Advertisement
It was my 5th visit to the Jim Corbett national but not the usual one as I have always preferred staying at the resorts but this time I had chosen to stay inside the deep forest area. I made the booking for Bijrani forest around 30 days prior to the actual date.
The check in date was 17th Dec 2020 and most of the restrictions due to Covid were lifted off. However, masks were mandatory for everyone. We left Delhi around 5:00 AM in the morning and it took just 4 hours 30 minutes to reach
Jim Corbett . We then moved to a resort for having some breakfast and around 11:00 AM our Jeep arrived at the resort to take us inside the forest. Amdanda gate is the entrance point of Bijrani zone where we had done some formalities at the forest check post and then we were allowed inside. It takes around 30 minutes to reach Bijrani campus from Amdanda gate.
We reached there around 11:30 AM and again had to do some formalities at the main campus and after few minutes we were assigned our rooms. Rooms were large in size of double beds, attached bathroom, almirah,
fan and proper lighting. Campus had a very large ground to sit out and complete area was surrounded by fence to prevent animals from getting inside. Our safari was scheduled for 1:30 PM so we had to have lunch before that. There is a canteen at the campus where they provide breakfast, lunch, dinner and on order snacks as well (should not expect multiple items but food is just like home) We ordered our food which cost around 250 INR Per person for around 6-7 items in lunch.
Now the time was to get ready for the adventure. We boarded our jeeps, driver introduced our forest guide who will accompany us for all our safaris. We started sharp at 1:30 PM and we were amongst the first few people who got inside the jungle before the day use gypsies enter with other tourists. Safari has always been an adventure for me and unlike other I do not feel bad when there is no Tiger spotting as there are so much to see when you are inside a national park. There was some Barking deer calls at the beginning which increased other curiosity but most of the time alert sound
made by Barking Deers are not for the Tigers but they make it when they see snakes or other mammals as well.
This day we could not spot many animals other than monkeys, barking deers, Spotted deers and some birds which I do not remember the name of. We moved back to campus by 5:30 PM.
Then, we had some evening snacks with tea at the canteen and gone to our rooms. Now, since it was completely dark inside the jungle and stars were clearly visible on the sky, we were scared to even move out of the rooms because canteen to our rooms distance was around 150 meters and we were not able to see a meter ahead. We all gathered some courage to move out for having dinner at canteen all together using mobile torch. Deers and other small animals are too familiar to pay visit inside the campus area and we had seen Spotted deers near the canteen so it was a scary but great adventurous time. After dinner we were off to sleep by 9:00 AM because there were no other things to do. You do not have TV, phone networks, WIFI at the
campus. Electricity is provided after the Sunset and one charging point gets active to charge your phones/cameras etc.
Day 2- We got at 5:30 AM and our safaris were scheduled for 6:30 AM. Had some tea at the canteen area and all the drivers were ready by that time as well. We started around 6:40 AM and during our safari our guide informed us about the Sambhar calls around midnight near the campus which they could hear. Again there was no sighting but we had great view of Sunrise and there were some fresh foot prints of Tiger which were clearly visible. We had seen a family of wild boars and (Almost a meter long) monitor lizard which unfortunately was died on the road due to some gypsy run over it. There were some frequent calls made by Spotted Deer at one point and driver suggested us to wait for some time in search of Tiger but again we could not spot the Big cat. We reached back the Campus around 10:00 AM and got back to rooms. Had breakfast which we had already given order for in the morning so that they could prepare in advance.
(P.S.)
Weather remains very very cold inside the forest area in the month of December, January and February. Even, we were fully covered from head to toe but still our hands were numb for at-least more than 50-60 minutes in the morning.
It was sunny day so we sat outside and enjoy the fresh oxygen under the blue sky. Again 1:00 PM our lunch was ready and we started the second safari of the day at 1:30 PM.
This time none of my family members came along with me on safari as they were disappointed because of no sighting in our first 2 safaris. So, I went along with driver & guide. There were frequent calls made by Spotted deers, barking deer and even Sambhar at the multiple points and instead of moving from one point to another, we waited for almost an hour at the point in search of the Tiger but it didn't come. Then we again started exploring the other areas, all of the sudden we had seen a family of Sloth bears but they were around more than 150 meters away so we could not capture them and they disappeared in the jungle. It was
almost 5 PM now and we were getting ready to be back at the campus. We moved slowly and driver heard a noise of Elephant roaring continusely and it felt like they were scaring away the Tiger from the baby Elephants, driver drove towards the direction of the sound and luckily we found around 5-6 Elephants hiding behind the big trees. They were partially visible and it was a big family with baby Elephants as well. Then, we got sure that there was a Tiger which was sent away by the male Elephant. Then we stopped for a while to see if Elephants would come on the track so that we can take some pictures and a large Tusker slowly came on the track to scare us off and followed us for at-least 5-10 meters on the track. Then, we decided to move back to campus before it gets dark and we headed back. Trust me, it was not the great interesting sighting which we had witnessed today, when I reach the campus my family members and other tourists were in great excitement. They told me a Tiger just has crossed the campus outside area just 5 minutes back which
we just missed. Even on my third safari I could not spot a Tiger and they just did it while relaxing the campus area but we were happy to see Elephant herds. Then, again dinner and sleep by 9 PM.
Day 3. I got up with the excitement at 5:15 AM and was sitting calm near the window to carefully listen to noise jungle makes. We got ready for the safari at 6:30 AM. Again, it was me only for the safari with guide & driver. It was our forth & last safari and we were hoping to see some more animals today. There was a call at the start of safari only made by Cheetal (Spotted deer) near to the same area where Tiger had moved last evening. We waited with no luck and continued our journey. There were numerous chances when we believed would be able to spot the Tiger but could not make it. It was almost 9:00 AM and we were moving back slowly towards the campus. Then, suddenly at a Turn driver had to use emergency break because the Tusker came running with full speed (not to attack us) but in fear or something
and since it was a turn no one could each other. It then got inside the jungle from the track within seconds with no view back. It was a heart attack moment for us and we were praising our luck. Then, with a new scariest story to share with family we moved back to Campus. After the breakfast around 10:30 AM we checked out and headed back to the city.
P.S-
Bijrani campus has total 7 rooms (4 double, 2 single and 1 four sharing) We ha occupied 2 rooms.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner all-together cost around INR 800 Per person.
No liquor or non veg allowed inside.
Bijrani forest rest house remains open for bookings between 15th November to 14th June every year.
I hope you would like my experience.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.086s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0427s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb