Goa and Karnataka

Regarded as one of the eight greatest hot spots of biodiversity in the World, the Western Ghats is a narrow range of hills and low mountains that separates the Arabian Sea from the Deccan Plateau for almost a thousand kilometres along the western edge of the Subcontinent. The hills intercept the moisture laden air blown off the Arabian Sea by the trade winds and the Ghats get a drenching – the monsoon! This summer phenomenon is what makes the Ghatian forests so lush and goes part of the way to explaining the incredible biodiversity. So much flora and fauna along the length of the chain is found nowhere else in the world.

Karnataka has received relatively little attention over the years compared with Kerala to the south, yet it has some fabulous sanctuaries protecting some of the finest wildlife in western India. And it has some truly amazing cultural sites, including the Vijaya Vittala Temple where legend has it that the famed Musical Pillars and the Stone Chariot were built for Lord Vishnu himself.

This is one of the largest open-air museum complexes in the world, a testament to the glory of the Vijayanagara Empire which was at its height in the 13th and 14th centuries. Impossibly delicate Tree Nymphs float about shaded nullahs sheltering White-bellied Tree Pie, Lesser Yellownape and Blue-eared Kingfisher. There are some truly gorgeous swallowtails here such as the Blue Mormon, the Red Helen, and the shimmering blue-green Malabar Banded Peacock. Southern Birdwings are a spectacular sight and there’s some beautiful forest lycaenids such as Indian Sunbeam, Large Oakblue, Yamfly and the intricately marked Monkey Puzzle. Malabar Pied Hornbills come to dust-bathe at a spot where we can watch and photograph them at our leisure. Hampi is perhaps the easiest protected area in India to see the Sloth Bear. There’s an abundance of great birds too including Painted Spurfowl, Sirkeer Malkoha, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse. Red Munia and the weird Red-naped Ibis. There’s a rich mammal fauna in the area and we’ll hope to see Gaur, Stripe-necked Mongoose, Small Indian Civet, Slender Loris and Jungle Cat, and sightings of Leopard are possible too.

Many of the commonest of Ghatian butterflies are some of the prettiest. In the gardens of our hotels we’ll see the colourful Pansies – not flowers at all, but instead butterflies of lovely colour and pattern – Blue, Yellow and Peacock Pansies. And then there’s the gorgeous Common Jezebel and the black, red and white swallowtails – Common Rose and Crimson Rose.

Distinctive low coastal forest is a rare habitat now but still provides shelter for Grey-headed Bulbul, White-browed Bulbul, the gorgeous Orange-headed Thrush and lovely Vigor’s Sunbird, as well as butterflies such as the lovely Red Pierrot. Forest Calotes and Flying Lizards inhabit the moist Deciduous Forests typical of inland Goa. Here are some truly lovely birds such as Indian Pitta, Malabar Trogon, Flame-throated Bulbul and Crimson-backed Sunbird. There’s Asian Fairy Bluebird, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, and the gorgeous Heart-spotted Woodpecker too. Butterflies are myriad, the magnificent Great Orange-Tip, Autumn Leaf and the fabulous Blue Oakleaf amongst them. Strong-flying Clippers and Cruisers are a tremendous sight. Many of the nymphalids have English names redolent of the colonial period when some of the British officers spent more time waving their butterfly nets about rather than their guns! There’s the Staff Sergeant, the Baron, the Blue Baron, the Commander, the Gaudy Baron, the Grey Count, and the beautiful Red-spot Duke amongst a host of similarly named lepidoptera!