Shāntinagar

Our 30th Anniversary arrived!

Johan had arranged a birding trip to two local reserves. The trip was led by a local ornithologist Asif N. Khan who works for BNHS, an area conservation agency. Jules joined us for his first ever birding excursion. We spent the morning birding on the edge of the Western Ghat in the Karnala bird sanctuary. The early afternoon we visited a wetland saved from by development by Asif's organization. No easy feat as 95 percent of the mangrove wetlands and islands around Mumbai have been filled in. I sighted 31 separate species, Johan probably double that. The mountain highlight for me was a scarlet minivet. The water highlight was a flock of 48 flamingo.

We made it to the New Year's Eve celebration at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club last night. It was also our 30th anniversary so Nancy and I ducked out at 12:01. Another amazing evening. This morning we treated ourselves to a room service breakfast at the Grand Hyatt here in Mumbai.
Here's a link to a countdown video from the evening: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1ZZAGTnRyd4E8Zah9

Tomorrow we're off to Jaipur in the morning.Read more