New Delhi – Diu – Gir – Ahmedabad – Bera – Jaipur – Ranthambhore – New Delhi (13 night and 14 days), and Snow Leopard Extension of 9 nights / 10 days
Early morning transfer to the domestic airport and check in for the flight leaving at 05:50 am, arrives Rajkot at 0720hrs. Drive to Sasan Gir, 120kms, 3 hours. Arrive in Gir. Lunch and proceed for a safari to the national park. Overnight at the resort in Gir.
Morning game drive to the national park and after breakfast drive to Ahmedabad 330 kms / 6-7 hrs drive. On arrival check into the hotel. Overnight at Ahmedabad.
Morning after breakfast drive to Ranthambhore National Park. Lunch and afternoon game drive to The National Park. Dinner and overnight at Resort.
About Ranthambore: A road to the wild and a door to heaven. The land of Bengal tiger, Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan is spread over 392 sq km, bordered by rocks and ridges. The park is famous for the Wildlife Sanctuary by the same name where one can experience the rendezvous of wildlife, history and nature. At the centre of the park is the 10th-century Ranthambore Fort, and scattered nearby are ancient temples and mosques. The lakes are filled with crocodiles and aged huge turtles.
Upon Arrival at Leh Airport you are met and transferred to your hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure to acclimatize to the high altitude and rarefied air. Leh is at 11400 feet and the flight up from the plains means that you have to acclimatize gently without pushing yourself. The 2 ½ days scheduled here is the minimum required as you will be going to a higher altitude and will be doing a fair amount of walking. At some point over the next few days in Leh, meet with staff from the Snow Leopard Conservancy for a briefing on the history of snow leopard conservation in Ladakh with insight given into the current threats to snow leopards and the strategy adopted to combat these threats
The Grand Dragon is the perfect candidate for everyone setting foot for the first time into Ladakh, both in terms of the comforts necessary to acclimatize to the altitude of Ladakh and also in lieu of its central location in the capitol of Leh. Established in the year 2007, The Grand Dragon Ladakh, one of the first luxury hotels in Ladakh, is owned and operated by the Abdu family from Leh, who have more than 40 years of experience welcoming visitors to the beautiful region. It is decorated magnificently with handmade paintings by Gulam Mustafa (First modern Artist of Ladakh) around every corner, and fixtures that are reminiscent of royalty.
Overnight at the Hotel. Full Board
Early morning transfer to the domestic airport and check in for the flight leaving at 05:50 am, arrives Rajkot at 0720hrs. Drive to Sasan Gir, 120kms, 3 hours. Arrive in Gir. Lunch and proceed for a safari to the national park. Overnight at the resort in Gir.
Drive west today on the road to Kargil and Srinagar, generally following the Indus River. You pass through the small town of Nimmu – one of the most important in Ladakh, where the Zanskar river meets the Indus. After a little over an hour you head north on a road marked to Likir – one of Ladakh’s famous Buddhist monasteries.
This is all snow leopard country. The landscape here is even bigger, more expansive and open, until you turn off onto a dirt road, winding up a narrow valley, following a stream called the Ulley Chhu. Smaller valleys intersect and the guides have their heads craned all the time, scanning the hill sides and the skyline for any silhouette. This is excellent Ibex country and there are few more evocative sights than a magnificently horned male Ibex standing vigil on some impossibly narrow outcropping, a few thousand feet over a plunging cliff. Ulley village, west of Leh is an area that is only recently being developed for Snow Leopard watching.
06 nights – Snow Leopard Lodge. Full Board.
You will be staying in our home stay – which apart from being more comfortable than camping out in sub-zero temperatures – puts money directly into local hands and strengthens the constituency of the snow leopard. This will be your base for the next week. The home stay consists of 2 bedrooms, built separately from the main house with a dining room and kitchen – all in the same low stone built building. For our clients, we bring in our own cook and camp staff with an assortment of important luxuries like extra gas heaters, warm shower (and bathroom!), long drop toilet but with a comfortable thunder box, comfortable mattresses, linen, an assortment of coffees, teas, snacks etc that go a long way to alleviate the cold and the altitude.
Add to this the interest of living with a Ladakhi family in the depths of winter and understanding their lifestyle and you have a very special experience in store – especially sharing the large and warm kitchens that are the heart of a Ladkahi home in winter and resplendent with brass, copper and silver ornaments. From the house and its terraced fields you command a superb view across the valley and are almost certain to see Ibex from here and if you are lucky much other wildlife including wolf, Himalayan fox and perhaps even snow leopard.