As a Class XII student in 2011, Prathamesh Desai started an online community for aspiring birders, determined to share what he’d taught himself about gear, locations, species identification, habitats, etc. This platform for birders evolved into free bird-watching trails that he led, in and around the suburb of Dombivli, one every month all the way until the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
Prathamesh Desai, founder of Jungle Buddies |
To cater to travellers who wanted curated birding tours led by wildlife experts and naturalists, Desai started Jungle Buddies in 2022. “You gain incredible insights through watching them in their natural habitat, particularly when you’re led by somebody who is a regular or an expert,” Desai says.
Jungle Buddies specialises in leading travellers and photographers to biodiversity-rich spots in Mumbai, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region including Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts, and recently also in Pune and nearby areas. Popular birding trail sites in close proximity to Mumbai include the Karnala bird sanctuary, Haji Malang hills, Kachore hills in Thakurli, the grasslands of Saswad near Pune, Tansa wildlife sanctuary, the Satpool wetlands in Dombivli, the Barvi forest, Umbarli hills, Matheran etc. “There is so much flora and fauna within Mumbai itself,” says Desai, “such as along the coast at Priyadarshini Park, off Juhu beach, etc.”
Jungle Buddies conducts four tours every month, including one free tour to introduce people to birding and bird conservation.
The paid tours are exclusive, with no more than five or six participants at a time, to get the best one-on-one guidance from the trail leader.
Desai, who holds a master’s degree in wildlife conservation management and is employed with a wildlife tours company, said Jungle Buddies is a part-time venture, and is not run as a conventional business. “Sixty percent of the fees from private tours is paid to the expert,” he said.
Desai’s work is endorsed by Adesh Shivkar, prominent naturalist and founder of Nature India Tours. “In this busy world, people are looking for stress-busters and one great option is to go into nature, watch birds and animals. For people who want a short, sweet but genuine one-day or two-day tour close to Mumbai, Jungle Buddies offers custom-made weekend programmes that suit corporate and city folk,” said Shivkar. “They have genuine, honest and correct expertise, and people like Prathamesh who are passionate about birds and wildlife are the right people to run such an initiative.”
