SK will meet you at the arrivals terminal at Kochi airport (most flights arrive in the morning) and introduce you to your driver for the tour. You will then all drive from the coastal lowlands area through the heavily cultivated midlands, up to the rubber plantations at Thattekad. Here you check into your hotel for two nights. Wherever possible this will be the Windermere River House, a comfortable colonial style property on the banks of the River Periyar. You will spend the afternoon birding around the hotel before being served dinner overlooking the river.

We will have an early morning  breakfast and then drive to Urulanthanni. Today we are looking for endemic birds of the Western Ghats. We head back to the hotel for lunch followed by an afternoon visit to the birding hotspot at the Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, the only tropical bird sanctuary in India. It spreads across an area of more than 25 sq km, is a biodiversity hotspot and home to more than 280 species of birds including several Western Ghats endemics. 

Target species include the Sri Lankan Frogmouth, Racket Tailed Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, White-bellied Treepie, Shama, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Rufous Babbler, Malabar Parakeet, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher and the Malabar Grey Hornbill.

The area also boasts over 28 mammal species and 9 species of reptiles.

After dinner at the hotel, we will go back to the sanctuary to search for Nightjar, Spot Bellied Eagle Owl, Mottled Wood Owl  and a mammal, the Slender Loris (Loris tardigradus malabaricus)

Another early morning start will see us birding around the hotel before breakfast. We will then drive to the Windermere Estate just outside Munnar and check in.

Munnar is a former colonial  hill station, which sits 1600m above sea level. The surrounding area is famous for its tea, coffee and spice plantations and this increasingly fragile montane eco-system is being nurtured within several national parks.

We will spend the afternoon and early evening exploring the 60 acres immediately surrounding the hotel. Sightings may include Blue-breasted quail, white-throated kingfisher, banded bay cuckoo, Malabar parakeet, Indian swiftlet, oriental scops owl, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon and rufous treepie. 

Dinner will be at your hotel.

After an early breakfast, we drive to Eravikulam National Park to look for White-bellied bush robin, Nilgiri pipit, painted bush quail, Palani laughing thrush, and black and orange flycatcher. You may also catch a glimpse of one of the 780-strong population of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr that live in the park. ***** Please note that the park is usually closed to visitors between February and April each year to allow the Nilgiri Tahr to calf without being disturbed. If you book the tour during this period we will discuss an alternative morning activity.

For lunch we head into Munnar Town and this gives us an opportunity to visit the Tea Museum or explore the town, including the colourful vegetable market.

Our evening birding will be around the highland area of Pothemadu where we’ll also take in sweeping views of the tea gardens, and coffee and cardamom plantations

Dinner is back at the hotel.

Today we take a leisurely drive from Munnar to Thekaddy with plenty of birding stops on route. We will arrive in time for lunch at our home for the next two nights, the Aranya Nivas, the only premium hotel situated within Periyar National Park. 

Periyar has produced more than 345 recorded species. Some of the 23 endemic species you might see on your stay here include White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Nilgiri Verditer Flycatcher, Western Ghats Shortwing, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Malabar Barbet and Malabar Grey hornbill

Periyar is also a prime habitat for tiger, elephant, wild boar and sambar.

Our evening birding will focus on the area immediately surrounding the hotel. Lunch and Dinner at our hotel.

This morning we grab a swift cup of tea and head to the jetty for 7.30am to join a 1.5 hrs boat safari on Periyar Lake. A herd of elephants or a group of sambar deer are common sights near the lake. You may be able to spot herds of Gaur and wild boars in the grasslands adjacent to the shores. A variety of avian fauna such as darters, egrets and kingfishers can be seen resting on dead tree trunks that stick out over the lake. During your boat ride, there is also a high probability of observing the antics of the Smooth Indian Otter. 

Back for a late breakfast and the rest day will be spent around the hotel or on treks in the park. One option may be a half day trek offering an excellent opportunity to watch birds, butterflies and other wildlife through a range of habitats. Alternatively, you may choose to try a night trek to look for some of the park’s more elusive species with the help of one of the rangers.

Target species today include Malabar trogon, white-bellied treepie, white-bellied woodpecker, heart-spotted woodpecker, jungle babbler, yellow browned bulbul, white-bellied blue flycatcher and Asian paradise flycatcher                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

We leave the hotel after breakfast and drive to Kerala’s Backwaters. At Alleppey we board our traditional houseboat for a day and overnight cruise. We will be principally on the look out for waders around the paddy fields that border the extensive canal network.

Our cruise can include a stop at Pathiramanal, 13 km from Alleppey. This small island on the backwaters is a safe haven for hundreds of rare migrating birds. Surrounded by the Vembanad Lake, stretching from Alleppey to Kochi and the Kayamkulam Lake, Pathiramanal is accessible only by boat. It is an ideal pit stop in the middle of a houseboat ride.

The name ‘Pathiramanal’ means ‘Sands of Night’. Estimates say that the area has 91 local species of birds and 50 migratory birds. You are likely to spot Pintail Ducks, Common Teal, Night Heron, Cormorant, Darter, Indian Shag, Purple Heron, Cattle Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Little Egret, Bronze-winged Jacanas, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Whistling Duck, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Little Cormorant and Whiskered Tern.

The boat will moor up for the night at 5.00pm, giving you a chance to stretch your legs before dinner. You can finish the day by relaxing on deck and then retire to your air conditioned cabin for the night.

Target species for today are painted stork, open billed stork, grey headed lapwing, red wattled lapwing, plovers, sandpipers and cormorants

We start cruising again at 7.30am and enjoy breakfast on the move. The boat returns to Allepey at 9.30am and we meet our driver for the short drive to Marari Beach. Lunch and dinner will be at the hotel and you have a free afternoon to relax or explore the local area and watch the fishermen haul their nets in on the beach.

Today we head north back to Fort Kochi. We check into our hotel and spend the day exploring the historic streets of the former Portuguese, then Dutch, then British colony. We’ll include visits to the Chinese fishing nets, the Paradesi Synagogue, Mattancherry Palace, St Francis Church (India’s oldest European church) and top the day off with an evening sunset cruise or by watching a traditional Keralan Kathakali dance performance with its elaborate make up, bright costumes and intricate hand, body, facial and eye movements. 

Lunch and dinner today can either be at the hotel or at one of the many excellent restaurants nearby.

The tour finishes after breakfast. We will arrange transport back to the airport. If you have a late flight we can also organise access to a day room and storage for your luggage so that you can make the most of your final day in Kerala.