Days 2-8

Panda Reserve

For the next 7 full days we will hike the various trails in panda habitat, the forest here is enormous and there are many access points. We will select the best one with the help of our local guide who knows the area. Each day we will hike trails and scan for pandas in our attempt to see one of these elusive animals. There is a wealth of other life here including Chinese serow, Chinese goral, sambar, tufted deer, northern leopard cat, complex-toothed flying squirrel and Chinese hog badger as well as a large range of hardy winter birds including various pheasants. However as with most forests seeing much wildlife is difficult and nearly all of our time will be dedicated to looking for giant and red pandas.

We cannot include too much detail here as there is no fixed rule to what we will do each day, it is very much a play it by ear situation depending on panda movements and recent activity. What we can say is that each day will be long, there will be much hiking, the conditions are tough, temperatures in March can still be cold at night and in the shade and terrain rugged. However if you want to see a wild giant panda this is what is needed.

If we do encounter a giant panda early then we do not have to rough it in the forest, we can come back to the hotel and make other plans. There is certainly a lot of other wildlife to be seen around here, our first and major target is of course the panda but other species can be targeted if we get lucky.

Each day we will come back to the hotel for dinner and the night, preparing to travel back into the heart of panda habitat again tomorrow.

Also depending on the road conditions it is most likely we have to overnight in Wolong or Dujiangyan on the way to and from the panda location and our other destinations. This does not affect the time we have in the reserve, we have 5 full days and 2 half days dedicated to panda tracking.

Day 9

Rouergai

Today we will make our way to Ruoergai, which is located on the edge of the vast Tibetan plateau, the drive will take around 9 hours and along the way we will try and spot some species of birds including larger species like eastern cattle egret, Himalayan griffon, Himalayan buzzard, northern goshawk and various smaller species including white-browed tit-babblers, Sichuan tit and azure-winged magpies. After we arrive we will check in and then head out to see what wildlife we can see on the grasslands. After dark we will start spotlighting as we drive around looking for wildlife including Chinese mountain cat, Pallas’s cat and Asiatic badger among others.

Days 10-11

Rouergai

For the next two full days we will explore Ruoergai further, with diurnal species of note including red foxes, Tibetan foxes, plateau pikas, marmots (if they are awake from hibernation), Siberian roe deer, Asian badger and possible (but harder to spot) Tibetan gazelle and Tibetan wolf.

Vultures such as Himlayan griffon and lammergeyer are also possible around here. Both during the day and at night there is a wealth of wildlife to be seen here and we will spend as much time as possible exploring to find as much as possible. A good degree of flexibility in where and what we eat is key when looking for wildlife both here and in Tangjiahe as we look to maximise our chances of seeing as much as possible.

Day 12

Rouergai / Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve

This morning will be our last chance for high altitude wildlife of the Tibetan plateau as we will depart and begin the drive to Tangjiahe (5-6 hours). Tangjiahe is a forested reserve and we will likely arrive there in the late afternoon and after dark we will have some spotlighting, there are many species that can be seen here including Chinese hog badger, Sichaun takin, Reeve’s muntjac, Himalayan palm civet, wild boar and northern leopard cat which can be seen at night.

We will likely to get our hotel in the night and have a dinner before going back out into the park for spotlighting.

Day 13

Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve

Today is our last full day of wildlife watching and our only full day to explore the hillsides and forests of Tangjiahe. During the day we will be looking for wildlife such as squirrels, wild boar, Sichuan takins, Tibetan macaques and many species of birds, such as little forktails, brown dippers, crested kingfishers, black-throated tits and crested goshawks. One of our key targets here is the golden snub-nosed monkey. They used to be seen fairly regularly here, however last year they were only sighted on 25% of the trips here, but we will do what we can and March is a fairly good time for them.

We will also head our after dark and spotlight for other nocturnal species.

Day 14

Chengdu / Home

This morning will be your final morning for wildlife watching and then after breakfast we will head out towards the city of Chengdu (6-7 hours), we recommend you to not book your return flights until late in the day or night or even better book the Chengdu Airport hotel for this night and then have your return flight for tomorrow. The hotel has free shuttle buses to the airport.

Please note that the itinerary stated above is correct as our planned intentions for the tour. However adverse weather conditions and other local considerations can necessitate some modifications of the itinerary during the course of the tour; any changes will be made to make the best of the time and weather conditions available to us.

This tour is available on different date (subject to availability) please contact us for more details about running this tour on a date which suits you more.