MUSA JUNGLE RETREAT IS ONLY A 5-MINUTE WALK from Bansbari Lodge but it is really a world away. We noticed this new lodge after yesterday’s elephant travail and were interested. When I returned to check it out, John and Sarah from the UK gave it high praise. Not only is Musa brand spanking new with satellite TV and an a la carte restaurant, it is less expensive than Bansbari. So we cancelled our final two days at Bansbari and relocated. I felt a little guilty about defecting but Bansbari had a dozen guests and Musa clearly needs the business and the exposure.
Martin picked us up at Bansbari for our morning safari and transferred our luggage to Musa. He not only speaks excellent English, wildlife tourism is his profession and his experience shows. He is one heck of a birder; not only did we add four new species we saw a herd of wild elephants and a pair of the park’s endangered one-horned Indian rhinos, a mother and her calf.
One-horned Asian rhinocerous
We were detoured a couple of times by fallen trees from yesterday’s storm and arrived an hour late for breakfast. Our room is so nice we spent much of the afternoon relaxing, catching up on our journals and making plans for tomorrow.
This morning was even better; by 8AM we had already seen three new species including the park’s signature bird, the Bengal florican. Non-birders wouldn’t be impressed – one British woman actually complained, “But it’s only a bird.” – but this species of bustard is found only in the Himalayan foothills.
Bengal florican, endemic to Manas
“This is not allowed,” Martin grinned as we climbed from the jeep. “But we can’t help ourselves!” We were birding on foot in Manas National Park, accompanied by our co-conspirating national park guide. By alternating walking and driving we covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of birds, including ten new species for us. We had a little excitement when an outraged bull wild buffalo charged across the Biki River to chase us from his ladies. A barrage of stones turned him back and our guard didn’t need his ancient, bolt-action rifle.
On foot with an armed guard
We spent ten sunny hours in the park today, driving all the way to the border with Bhutan. The road was terrible in places but the scenery was wonderful. The only sounds were birdsong and forest smells replaced city exhaust. This was probably our best day yet in India.
