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“Jannat!” – a friend once exclaimed when asked about Tal Chapar. It means heaven in Hindi.
Amidst the gently swaying grasses, hundreds of Blackbucks gambol all over the park. Harriers glide over the grass gracefully, looking for their next meal. A huge flock of Demoiselle Cranes takes off from a corner of the park. A Desert Fox appears on the track, only to disappear the next moment. A Laggar Falcon swoops in on an unsuspecting Spiny-tailed Lizard, only to be chased by an opportunistic Long-legged Buzzard. A rare Stoliczka’s Bushchat drops to the ground to do its enchanting puff-and-roll routine. Tal Chapar endears itself to the wildlife photographer and nature lover in an instant.
Join us on this unforgettable wildlife expedition to Tal Chapar. Photograph a wide diversity of mammals and birds. Experience a unique landscape on the boundaries of the Thar Desert. Witness a conservation story in progress. With our extensive track record and knowledge of the place (this is Darter’s 11th consecutive winter of photography tours at Tal Chapar and Shreeram’s 15th!), you’ll have a wildlife photography experience of a lifetime!
Jump to ◆ Overview ◆ Itinerary ◆ Highlights ◆ Is this tour for you? ◆ Tour Price ◆ Photography Mentor ◆ Getting to Tal Chapar ◆ Sign Up
Overview
Tal Chapar (or Tal Chhapar) Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the best kept secrets among wildlife photographers in India. Located in Churu district (Rajasthan), this grassland is about 400km from Delhi and 200km from Jaipur by road (Google Maps Location). Located on the fringes of the mighty Thar Desert, the park gets very little rainfall every year. Traveling by road, one comes across sand dunes as you start getting closer to the park. On entering the park’s gate, however, the scenery completely changes into a tree-lined avenue, opening into a gorgeous grassland.
Tal Chapar is home to India’s fastest mammal – Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra). With over 2500 of these graceful antelopes, this grassland is one of their last remaining strongholds. Nilgai, Chinkara, Desert Fox, Indian Fox, Desert Cat, Jungle Cat and Black-naped Hare are other mammals often seen here.
Grassland birds abound here. Laggar Falons and Red-necked Falcons – the stars among the avians here – dazzle us with their breakneck flying speeds. Rollers take off from their perch with a fascinating flash of blue. Indian Coursers are delightful with their elegant stance and gait. Black Francolins, in their stunning plumage, call all over the park, occasionally making an appearance. Huge flocks of Starlings show off their aerobatics. And, ranking among the most beautiful displays in this grassland is the White-browed Bushchat’s puff-and-roll routine.
In winter, many migrating birds arrive here from their breeding homes in Central Asia and Europe. Demoiselle Cranes and Bar-headed Geese arrive after having flown high over the Himalayas. This is also raptor-country, with as many as 42 species of birds of prey – Eagles, Buzzards, Falcons, Vultures, Harriers and Hawks – having been recorded here.
Darter Photography takes you to this veritable paradise to explore the amazing biodiversity, see and photograph rare species of birds and mammals and learn the secrets of wildlife photography.
Itinerary
Day 1: Reach Tal Chapar for lunch. Your photography mentor will give a brief introduction to the park and the guidelines to be observed. Soon, it is time for our first safari into the grasslands. Prepare to be welcomed by large herds of Blackbucks roaming all over the place. As we drive through the grassland, prepare to be enamoured by the diversity of birds. After a wonderful sunset, we return to the guest house. Around dinner, your photography mentor will conduct a detailed session on Photography in the Grasslands. He’ll also review photographs that you’ve clicked in the evening session and give you inputs.
Day 2 and Day 3: We start the days early (around sunrise) to get the best of morning activity and golden light. We’ll explore different habitats in and around Tal Chapar – grasslands, rocky scrub, salt pans and wooded areas – to see and photograph the rich biodiversity here. Each area is a very different experience and harbours very interesting wildlife.
In the evenings, your photography mentor will review your photographs. And there will be engaging discussions about Tal Chapar, photography, wildlife and conservation.
