Arunachal Pradesh Namdapha National Park

Arunachal Pradesh

Namdapha National Park is one of the most amazing places I have visited.

Arunachal's borders are hard to define. The northern border with China is disputed - they claim this area as South Tibet, Bhutan touches on the west, south is Assam, there is a tiny corner with Nagaland and the southeast border with Myanmar. There is a funny bend like a leg sticking out that puts Myanmar closest to Namdapha National Park.

Miao was an easy 3.5 hours drive from the airport at Dibrugarh along a fairly good road. In the beginning, it is a tea highway through Assam and very green. 

Then there is a change in scenery after the border with Arunachal Pradesh. Less tea and mostly rice but not just one type there are multiple types - some red rice, long rice, short rice, early rice, and late rice. This gave such color and depth to the fields it was beautiful to see.

Arriving in Miao there are some pleasant cottages on the Maithong River, called Namdapha Jungle Camp. From the cottages, it is easy to walk to the river and watch everyday life and festivals.

On a side trip into the Miao community forest along a stream, I found lots of dragonflies.

Lamelligomphus sp. above (maybe something new!) below Neurobasis chinensis a common river-dwelling damselfly.

Then Euphaea ochracea an orange winged damselfly also on the riverbanks.

Beautiful Heliocypha perforata enjoys a good battle with other males giving off a flash of its wing during the fight. 

A small boy was playing next to the water where they were getting ready for the festival.

The Sun God festival was going on while we were there. A statue with charging "my little pony" type horses was placed next to the river for an early morning Puja - people came to worship at sunrise.

Dining at a friend's house was the highlight of local cuisine.

Bamboo was filled with soaked glutenous rice then roasted on fire in the kitchen. After the bamboo was scraped with a sharp knife it was peeled open like a banana - we dipped the steamed rice in fresh honey from the forest.

A trip to the local museum in Miao was educational on flora and fauna, but they really need more space so they can properly show the collection. Many photos are in need of a reprint. 

The road to Namdapha Park had scenic views overlooking the villages below where rice and buckwheat were growing. The road was not in good condition and it took about 1.5 hours to drive from Miao to Deban.

 The white fields are buckwheat. This was a village near Deban.

An interesting sign before the entrance gate.

In the early evening light from the Deban Forest Guest House, we looked down on the river and the newly made bridge that is used across the river and get into the park. The clouds were building up and there was definitely a storm moving in from the Bay of Bengal - otherwise, we would have seen mountains from this point.

On one small hill in front of the guest house, there is a viewpoint where a good sunset photo can be taken of the river and the surrounding area.

The Forest Guest House condition is pitiful - totally neglected. The staff does their best to keep it clean and usable but it is not a great place to stay.

Happy to leave the guest house behind for a tent we crossed the bridge in the morning. The bridge was well built and not difficult to use.

Shortly after climbing the bamboo ladder into the jungle, we sighted Hoolock Gibbons in the trees. Our guide made a few noises and that brought them down a bit so I could get a photo. I managed to get shots of both a male and a female.

The Sultan Tit is a lovely bird that seems to be the leader of feeding flocks. As soon as we saw the Sultan more birds soon followed.

Our guide, Vicky, was very good at sighting the birds and knew their calls. He had a wonderful speaker device that he could plug into his phone and play songs back to the birds after recording them. 

Common Maplet butterfly was on a stone off the path.

It was a 10km walk to the campground but not a very difficult walk. We stopped often for photos and to look for birds. We walked for about 5 hours including a lunch stop and birding.

At the camp area called Hornbill Hill, we found another large group was coming in from another direction with elephants bringing in their supplies.

Unloading the elephants and setting up tents was surprisingly fast. As soon as the camp was set up the sky unloaded - we had rain for about 2 hours. Anyway, it was nice to rest in the tent for a while.

We walked up toward Firm Base Camp in the morning but still the rain from a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was there and we were not seeing much. So we headed back passing through our Hornbill camp to return to Deban. The path is narrow with large bamboo hanging over the trail.

The jungle is fairly thick and it is hard to see the birds. The recordings help to bring them out.

A White-crowned Forktail was in the middle of the trail and easier to photograph than the tree-dwelling birds.

A black Bat flower was very flashy - in full bloom.

On the way out it was back down the bamboo ladder - easier to go up than to come down.

 Then again crossing the bridge to the Forestry Guest House that is in the background.

The view from the other side of the river looking to the sunset viewpoint in front of the Deban Forestry Guest House.

As we drove out we passed a woman carrying her rice harvest in a lovely new basket or doko.

The exit gate - Thanks for a wonderful visit and please fix the guest house!