Birding with Ram Gopalakrishnan: The Chambal: gharials and the cleanest water in India

A six hour drive from Delhi airport towards Agra took us to the Chambal safari lodge, a lovely property half an hour away from the Chambal River. A cup of masala chai soothed our nerves, jangled by the constant din of vehicle horns and the bad roads after Agra. From this former field camp of the local zamindar, existent since 1890, has evolved a refurbished safari lodge, colonial on the outside but modern and cosy inside. We spent an evening hour watching some local birdlife, including the Indian thicknee, a lifer for me. Sunset was followed by a warm campfire, and a sumptuous dinner.

The next day dawned bright and clear, and guess who we ran into at breakfast: Romulus Whitaker, India's original snake (and crodocile) man! I knew him as I had the fortune of treating him when he was ill a couple of years ago, and my uncle Shiv Sundaram was his good friend and supporter from the 1960s. A true Indian hero if ever there was one, he was here with a BBC film crew to shoot a documentary on the gharial. He had been responsible for the gharial reintroduction program in the 1970s which have seen numbers go up from 200 to 1500 now. The Chambal being one of the last undammed free flowing rivers in India, is one of the last remaining refuges of the gharial, and exclusively fish eating crocodilian which requires clean water and large sand banks to breed.

We headed off to the river: the surrounding ravines for a couple of km have been incorporated into the national Chambal sanctuary which stretched more than 400 km and forms the border between UP and MP. Amazing foresight to have declared this ravine landscape, the erstwhile home of the dacoit, a sanctuary for the gharial. They were there in numbers, basking in the sunshine, with a couple of huge snout nosed males. They allowed us to get close enough for some stunning shots. Of course there were numerous marsh crocodiles which allowed you to get within handshaking distance, unlike the gharial which is more skittish! Bird life was fabulous with a close up shot of the Great thicknee, although we missed out on the Indian skimmer which is the speciality of the Chambal. Breathing the cleanest air and being on the cleanest river in India (that's actually true) was an uplifting experience!

Afternoon was spent doing more birding in the surrounding fields, and watching a herd of black buck and nilgai. We were after the Indian courser but had to content ourselves with a variety of prinias and a pair of spotted owlets from up close. Evening campfire with a sundowner listening to Romulus rattle off his rattlesnake bite story in Arizona from his US army days (and me chiming in with my snakebite treatment stories) was almost as memorable as being on the river. The next day we headed back to Delhi and work, but not before some relaxed morning birding, including the black breasted weaver bird, another lifer.

One of the best days of my life!