Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
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My plan at Corbett was to stay at Dhikala, which is deep inside the reserve for a few days, and roam around in the forest as much as possible. But staying in Dhikala was an expensive option and I wanted to make sure it was worth the money. So on the first day, I decided to take a day-trip to Dhikala conducted by the forest department – a 100km journey stretching for 7 hours.
Landscape of Corbett
I was early at the CTR(Corbett Tiger Reserve) office at Ramnagar. My initial assumption that – all I need is to buy a ticket and hop on to the safari van turned out to be wrong. The bureaucracy you have to go through to get a safari ticket is just amazing. You need to fill in an application, and they take their own sweet time to process it and then put you on the van. I think it took more than 30 minutes before I was finally allotted a seat, and another 30 minutes before we started moving! Most of the passengers for the day-trip were picked up from the resorts on the way. oddly, the safari had no guides or naturalists accompanying the tourists, but a guard with a loaded ancient gun escorting us through the journey! I got to sit with the driver and the guard in the spacious front seat and had the best view in the whole vehicle.
We first travel on the national highway to Nainital – a road that goes right next to Kosi River for most of the distance. By the time we arrived at Dhangadi Gate where we enter the reserve, it was already 10am. Dhangadi has a small exhibition complex where they have a display of stuffed animals. A placard in front of each animal has an interesting story, telling how the specimen met its end. One of them was a tiger killed by an elephant. There were a couple of man-eater leopards and tigers that were shot dead. I saw the bullet mark on one of the leopards. And a tiger was killed in territorial wars with another one of its own kind. It is intriguing to look at those huge tigers from so close, even when they are dead!
Gharials
Corbett’s forest is beautiful. Tall Sal trees with little undergrowth are frequently partitioned by numerous streams flowing in the forest. Almost three quarters of the park’s has Sal trees and the vegetation is moist deciduous. Animals were in plenty and the herbivores were seen often. We did not see many birds through the day, but Corbett is a great place to see raptors(birds of prey).
Wild boars on the bank of Ramaganga
An hour into the forest, we stopped at high banks to have a look at Gharials. High banks, as the name says is high viewpoint looking into the river. You can always see Gharials lazing here in the sun. Gharials or Magar as it is locally called, are crocodiles with long jaws and are the only one of their kind that eat fish. There were two of them when we were there, both lying still and lazy as they always are.
Egrets on Ramaganga
As we moved deeper into the forest, trees gave way to a huge grassland. Dhikala tourist complex is situated in one corner of this grassland, overlooking the forest to the east, grassland on west and Ramaganga flowing besides the complex to the north. It is an incredibly beautiful place and when I saw that first, I knew I wanted to spend as much time here as I can. We stopped at Dhikala for an hour for lunch before we continued our wildlife hunt.
A Pallas Fish Eagle
Dhikala and the surrounding grasslands is where all the action is – you spot many tigers in this region. Elephants roam in plenty and so do many other animals. We saw several types of deer, including barking deer, hog deer, chitals and sambars. We also saw wild boars, some jungle cat that we could not identify, a fishing eagle and a few more birds. Even more than the fauna, I fell in love with Corbett’s beautiful landscape and decided to return to Dhikala on the next day.
It was 4.30pm by the time we finished our safari and returned to Ramnagar. I was happy to have arrived at Corbett and spent remaining part of the day negotiating for a jeep that I needed to hire for my rest of the stay in Corbett.
More on Corbett National Park at paintedstork.com
* Images from Corbett
* Arriving at Corbett
* First day at Corbett: safari day trip to Dhikala
* Corbett: In the nature – A struggle between fear and love
* The desperate tourist’s tiger hunt
* Photo Essay: Landscapes of Corbett
* My Days in Corbett
* Encounter with Pachyderms
* Information about Corbett National Park
* Moving on from Corbett
Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: About Auli
+Next: Ganga Aarti at Haridwar
+Go to beginning of the series
I walked in early to the bus stop and sat quietly in a corner, observing life returning to its activity on a new day. My bus was to arrive only at 8.30 and I had nearly 90 minutes at my expense. Morning fog was clearing up slowly, but still managing to keep the sun hidden behind it. A couple of chai shops were open and the few people who were seen at the bus stop were gathered around the shops. Noisy auto-rickshaws arrived and departed occasionally, bringing in more people who would walk up to the chai shop or taking away some out of there. Once in a while, some one wandered next to me asked where I was headed. “Chilla”, I would say and they would move on as if satisfied with the response. A few helpful would go on to say that my bus should arrive at 8.30.
