I read Rob Morris summary of his Rockjumper trip. I can sympathise
with everything he says.
However, I went with Rocjkjumper to Assam and Bhutan last April /
May. Yes, a few things could have been done better. But the guides
were the best guides that I have had for an overseas tour. Three
American friends were on the tour (shared a room / tent with one of
them). We got on extremely well. I have since shown them around the
south west of WA, and I will be joining them on Rockjumper's tour to
Sulawesi & Halmahera this year, and a trip they are privately
organising with Rockjumper to Southern India in Jan / Feb 2013
(including one of the two guides we had). Plus I am going to Kenya
on Rockjumper's tour this April (with the other of the two
guides). The three Americans will also show me around Texas and
Michigan in April 2013. I will also be showing another couple from
the tour around the south west this August / September, and they will
show me around California sometime in the future.
Yes. There were things that could have been better in Assam
(particularly) and Bhutan. But nothing like the problems Rob
had. The local Indian guide in Assam was not good, but birdwise we
did not need him. The two (South African) Rockjumper guides knew the
birds fantastically including calls and the specific sites to find
them. The lead guide had done 7 previous tours, and the other had
just done his first but was equally good. There was one person on
the tour who frequently lagged behind and we often had to relocate
birds, but with two guides (and the local Bhutan guide), there was
almost always someone looking out for the next bird. I was the one
who was the last to see a couple of the birds, but found them finally
with help from one or other of the guides. They do their best to get
everyone to see the birds. There was one location where we had
needless time off during the early afternoon, followed by a visit to
a zhong, and we didn't get to bird until about 17:15 which certainly
annoyed me. I think people were getting a little tired, as there
were quite loud debates going on in the group about various topics,
while there seemed to be no effort to bird, so I went ahead of the
group and found the bird I was particularly looking for. But this
was quite rare. There were a couple of places on the tour where you
had a choice of activity. e.g. climb the very steep mountain or bird
near the accommodation, or do a raft trip instead of heading back
into the forest.
Night birding is always a problem on tours. We were getting up (at
5am) before dawn almost every day for breakfast, and departing soon
after dawn. If you stay out late the previous night (even for only a
few nights of the tour), it is a very exhausting tour. We found a
few night birds (mostly around various places we stayed). We
certainly could have found more, but I am not certain that the effort
involved would have been worth it. If night birds are very high
priority, then contact whichever company you are going with and ask.
Of the other 9 people on my tour 8 had been with Rockjumper before,
and they were all discussing future tours they would be doing.
So yes, choose your tour, and choose the company you want to go
with. Ask about the other people's abilities if this could be a
problem for you. I am not saying that Rockjumper is the best, but I
am saying that Rob's tour is probably (hopefully!!!) the exception.
PS : Rob mentioned that the guides did not give him a feedback
form. Rockjumper emails a feedback form after the tour which is
processed independently of the guides so you can say everything that you feel.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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