Namdapha National Park
Wreathed Hornbill - two males and two females fly above in Miao. We were going to visit Namdapha Park and only had two days with one-night camping.
This was my third trip there and it was just as special as the previous two. I love this place. If I think about one place in the world where I could live this would be heaven.
Before going to the park we had to buy a few supplies in Miao. We came across a group of young women and men that were heading to the village for the weekend. They first cross the river by boat then get into one of the jeeps that wait on the other side of the river.
Life in Miao is very slow - it has a "back-in-time" feel. But there is some development in tourism. Over the past three years, there has a marked increase in the number of small restaurants and bars built along the riverbank in Miao.
One new place even made small cabanas out over the water. I wonder how long those will last.
The ferry is how everyone travels from their homes on the opposite side of the river. Everyone goes to Miao for both buying and selling goods in the market. The bags on the motorbikes are full of vegetables for the market.
After seeing all the vegetables being brought to town we decided to visit the market and buy some food to take to the park. Some vegetables look like they are grown on "jhoom" land, or slash and burn and some from larger gardens.
We ate some of the wild banana flowers and they were so delicious.
The fish are all local river fish. They are also an amazing dish cooked over a fire skewered with a bamboo stick.
One woman was selling wild bee honey from the tree hives. She also had bamboo smoked tea - the long blacked tubes in front of her in the photo below. The honey is in the Rum bottles. We bought several bottles and now they are finished. It had an amazing flavor. The tea is not as smoky as I hoped but it makes a good cup of tea.
On to the park at Deban and load up the elephant.
We drive to Deban Forest Guesthouse first to meet our bird guide Vicky and the elephant that will take our belongings. While we had tea in the garden two Malabar Giant squirrels showed up.
After loading up our supplies it was time to climb up the steep bamboo ladder into the jungle. It was already after lunch when we started and we had a 9km walk ahead. The elephants have a different way into the park but we would meet up on the trail.
A Yellow-bellied Fantail Flycatcher was one of the first birds to be photographed.
Above us, a silk cotton tree is blooming. I noticed that a small starling was perched on the far left branch. It turned out to be a Spot-winged Starling.
A tattered Imperial butterfly was in the bushes near the bamboo grove.
This was the bamboo area on the trail.
Sitting out on a bent piece of bamboo was a Blue-bearded Bee Eater.
Nearby was the first time to see a beautiful Long-tailed Broadbill.
Then high above us were two Brown Hornbills. These are very rare and only found in Namdapha. I had seen them before but was not able to get a photo of them. Even this time it wasn't easy as they were high above in the tallest trees.
The jungle is thick and to see birds is very difficult. Our expert guide has a recording device that he uses to bring the birds - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but it is fun to wait and listen. We saw 52 birds but only a few ended up in photos.
At Haldi Bari, which is about halfway, we stopped for tea. It was a former turmeric field and it is usually a good spot for butterflies.
I found two butterflies there, Purple Sapphires and Yellow Orange-tips in the ferns.
In the dark of the jungle, there was a White-hooded Babbler and a Sultan Tit below. It was getting late and we needed to move on to the camp.
It was so dark for photos - I can just make out that this is a Blue-winged Leafbird.
And this is a Fairy Bluebird, a lovely one to see in the open and better light.
At our camp, there was a huge tree with some empty honeycombs on the branch. There was also a ladder to the combs. This was the type of honey that we bought in the market.
The next morning we set out early. The jungle is so thick that even when it is getting late in the day it is already dark from the overgrowth of trees.
Our small path can be seen at the bottom of the photo.
The Forest Officer that went with us is Tawang. A really good fellow to travel with and he didn't mind carrying the tripod.
Before we knew it and 24 hours later, we were back at the bamboo ladder that led us to the river and on to Deban.
As pre-arranged the boat was there waiting for us.
In the distance, we could see small rafts coming our way, bouncing through the small riffles in the water.
As they approached we could see that they were young Lisu men bringing their cardamon pods wrapped in white bags downriver for the market on homemade bamboo rafts. What a trip that must be.
As we all converged on the river same time it disturbed a large group of cormorants that took off in mass.
The forest mist was settling and we headed back to Miao and on to Kathmandu.
I dream of going back...
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