Day 4: We’ll head out into the sanctuary for one last safari this morning. We’ll spend time trying to photograph species that we’ve missed over the past 3 days or exploring a part of the sanctuary that we wouldn’t have visited earlier. After breakfast, we start our journey back home with memories of amazing experiences and our memory cards full of great images.
Please note that the itinerary above is subject to fair weather and other factors. Darter Photography reserves the right to make changes to the above itinerary at any point of time. Also, please note that photographing the wildlife mentioned above and pictured in the slideshow is indicative and dependent on various external factors, including weather and their presence in the park at that time.
Tour Highlights
Is this tour for you?
Grassland Fantasy is designed for photographers of all levels of expertise – amateur and serious – who would like to photograph the wildlife of Tal Chapar Wildlife Sanctuary. As in all our tours, the group size would be limited so that the Darter Photography Expert can interact closely with every participant.
Wildlife enthusiasts and birdwatchers who are not photographers, but are keen to see and experience Tal Chapar Wildlife Sanctuary, are also welcome to join this group. This trip, covering the grasslands of Tal Chapar and surrounding habitats, will keep you enthralled from start to finish.
Our tour is designed in such a way that we
Tour Price
The price of the Grassland Fantasy tour is Rs.39,950 per person (inclusive of all taxes). The tour starts and ends in Tal Chapar Wildlife Sanctuary.
The price includes
The cost does not include
Cancellation Policy for Grassland Fantasy tour of Tal Chapar:
– 20% of full tour fee is charged as cancellation fee on cancellation at least 30 days before tour starts. Balance will be refunded to your account.
– 40% of full tour fee is charged as cancellation fee on cancellation between 29 to 8 days before tour starts. Balance will be refunded to your account.
– 70% of full tour fee is charged as cancellation fee on cancellation less than 7 days before tour starts. No refund will be issued. Balance will be in a credit shell and can be used for future Darter tours and workshops.
Cancellations have to be communicated via an email to photography@darter.in. The date of email receipt in our account will be used to apply the cancellation policy mentioned above.
Please note that the above is subject to favourable weather and other conditions. In case of any obstacles, we will do our best to make alternate plans. The cost of the tour or any part of it will not be refunded in the event of unfavourable conditions during the tour days.
Photography Mentor – Shreeram M V
Shreeram M V is a professional photographer, photography mentor and naturalist. What started off as a fascination for birds in a lake behind his house turned into a journey to different parts of India. For this IIM Bangalore graduate, the passion for travel and wildlife enabled him to charter his own course outside the corporate world.
He has explored and photographed places across the world as diverse as the savannahs of Africa, the ice continent of Antarctica, the islands of New Zealand, the rainforests of the Western Ghats, the salt marshes of Kutch, the grasslands of Tal Chapar, the deciduous forests of South and Central India, the high-altitude plateau of Ladakh, the coasts of peninsular India, the forests of North-east India and the islands of Andaman. His approach to wildlife photography has evolved into telling stories about the place and its habitats, biodiversity and human interactions with nature.
He is a well-published and awarded photographer. His articles and photographs have been published in diverse print and digital magazines such as National Geographic Traveller, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus, Lonely Planet India, Terrascape, Nature inFocus and JLR Explore. As a naturalist, he has been associated with Jungle Lodges and Resorts and Karnataka Eco-tourism Development Board in training and certifying naturalists from across the state.
Tal Chapar has been one of Shreeram’s all-time favourite places. Since his first visit here in 2009, he has lost count of how many times he’s traveled to this amazing grassland. He’s learnt more about photography and birding here than anywhere else. See some of his work at Shreeram M V Photography
Getting To Tal Chapar
The nearest Airports to Tal Chapar are:
There are daily trains from Delhi Sarai Rohilla (DEE) station to TalChhapar (TLC)/Sujangarh (SUJH – 15km away)/Ratangarh (RTGH – 40km away) stations.
We can help you with your train bookings or cab bookings from Delhi/Jaipur. Let us know which option is preferable to you.
If you are planning to arrive early or leave later than the scheduled tour timings, please let us know in advance. We can arrange for extra safaris and meals at an additional cost.
Sign Up
To register for the tour or for further information, please email us at photography@darter.in or call Shreeram at +91-9740083260.