Birding at one of India's oldest Birding Camps
Now that will get some attention from most birders and nature enthusiasts.
Where : Goa
Place : Backwoods Camp
Location : Inside the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary just 1.5kms before Tambdi Surla temple
Owner : Loven Pereira
Overall Rating : Fabulous
Disclaimer : This place is not for the casual tourist, one has to be really serious about both Birds and Birding.
We usually prefer not too commercial places and will mostly vouch for people recommendations and off the beaten track properties. Usually these are places which do not believe in marketing, as then one has to deal with endless enquiries.
For our year end vacation, our goal was simple, to spend around 3 days completely focused on Birding and the destination was to be Goa or surrounding places. Of course we first looked at Old Magazine House but considering our last minute plans, it wasn't available - maybe some other time.
Then I had to revert to my trusted old method of looking for places - scouting the map! I started poring over the Map using Satellite views to really filter out what and where could we possibly go. This has worked for us almost always and that's how you find the hidden gems.
The name Backwoods Camp seemed quite alluring and the destination was a place where I have been to a few times. I was quite sure that it must be one of the dime a dozen Jungle properties which have sprouted in the last few years as I was sure I had never seen or heard about this place in my previous visits to the Tamdi Surla temple. But since the region is fairly remote with not too much crowds, decided to explore this place and started searching on Google.
Surprise surprise : the first results came up on Youtube with videos from 2010/11 and I was like wow this place is not new - how old - that we were to find out later
Looked at the Google reviews and the ratings are excellent both on Google as well as on TripAdvisor. And there is the mention about a certain Mr Loven Pereira in most of them. This sounded quite similar to how we manage our place and now we were hooked. I looked up Loven's number and dropped him a message in the day. I received a response after a few hours and later that night we connected over a phone call to discuss and plan our visit.
Loven carefully heard me out on what we planned to achieve and wanted to understand how keen we all were about birding as such. This was good - its an important expectation setting for what one can expect once you reach there.
As there was a post Christmas dinner at an Aunts place at Kalyani Nagar, Pune, we had already lost one additional day (26-Dec). There was no way I thought, that we could afford to lose another day 27-Dec for traveling from Pune and I told my wife that we will leave for Backwoods right after dinner on 26-Dec and drive all night.
Now for those of you who have been following our story elsewhere too, will know that I am quite used to Night driving and I regularly drive 1350kms non-stop between Pune and Panna, and we drive to Goa almost every alternate month, so driving conditions, road conditions, where to stop etc are all completely known to us.
Tip: before embarking on an unknown route, always plan for a secondary halt as an option, that requires one to know the route and not be completely dependent upon Online Maps
So the packing was done, now usually we take the Gurkha for such trips but this time the Gurkha was given a break and we took the Swift, this meant moving tripods and other essential gear which is usually kept in the Gurkha over to the Swift.
Post the sumptuous dinner we were finally able to leave at 11pm from Kalyani Nagar, Pune. Leaving so late in the night has obvious benefits of escaping Pune city traffic, we practically blitzed towards Karad and reached the McDonalds at 130am, turned off towards Anuskura Ghat and we made swift progress, crossing the ghats and the smaller towns which now were pleasantly quiet and with no souls in sight.
India at night is beautiful.
Reached Rajapur at 4am and took a short nap at a Petrol Pump, its not that I was extremely sleepy but the moment one notices some lethargy creeping in, take a break without delay. The short break turned into a 2hr nap and at 6am I was completely fresh and ready to move ahead. The remaining distance was polished off in 2.4hrs reaching Backwoods Camp at 836am.
Reaching the camp and now we realised why we didn't see this place in our previous visits, there is practically not even a single board for Backwoods and that's how they want it. So no walk-in customers and only vetted quests reach the camp.
Once we reached the camp, Loven came out to greet us and after a quick breakfast, our birding had begun
The camp is located deep inside the forest and the place is running wild with no ornamental trees. The Malabar Giant Squirrels are some of the larger and cuter residents and will be there at the camp gate to meet you.
So after quickly assembling our gear, we started walking back towards the main gate. The 1km to the camp is on a dirt track with heavy undergrowth on both sides and extremely old trees.. the sunlight does not hit the ground completely so you are in the tropics.
Loven carries a lovely Svarovsky scope for spotting the birds and that is one fantastic piece of equipment, the sights from the scope are unmatched.
The first of our Birds were namely the Heart Spotted Woodpecker, White Rumped Shama, Malabar Flameback, Gray Fronted Wood Pigeon, Yellow Browed Bulbul, we heard the distinct call of the White Bellied Woodpecker too but could not see it. And all this was happening at around 1030am.
After another 30mins we headed back to our room to catch up on some rest before lunch as we had to head out for Birding post that. My son who had slept all night was all geared up and sat in the Dining area with Loven and team.
That break cost us (me, wife, daughter ) a pair of Malabar Trogons, Flamethroated Bulbul, White Cheeked Barbet, Black Naped Monarchs, Dark Fronted Babblers, Paradise FLycatchers, Malabar Whistling Thrush and many more.
I was aghast when we joined back for lunch - our sons face had a massive grin plastered - so we were happy. The trip was mostly for our lil birder, who is completely into birds and has a knowledge base in his tiny mind which can wow some really senior and serious folks. That meant one thing, Loven was thrilled to have his company and for the next 3 days, they had a tremendous time discussing all things dainty, feathered and beautiful.
Taking a nap while waiting ... rest is important if you are out birding for long hours
A little bit of history of this place, Backwoods Camp was established here in 1998, I was stunned. Loven and a couple of his friends have been avid birders for most part of their lives, Loven continues to dedicate his life around Birds and the amount of knowledge and insights he has about Birds, behaviour, migration patterns and other details is simply astounding. Beyond this the amount of effort he takes planning the itinerary and to design it around the species that one is looking for is simply next level.

With Loven Pereira and another guest (now friend) whom we met at the camp
Over the next days we spent on an average around 9-10hrs Birding, walking through forests, streams, different places, to target the ones we wanted to see.
The 2.5 days of Birding we clocked 95 species including some super rarities like the Bronze Winged Drongo-Cuckoo and not a bird but 2 other flying species viz the Malabar Gliding Lizard and the Indian Flying Squirrel.
Now time for some pictures of some of the feathered species...!