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Published: March 9th 2012
You Beauty!!
Humbly We Bow, Your Majesty!!
The Journey to the Lion Kingdom Begins!! The day I stepped into the
Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve, I made up my mind that I will try and cover all the national reserves in India in my lifetime. Corbett, Bandipur, Kanha over, with no luck with the tigers I thought I would try my luck with the King of the Jungle this time. A very opportune offer from Club Mahindra and I could not resist. Lavi was to handle all the planning for the trip. Somehow women tend to plan things well, we men just complicate things a little too much. Our tickets to Rajkot got confirmed last minute and we took off on 28th Feb 2012 on board the SauJanta express from Borivali at 18:30pm.
Train journies tend to be interesting if you are armed with a good read.
The Mine By Arnab Ray &
The girl with a dragon tattoo were our companions this time around. I must add that both of them are terrific reads.
Day One : Club Mahindra Before we knew it we were already at Rajkot station, 29th Feb'12 07:30am
The leap year day turned
The Mine & The Girl With a Dragan Tattoo!!
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page! out lucky for us as we found a Junagadh bound train at the next platform ready to leave. A quick scramble for local tickets and we are in the Veraval-Rajkot express. We managed to get seats, though the journey was a little intoxicating (when you have a smelly sock hanging from the upper deck of a man who is oblivious of that fact, intoxication it is..😊). The torture was over in two and half hours when we got down at Junagadh station.Time-10:40am
We had decided that this trip will be a budget trip and we will try out local modes of transport rather that the cool comforts of an a/c car. Attempts to fleece by autorickshaw drivers were thwarted as we decided to take a local bus to Sasan Gir. We walked till the bus stand and stopped for tea at a local tea-stall. I was amazed that Lavi could pass off as a Foreigner as the chaiwala asked "Which Country"? ..China may be 😊. The leap year luck followed us as a Sasan bound bus came at our footstep. Time-11:05am
Bus journey of an hour and a half was smooth. Lavi had some orange clad Holy bedi
Chakda
The Chakda Experience !! smoking sadhus for company. Reached Bhalshel bus depot at 1:30pm from where we took the most amazing chakda (a cross between a bullet and a rickshaw) drive to Club Mahindra Resort. Enroute we could see deers and peacocks and we knew that this trip will be a memorable one..
Club Mahindra resort was quite big with a recreation center, swimming pool, garden and lawns. A little too much I would say for a forest resort. The room was nice and cosy. We showered, changed, had tea and sandwiches and off we went on a bicycle ride in area surrounding the woods. It was a pleasant ride, seen some cool birds. A leopard crossed a lil ahead of us, so fast that we didn't even realize it was one. It was only later when a group of bird watchers told us that it was a Leopard that we cursed our luck.
There was a performance by the local tribals
Siddi arranged by the resort. Siddis are a local tribe of African descent who have been settled in India since many years. I was quite stunned to hear the africans speak fluent Gujrati, though their performance left lot to be
I want to ride my bicycle...
Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike!!! ...or in this case walking with it [:)] desired. Quite clearly they have lost their African touch, it was quite a gujju makeover. I was not surprised when they started playing Garba towards the end 😊
Day Two : 1st Safari The Safari was planned for early morning 6am the next day. We had a light dinner, walked around in the woods for a while and hit the bed early. The excitement of the safari and a chance to see the king himself was too much to handle. The 4*4 jeep came to pick us up at 5:45am. We under estimated the weather and it was soo cold that we could pee ice cubes 😊. Another blunder at the entrance, I forgot to carry my photo-id which is a must for entering the forest. More than half an hour was wasted with the guys from the resort calling up the gateman and vouching for our identities. Our guide Mr. Razzak was very knowledgeable and he gave us lots of insight about the Gir forest and the
Maldhari tribe which live in the forest amongst the wild. Route No.4 it was: There are 8 routes inside the forest, you get a random one picked by the fella at the
Siddi Performance
The Gujju Remix!! [:)] booking office. We seen all the usual suspects, I call them the screen-savers which you find everywhere compricing of the deers, peacocks, wild boars, sambhar etc but no signs of the king. Razzak tried his contacts with the trackers inside the jungle to help us find one but all to no avail. After three and half hours of searching we were out little disappointed but enjoyed the trip in the jungle nonetheless.
Just one pointer to all who would like to go for a tiger or lion safari. People get so obsessed in sighting a tiger or a lion that they just forget to enjoy the nuances of the beautiful forest or even look for other beings. It is just the matter of keeping your eyes open and appreciating the intracacies of nature. Sighting a lion or a tiger is pure luck, even if you dont get one, the trip should not be a disappointment and you should try to live the experience to the fullest..Tips: Read about the forest in which you have planned your safari. The different types of resident birds and animals. Prepare a checklist
and keep striking off the ones you see...that's a fun exercise and fully rewarding..Our checklist had deer, peacock, wild boar, sambhar, mongoose striked off.
In the evening there was a small fair setup by the resort with food, games and some local artifacts for shopping.We took a stroll down around the forest late evening. We were lucky enough to live surrounded by woods. A few paces puts us among teak and other 400 plant species. There are deer, squirrels, peacocks and stray cats wandering about. The dry bare branches sparkle in the setting sun, and you're afraid to touch them in case they shatter. It's lovely, but it's not exceptional, though when you live in a city you may forget such things exist. The peace and serenity engulfs you and you feel as if time stands still.
Bliss!!! Day 3: Gir Birding Lodge For the next two days we had booked ourselves in the Gir Birding Lodge, 6 kms from Club Mahindra, right next to Gate No.2 of the reserve. We had arranged for a pickup from Mahindra and reached the birding lodge at 10:45am.
Mango Orchard - Birding Lodge!
