Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
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1. Journey to Eaglenest
2. About Vacation for Conservation in Eaglenest
3. First day at Eaglenest
4. Birding and Walking in the next few days
5. Haathi Trail
6. About Eaglenest National Park
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: Haathi Trail
+Next: From Eaglenest to Tawang – I
+Go to the beginning of the series
Eaglenest is special because of its altitude range varying from 500m to 3200m. The varying altitude translates into rich variety of biodiversity, with different vegetation and animal life at the higher and lower altitudes. Most of the flora and fauna of the region have remained pristine and undisturbed and well isolated from external world. A jeep track passing through the park is the only means of commute within the park, unless you walk.
LOCATION
Eaglenest is located in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, adjoining Sonitpur district in Assam. Tezpur is the nearest town that serves as gateway to the park. You can get to the park from two locations – via Missimari in Assam and then take the jeep track and go all the way till Tenga. Or take the Bomdila highway from Tezpur and reach Tenga to enter the park from here. Entry permits to Arunachal Pradesh is necessary.
Vista of Eaglenest
THINGS TO DO
Birding is the primary activity. You can also walk in the park and enjoy the immense beauty of the forest. See undisturbed evergreen forest in the lower regions and alpine forest and rhododendron vegetation in the higher regions. Eaglenest does have a population of mammals like elephants, tigers and herbivores but the thick forest makes it difficult to sight them. Birders have a treat awaiting for them in Eaglenest. The forest hosts many endangered and endemic bird species that are hard to come by anywhere else.
LOGISTICS AND ARRANGING A TRIP
There are no tourist facilities in Eaglenest. I would strongly discourage casual visitors and leisure travellers from making a trip to Eaglenest. Currently, the only way to travel to Eaglenest is with the help of the infrastructure created by Bugund tribe and Kaati Trust. See Ramana Atreya’s page on Eaglenest for more details. Once your trip has been fixed, they can arrange for your permits and other necessities.
Accommodation will be in tents and facilities are limited. Be willing to live in very basic accommodation with staple food, and be willing to walk long distances every day.
Our accommodation in Lama Camp
To get to Eaglenest, take a bus from Guwahati to Tezpur(5 hours). You will see many shared jeeps heading towards Bomdila in Tezpur bus stand. Catch one of them and get down at Tenga(may be four hours?). You may have to walk or hire a jeep for yourself to reach your camp(15kms) from Tenga. Tenga has a hotel with basic facilities where you stay if you need to.
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: At Eaglenest
+Next: About Eaglenest National Park
+Go to the beginning of the series
We moved our base from Sessni camp to Lama camp. Next day, we walked to a lake in the middle of the jungle, through a trail that was referred as Haathi Trail.
Our accommodation in Lama Camp
Darkness cornered us as soon as we left the jeep track and entered into the bridle path that is Haathi Trail. A short walk and I spotted a last season’s bird nest lying on the trail. It was very light, had a layer of lichens inside it that served as cushion to the chicks, reinforced by the outer layer made with thin barks that probably served as sufficient protection. The walls of the nest were thick, and dry lichens would keep the chicks completely warm from the cold outside. Nature has some excellent engineering for everyone to learn from!
Forest on Haathi Trail
Forest was dark and moist, and lichens spread out from every inch of tree barks, giving the whole trail an eerie look. The trees looked so amusing that someone remembered the Ents from Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings! Haathi trail was laid out with incredible beauty all around. The Ents were pretty, and a little higher, we had rhododendron splashed all around the trail. The forest floor was rich with splatter of colors from the leaves of alpines and colorful rhododendrons. And as we continued to walk, a small pristine lake suddenly appeared amidst the trees.
Forest floor on Haathi Trail
Wild flowers on the forest floor
Rhododendron trees on the trail
We stopped near the lake for lunch. A flock of birds arrived from nowhere as we were about to finish our lunch. Rufous-vented(?) Yuhinas and Beautiful Sibias hopped from branch to branch sucking nectar from Magnolia flowers. They were soon joined by Rusty-fronted Barwings and superbly colored Mrs Gould’s sunbirds. We sat quietly and watched their acrobatics for nearly half an hour before moving forward.
A beautiful sibia
A thirty minute walk took us to the top of a mountain and suddenly opened up to the vistas of vast valley on the other side. Curiously, the mountain side we climbed up from had thick evergreen vegetation while the other side was completely pine forest. It was nearly evening when we returned from the walk, and everyone was in agreement about having seen the most beautiful stretch of forest ever.
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