An early get up and quick breakfast before we went for our last safari into the park. Our guide and driver were very friendly and tried really hard to find us lions, especially the ones with cubs but all we could find were pug marks, and we did hear one roaring. We drove round route 2 and spent a lot more time stopping and looking at some of the smaller birds as well as one or two larger ones. We saw Small Minivet, White-fronted Minivet and wood shrike as well as prinias. Our guide managed to wangle us a view of a male lion resting up before we returned to the lodge, late. We had a clean up, packed, ate a brunch before saying a sad farewell to Lokesh's really friendly relatives and thenstaff of the Gir Birding Lodge.
We had a 5 1/2 hour drive with just a quick loo and tea break. This was definitely the worst loo of the entire trip, with green slime around the leaking taps, cracked and dirty foot pads and a pedestal toilet I didn't dare explore. The chai was lovely but the state of the cups was real cause for concern.
We arrived at Velavador in time to take a short drive into the reserve and saw several herds of Blackbuck, a mongoose and some Sambar. We also went up a tower and watched hundreds of Montegue's, Pallid and Marsh Harriers come into roost. There was also a tree full of Indian Pond Heron and a Purple Heron flew by.
We drove back to the Lodge, booked in and settled into our very luxurious rooms.
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