Seeing within, changes one's outer vision!! Gir birding lodge is a nature lover's delight. No frills like Mahindra, but an absolute treat. Setup in a huge mango orchard, it has comfortable standard/deluxe rooms with private verandah and abundance of nature. With a very attentive and helpful staff, a super helpful Manager Mr. Pradeep and at Rs3500/- for an a/c standard room with 3 meals and snacks, it's quite a good deal. The walls of the resort borders the reserve and it is like staying in the reserve itself. If you are attentive enough you can hear the lions roaring. In short the place is the best you can ask for in Gir. Also the food here is very homely and there is always a vast spread. Pradeep, was that enough for the free stay you promised 😊. This place is a favorite among Birdwatchers and we had a big gang from the UK for company. There are around 300 species of birds in Gir and you will find a large no. in the lodge itself with it's vast mango orchard, fruit and flower plantations.
After settling in our new abode, we took a stroll to the riverside which is just half a kilometers walk from the resort.
Walk to the riverside..
The Blair Witch Project Reminder...!!! The path leading to the river is through the forest and walking through it reminded me of
The Blair Witch Project. The dry deciduous trees and the dusk giving an eerie feeling. The river was beautiful and made the background of around 50 snaps 😊. We found the bones of a huge buffalo by the riverside, skull et al., the lions & leopards do stray outside the perimeters of the reserve for a meal. The walk back to the resort was chilling to say the least..
Be attentive. Don't think there are no beasts only because the forest is silent-Paulo Coelho
Day 4 : 2nd & 3rd Safari We had arranged for our 2nd Safari with Mr Pradeep for the morning. We were geared up as usual, took additional precaution with warmer clothes. The guide this time, one
Mr.Dhirubhai, looked a lil disinterested and we felt as if he was just going through the motions. What's in a name, anyway? 😊 Route no:5 this time and the story continued. No lions. Where the hell were the 411 beasts? Holidaying?. The silver lining being we got to see the elusive
Nilgai Jackal, Hare, Crested Serpent Eagle, Indian Pitta, Bee eaters, Woodpecker and Nilgai off the list this time around.
Back at the lodge, we
Nilgai
Is it a cow, is it a deer, is it a horse..???All rolled into one.. kept hearing about prides of 12 and 17 seen by other people. Just not our day. We had a sumptuous breakfast and decided to go for another safari in the evening.
If its not your day, make it!!! Since we had already done 2 safaris, we asked for preference of route in the application. Since the pride was spotted in Route No.6 in the morning, there were bright chances that it will be spotted there itself according to the guides. The theory being the Lions are lazy bums and they don't gather too much ground in a day.
After lunch, which again was a lovely spread, we headed off for our 3rd safari, fingers crossed.The usual screen savers passed by, but no sign of the big fella. We even sang "Is jungle mein hum hain SHER", to hurt his ego, no luck 😊Two hours into the safari, an african gujju (driver of a water trailer) told our guide that a Male Lion was headed for our
path and we can hope to see him if we are prepared to wait. Wait, we can for eternity, so long as his highness gives us his two minute darshan. Twenty minutes is what it took and then there was chaos. We could not believe what we were seeing. Coming eye to eye with the huge male lion in his own territory, strolling on the pathway caring a damn about all the jeeps lined up to get a glimse of the majestic king of the jungle. Huge, he was, and he came so close to the jeep, I could reach my hand out and give him a nice petting.
A sight to behold, a sight etched in memory!! . With around a thousand photos clicked by overzealous fans, he got bored and cooly disappeared in the thicket. The ten minute free for all show by the king was more than enough to wet our appetite,
Satisfaction!!! Though all safari trips were good, the third one was definately memorable..!!!
When all the excitement of our prized spotting died down, we headed for a walk towards the river. We made
Peacock!!
So You Think You Can Dance?? friends with the gateman at Gate No2, Mr Mohan. He had interesting stories about the lions and leopards and how he was attacked by one leopard in his cow-shed. The marks on his neck and arms were still visible, not tall tales.
Two safaris in a day and we were dead tired. Had a nice meal, packed as we had to checkout next morning and retired for the night.
Day five : Adieu!! We took a walk in the huge mango orchard for bird spotting and got quite a few. Caucal, Green bee eater, Magpie Robin, RedVented bulbul, Parakeets, Lapwing, Malkoha, Sunbird and the list goes on...The final breakfast at Gir birding lodge and a heavy one at that as we had to travel some distance.The courteous staff arranged a chakda to Sasan. We fell in love with this gujju rickshaw and its bumpy rides, a nice retro feel to it. After bidding good byes and promises that we will be back, we left the resort.<br style="color:� font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal; font-size:
4-wheel monster!!
Saari Duniya ka bhoj, hum utaathe hai! medium;" />We were at the Sasan soon enough. Local bus to Junagadh was tiring, but the good news was our tickets from Junagadh got confirmed and we even got an upgrade to 2 tier. With the way things panned out in this trip, we were actually confident that the tickets will get confirmed, everything clicking at the last moment, even the lion obliging in our last trip!!
Five days of game drives and living with the wild, Absolutely refreshing..Detoxifying!!
3rd March 6:30am Back at Borivali station from where it all started. Back to the hustle-bustle and the mad rush of the city. It was an ultimate holiday, deriving pleasure by lazing around with no timely targets to gush up the blood pressure. The pleasure and the thrill of living amongst the
animals, though one look of the crowded Borivali station at 6:30 in the morning, and I wondered, Wasn't I living with them here anyway 😊...!!!!!
Don't miss the pictures at the bottom, runs 2 pages.. Nature is not a place to visit, it is home
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Malcolm
non-member comment
Nice!!!
Hay hay hay hay! Nice pics, nice place, nice flora und fauna! Looks like u guys had a really really nice trip!!!