Bhutan wildlife holidays

“The forests are so uncorrupted and seldom visited that Bhutan is perhaps the only country in Asia where the animals you see may never have encountered people before. It can be harder to spot them because of that, but patience is rewarded with some incredible sightings.”

Martin Royle, who organises our specialist wildlife watching holidays in Bhutan, is out in the field when I contact him. These trips typically spend a great deal of time tracking animals, which can be tiring. But Martin has a real passion for Bhutan, and he makes the effort to provide me with volumes of detail.

Trekking Bhutan’s central highlands and lowlands, forests, and remote rural communities, you might find animals that are rarely seen anywhere else, such as the Indochinese clouded leopard. And in places like the vast Royal Manas National Park, home to Bengal tigers as well as elephants, buffaloes, one-horned rhinos and river dolphins, you can enjoy sightings with almost no one else around. “It’s true that Bhutan is much more expensive than its neighbours,” says Martin. “But it’s important to remember that you are paying to be one of 10 people visiting these places, not one of 1,000. So few people visit that even the towns and cities feel pristine, never mind when going into the countryside.”

When your group is on its own for much of the time, and certainly the only foreigners for quite some distance, the expertise of your guides and drivers is particularly valuable. You’ll be accompanied by experts in Bhutanese nature and culture, either local people or people who have spent years living in the country and know the locations you’re visiting intimately. At times you may also have scientists or researchers travelling with you. Not only are they a well-trained extra set of eyes to help with sightings, but they’ll give you opportunities to better understand the creatures you’re seeing, and their behaviours. Which, on top of the amount of time spent in the field, is why our trips are so likely to result in a wealth of wildlife encounters.

Travellers don’t want for reading material on our wildlife holidays. Beyond a comprehensive species list of everything in the area, a collection of the finest field guides and reference books is provided too, so that whenever an animal wanders into view you’ll have a head start on the identification process.

In Bhutan there are Asian elephants and jungle cats, sloth bears and black bears, red pandas, golden langurs, black-necked cranes and flying squirrels. Outside Thimphu there is a reserve for Bhutan’s national animal, the takin. Ancient legend has it that a Tibetan monk, ‘the Divine Madman’, created the takin by grafting the head of a goat onto the body of a cow – and to be honest that was one of the least outrageous things he got up to.

In Royal Manas National Park, early morning boat rides reveal langurs, musk deer, and sometimes immense gaur, coming down to the river to drink. Elsewhere in the park there are elephants, leopards, tigers, water buffalo and rhinos – tick even a few of them off your checklist and you’ll come home satisfied. Royal Manas has a number of rare primates too, including Assam macaques and hoolock gibbons.

Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park, in central Bhutan, boasts a similarly impressive roster of species. Within its many forests are Bengal tigers, jungle cats, black panthers, golden cats and leopards. There are herds of wild boar and musk deer. At higher elevations Tibetan wolves are thought to roam.

As for the birdlife in Bhutan – prolific doesn’t even begin to cover it. There are approaching 400 recorded species here in one of Asia’s smallest countries, from the critically endangered Bengal florican to the crested serpent eagle, plus the sensationally scarlet Himalayan white-browed rosefinch. Fond of the yuhina songbird? You’ll find the whiskered, stripe-throated, rufous-vented, and black-chinned varieties here. There are blue-winged, red-tailed and chestnut-tailed minlas too, not to mention rufous-winged, white-browed and Nepal fulvetta.

Our birdwatching holidays here are led by some of Bhutan’s most knowledgeable and experienced birding guides. They’ll identify yellownapes, woodpeckers, leafbirds and forktails; spot shrike-babblers, laughingthrushes, golden-spectacled warblers; point out pygmy wren-babblers, blood pheasants and tawny fish owls.

All these creatures bright and beautiful, great and small, have the potential to make an appearance, with some much more likely than others. As Martin makes clear, the only way to approach Bhutan as a wildlife watching destination is to consider it an expedition into an untouched wilderness. You’ll enjoy many fantastic sightings, but the extensive forest cover means that nothing can ever be guaranteed. If you do want to focus on a specific animal, however, such as red pandas, tigers or snow leopards, we can help you organise a bespoke trip that does just that.

While not a feat of endurance, tracking the wildlife in Bhutan does require a good degree of fitness. Some days can see you trekking through thick forest, up and down hills, for up to eight hours. Altitude is another factor to keep in mind, and to maximise your chances of sightings you can also expect some early starts and late finishes. A few long-distance walks or gym sessions in the weeks leading up to your trip will not be wasted. We can also organise tailor made tours, allowing you to factor in additional rest days.

Anyone who has travelled around Bhutan will tell you that patience and a sense of humour are vital. Lengthy traffic jams are a fact of life in this mountain kingdom with its steep, narrow roads, and rather than being frustrated by delays you should see them as a chance to stretch your legs, soak up the views, and enjoy a chat with your fellow travellers.

Other stops along the way are planned, allowing you to experience traditional ways of life in rural communities. During these stopovers you can also buy food and locally made crafts such as clothing and textiles from local people, in areas where even spending a small amount of money can make a big difference to the economy.

The wildlife in Bhutan can be seen consistently through the year, outside of the June to late-August monsoon, though it’s best not to come immediately after the rains as some roads and trails can be washed out. Either side of it are the two peak wildlife watching periods: autumn (October and November) and then also spring March to May, which is hot and humid as the monsoon approaches.

“October and November are fantastic months to travel,” says Martin. “The Himalayan skies are often very clear and the weather is warm in the day, but not too hot to trek. Meanwhile at night it is cool but not too cold.”

For birders, meanwhile, the ideal time to visit is either February to May, when many migratory species swoop in from north and south, or from November, when endangered black-necked cranes arrive to over-winter in the Phobjikha Valley.