I recently ticked off two of my bucket list items when I travelled to magical India on a Nature Travel safari. I saw both the world’s tallest flying bird and the world’s highest mountain range in one trip!
The Sarus Crane (Antigone Antigone) is at 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) the world’s tallest flying bird, and was a main contender for title of India’s national bird, eventually losing out to the Indian Peafowl. It is an elegant bird with mainly white-grey colouring and a bright red head, throat and upper neck. It is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is considered sacred by Indian people. It was a magical experience seeing these birds in their natural swampy habitat in Uttar Pradesh, foraging for reptiles and plant matter. It was easy to see why the Sarus Crane is on most lists of India’s most beautiful birds.
Just a day later I was standing next to the road in the small town of Pangot, awestruck as the snow-capped Himalayas loomed large in front of me. The Himalayas include over fifty mountains exceeding 7,200 metres (23,600 ft) in elevation! They are inhabited by over 50 million people and are spread across five countries, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan plateau. The mountains are considered sacred by many religions in the area, and has had a profound effect on the cultures of the Indian subcontinent. The sheer majesty of this vast natural wonder was astonishing, and I just stood there for an hour trying to take it all in…
These two magical experiences were made possible by the team of the Nature Travel group, and can be enjoyed on one of their Nature Travel Birding or Nature Travel Expeditions trips to the diverse country of India.
Written by : Nature Travel Birding client
Two remarkable feats of nature! Sounds like a wonderful trip!