The quintessence of exotic…
Asia, including the Orient, is an exuberant mélange of fascinating ancient cultures, home to many of the world’s most compelling antiquities – The Taj Mahal and Khajuraho (India), Angkor Wat (Cambodia) and Borobodur (Indonesia) immediately come to mind coupled with delicious regional cuisines. Add to this a wonderfully vibrant diversity of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, and plants, and the first or even fifth-time visitor to Asia is inspired to return time after time.
Come and experience with me:
- the cathedral-like and botanically biodiverse lowland forests of Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula
- upland deserts such as the Tibetan Plateau and the great Gobi Desert of Mongolia
- bird-rich, moss-draped, forests of the Himalayas
- lowland deserts of western India
- the tiger havens of the Indian subcontinent, and
- endemic-rich islands of eastern Indonesia.
Asia and the Orient hosts nearly 2,800 species of birds and a range of mammals that often astonishes tour participants.
Imagine more than 20 species of hornbills (including such giants as the spectacular rhinoceros and helmeted hornbills), tigers, herds of Asian elephants, 27 species of pitta (once eloquently named “Jewel-thrushes”), 11 species of broadbills (their vocalizations alone are worth the price of admission), hunting packs of dhole (Asian wild dog), giant flying-squirrels, and that most ancient of primates, the orangutan.
David Bishop Bird Tours invites you to join us in exploring this wonderfully exotic and extraordinarily diverse region. We guarantee you will be left with deep and abiding memories.
The region is especially dear to my heart as it is where I had the thrill of rediscovering the near mythical bird-of-paradise, Wallace’s Standardwing. I also spent many of my early years tramping around Asia, especially Indonesia, living off the smell of an oily rag and making all sorts of wonderfully exciting discoveries. This resulted in the definitive book on the birds of Wallacea in addition to a number of papers documenting my observations. However, in some ways one of my proudest achievements was the re-establishment of Kukila, the Indonesian Journal of Ornithology.
Over the last 15 years there have been tremendous developments in ecotourism in Asia, including the opening of many superb lodges and the publication of modern field guides. Asia now boasts first-rate field guides to the birds of every major country, in addition to a host of new country/regional guides to the mammals, reptiles, and butterflies. Thanks to the dramatic growth of international travel, an increased choice of airlines and schedules has made the journey to Asia significantly easier and more comfortable.
We invite you to join us in exploring this extraordinary and diverse region and guarantee you will be left with indelible memories.
