Up in the hills at Backwoods

The minibus collected us at 5:10 am. Two more boarded round the corner at Marinha Dourada and another two at Ponda. 

Leio also climbed on board to be our guide for the next few days.

He also has a website www.indiannaturetours.com and organises trips to the north and Gujurat. 

There seems to be fewer numbers of birds than in previous years. We had very good views of a pair of Vernal Hanging Parrot...India's only parrot. There are plenty of parakeets and here we've seen Malabar and plum headed parakeets. 

We've seen Malabar pied hornbill and Malabar grey hornbill. White bellied, heart spotted woodpecker. Also  greater flameback and black rumped flameback..these are also woodpeckers. 

The food at Backwoods is delicious with a good range of tasty local dishes.  

Our little cabin has an en-suite bathroom with a wet floor shower. Needing the loo I first checked it and there was a frog swimming about in the water. It wouldn't flush away. There's a drain hole in the floor with no cover and the frogs pop up through the hole which is now blocked with rolled-up toilet paper!