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Gallery: Saramati Camp (Nagaland, India) - May 2016

On the border between India and Myanmar, lies the Saramati Peak. Rising to almost 3,000 metres, it is amongst the most remote regions one can access in India. I visited the location with a team of birders in May 2016 - a season when the site receives excessive rainfall and is full of life. We camped out by the basecamp - a one day trek from the village of Thanamir and about 1 km from the peak itself - documenting the birds found in those forests.

The forests here are relatively pristine - with locals not coming this far to collect wood and tourists rarely ever venturing into these parts at all. I hope the photographs here can capture the serenity of this magical place.

Note: Hover over the images to view the captions.

The path to the basecamp runs along the ridge atop these mountains - with the wind in one’s hair and steep slopes on either side. The approaching rain clouds were ominous, and we tried to speed up to get to camp in time.

The forest floor was covered with leaves - and thus, we relied on the ridged landscape to lead us to camp.

Descend into forest, and then ascend on to a peak - this was the pattern of the hike throughout. When at the tops, and especially when descending steeply right after a peak, it was best not to look down the steep slopes to the side…

Rain hit. And when it was too heavy, we had to take shelter in the tiny cave-like hollows by the sides of the slope. Here, a tiny fern grows out to capture the light that filters through an opening in the canopy.

We started the trek at 6 AM, and reached camp after dark at 6 PM.

The morning after - I got out of the hut to look up towards a clear, sunny sky. Unknown to us at the time, this would be the only time we would wake up to a clear sky for the next 7 days…

But while we had sunshine, we set up our tents and left out all our wet belongings to dry.

Once we were set up, birding and bird-related discussions began in earnest.

The mosaic of green created by the canopy on the hills all around us was mesmerising.

On one of our regular walking paths - we would encounter one of the few areas free from canopy cover - but the ground here was strange and treacherous - as it was laden with large rocks covered in slippery moss.

It was overcast for 6 days straight with hail and rain battering us from time to time. Rather fortuitously on our last evening, we were treated to the clouds parting and then treating to us to what felt like the most divine sunset I’ve witnessed.

The hues and shades of the sky held us mesmerised and the clouds retreated further to reveal the landscape in the distance.

Our time at Saramati was magical - brilliant birds, wonderful company and the exquisite play of light on the last evening leaving a lasting impression on our minds.

Of course, the following morning was wet and foggy… but we packed our belongings and headed back.

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