I decided to take a walk, trying to fight the sleepy morning creeping into my body and mind. The Barrage across Ganga was close by and I could see the bridge on it fade into the mist and beyond. Mysterious and deep waters of the Ganges lay still on one side of the barrage, with a layer of fog protecting it from the sun. Concrete walls of the barrage restricted the flow into steady trickle. Wooded banks of the river were occupied by bold and noisy alexandrine parakeets, seemingly proud of their green camouflage. A bunch of jungle babblers wandered on the ground searching for insects. A pair of restless pied mynas kept moving from branch to branch.
Jungle Babblers
Fog was making its way out by the time my bus arrived. Earth was still covered by a thin invisible layer of wetness, as a reminder of the dew accumulated through the night. Distant hills remained faintly visible, blocked by residual fog. Soon the bus sped past the barrage and we passed the gates of Rajaji National Park. We drove along the canal that carried the water out of the barrage. A few Gujjar herdsmen entered into the bus from the villages that dotted the periphery of the park. It
was 9am when I reached Chilla, a village in the heart of Rajaji national park.
Late February is not exactly the best time of the year to visit the wilderness in these parts. The migratory birds would have gone back by then, and the mammals would still be spending most of their time deep inside the forest. I was not exactly hoping to see much either – I was there just to get a feel of the park and enjoy its landscape and the forest. I hired a jeep from the first jeep-owner who approached me. We finished the entry formalities quickly and were on our way in the jungle very soon.
Dust went up freely as we drove through the forest. The amount of dust on the road was a good indication of the traffic on it and the number of tourists who visit the place. We encountered thick forest as soon as we moved out of Chilla. My driver did mention that we can’t expect to see any big mammals on our way. I did not bother.
A sandpiper
Parakeets dominated the canopy of the park. There was hardly a moment when I did not hear them scream or whizzing above us as if they are in a real hurry. A few minutes of drive and our road merged into a dry riverbed and we continued driving right on the river! As we drove on, a sandpiper went looking around for food in the puddles formed by the leftover water on the riverbed. A herd of chitals, stomach full with the grass that grew on the riverbed were resting quietly in a corner. A pair of them playfully fought with their antlers as we watched. Moving further, our noisy jeep caused commotion among an unusually large gathering of peacocks. An eagle looked at us with its sharp and watchful eyes. Indeed, we did not sight any big mammals as the driver we predicted. Short hills with thick forest cover, and river running in the middle of them makes up the landscape of the park area. It is a beautiful drive, which always makes the visit worthwhile.
An Indian Roller
I spent rest of the day chatting with the naturalists and other residents of Chilla. As I kept looking for a barbet hiding in the canopy of a tree, some one walked into me and asked the question that I always get to hear –
“So you are interested in birds?”
I nodded, and he turned out to be one of the naturalists with a wealth of information on the birds in the park. We discussed birds for a while, and then he gave me a good lot of information on Corbett, where I was heading next. I soon moved on to the elephant stables, hoping to have a peek at them.
The safari elephant enjoys a private moment
Jogi quenching thirst!
A youngling, Jogi was walking around the stable freely, under the watchful eyes of the caretaker. He had every feature of a young and naughty kid, agile and restless, walking all over. Baby elephants are a treat to watch, their presence seems evoke a soft happiness from inside. He walked into his drinking water tank, dipped his trunk and sipped a few bucketful to quench his thirst. He saw me approaching, and to my surprise, turned around and started walking towards me! He looked friendly and I stood and waited. He came close and stretched his trunk, as if to shake my hands! I wished I could speak to Jogi at that moment and make friends. I did the next best thing – I spoke to the caretaker –
“Wo kya chahta hai?“, What does he want?
