guwahati / Embark RV Charaidew
  This morning we transfer to the airport for our flight to Guwahati, where we are met and driven up Nilachal Hill to see the holy Kamakhya Temple, one of the country’s most revered Shakti-worship and tantric sites. After lunch we embark on the comfortable steel-hulled riverboat, the RV Charaidew, and cruise for an hour and a half upstream to Kurua on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River.
• December 1–2 -- Cruising the Brahmaputra River Aboard the RV Charaidew
  We spend the day cruising upstream, maneuvering against strong currents, between hills rising on either side. An idyllic stop at Ganesh Pahar gives us a chance to explore a delightfully serene hinterland lying under jungle-covered slopes.
• Friday, December 3 -- Orang National Park / Kaziranga National Park
  Rising early we disembark the RV Charaidew and board a local boat to Orang National Park. We pass through the forest and grasslands of this rarely-visited park by jeep looking for birds as we go. We break our journey today with a stroll at a tea estate, then for lunch before continuing on to our lodge on the border of Kaziranga National Park, situated in the state of Assam in the far northeastern sector of India. Here we spend the next three nights.
• December 4–5 -- Kaziranga National Park
  We have two full days to explore this amazing World Heritage Sites; a 165-square-mile reserve that borders the Brahmaputra River. The country here is mostly flat— a luxuriant tangle of thorny rattan cane, elephant grass, evergreen forest, and shallow marshland.
• Monday, December 6 -- Kaziranga National Park / Guwahati / Delhi
  After breakfast depart Kaziranga for Guwahati where we will connect with our flight to Delhi. Arrive Delhi late in the afternoon where we will have day rooms at our hotel before transferring to the airport late this evening.
• Tuesday, December 7 -- Delhi / USA
  Depart Delhi on independent homeward flights.