“Khana maang raha hai!” came the reply. Jogi was looking for food. He must have been used to travellers falling in love with him and offering goodies till he is pleased. I did not want to fall behind. I quickly came back with some edibles for Jogi and thrusted them to his stretched trunk. I massaged his forehead gently and he seemed to be mighty pleased. Of course, I was pretty pleased too.
Sun was already moving towards the horizon and it was time for me to leave. I took the first bus to Haridwar and made my way out, carrying memories of noisy parakeets and the naughty Jogi.
RAJAJI NATIONAL PARK INFORMATION
The park is located between the towns of Rishikesh and Haridwar, and is a 20 to 30 minute drive from either of the towns. It is a 6-7 hour drive from Delhi. The forest department reception is at Chillawali village, often called Chilla. This serves as the gateway to the park where you can get permissions and hire jeeps for going into the forest or book your elephant safari. A typical 30km jeep safari lasts for two to three hours and sets you short by Rs.500 to 700. To know about other places of interest around here, see my post on Rishikesh.
Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam(GMVN) has a guesthouse in Chilla, which is the ideal place to stay for park visitors. Book in advance in the weekends. The next option is to stay in Rishikesh or Hardwar and drive to Chill
a early in the morning.
The park is a tiger reserve, but sightings are not common. Elephants, wild boar, a few type of deer are commonly seen fauna of the park. The park is spread over an area of 820 square kilometers in Shivalik range of hills.
As we descended from the heights of Bababudangiri, we could sight some evergreen forest below, thick and dense as usual. But I did not expect to see so many tall and beautiful trees fighting within them for more sunlight. Muthodi, a small village located in the Bhadra wilderness is the place where we were headed, and planned to stay for that night. Bhadra is a protected tiger reserve located in Chikkamagalur and Shimoga districts of Karnataka.
The approach to Muthodi from Bababudangiri
The first thing we noted as we approached the sanctuary in the evening is a remarkable increase in the bird population. And few minutes after we reached Muthodi, I got to see a baby Malabar Giant Squirrel exploring a tall tree. The place we were staying in Muthodi is fairly deep in the forest and has a stream running just behind it!
The stream at Muthodi
The next morning, we headed deeper into the forest. Our jeep dipped into a stream and continued further away from the road. As we headed further, it was forest all around with trees taller than I had ever seen. It is one of those thick forests where sunlight tries hard to reach the forest floor, without much success. We saw quite a few barking deer which are not commonly seen; a peacock, a bison and many chitals in the next hour.
A Wire Tailed Bee Eater
The birds seen included wire tailed bee eaters, rocket tailed drongos and probably a tawny eagle. The best part was listening to variety of bird calls when you switched off the engine – all of them sweet but different. On the way back from the forest we could witness a pair of Malabar Giant Squirrels relishing on a breakfast of raw custard apples!
Pair of Malabar Giant Squirrels
After some refreshing and a lunch later, I decided it was time for another drive. We decided to drive and explore on the main road until we saw a muddy deviation. The small road offered us many surprises. It eventually took us to the top of a hill which offered a panoramic view of the entire Bhadra range of forests. We also saw many beautiful vistas of the hill ranges on the way. The best thing was to listen to funny calls of a lone hornbill calling, sitting on the top of a tree(You should witness that to enjoy it!).
A Malabar Grey Hornbill calling
To our surprise, we encountered some coffee estates deep in such wilderness. The friendly estate owner advised us to go up the top of the hill which gave us such a great view that we felt the entire journey of an hour’s drive and an hour’s walk further was completely worth the effort. He also invited us to his estate and treated us with some nice coffee.
As the sun moved down the horizon, we returned to Muthodi. It was time for us to return to the bustle of Bangalore.
Also read about other places near Chikmagalur on paintedstork.com
* Belur and Halebeedu
* Mullayyanagiri and Charmadi in the monsoons
* Kurinjis in Bababudangiri
* Chikmagalur image gallery
