Dudhwa: A Jungle Odyssey

Farewells can almost always be bitter sweet. A long time colleague just resigned. As is the custom, we planned an offsite farewell for him. The place chosen was Dudhwa National Park- primarily because we have been to Corbett so many times. The other thing that worked in Dudhwa’s favour was that it is home to the Great Indian Rhino. We have done umpteen safaris as a team, and the tiger has proven to be elusive except just once. So with high spirits, we set off on the 400+ km journey to Dudhwa.


The route we took

The drive to Dudhwa from Noida is a long, mundane drive but the company of colleagues and friendly banter kept the josh high for most of the drive. We had planned to reach Dudhwa early morning on the 18th of May, check-in to the forest rest house where we had made reservations and then go for a safari at 3 pm. We had another safari booked for the early morning of 19th May. En-route, a few of us started exploring the possibility of going for a morning safari on the 18th as well. A few calls were made and a safari was arranged at the Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary that flanks the south western edge of the Dudhwa National Park.

As arranged, our guide Ladi met with us at Bhira and led the way to the Kishanpur Forest Rest House complex. This is where safaris can be booked for Kishanpur. As soon as the paperwork was complete, we climbed onto the 2 gypsies we had booked and the drive through the dense sal and teak forests started. For those who lead the cacophonous city life, the sounds of the Indian jungle sound like a beautifully composed symphony. Every rustle in the grass and every call from the denizens of the jungle brings alive the primordial instinct that is dormant inside all of us. Senses become alert and adrenaline begins to flow. Kishanpur is a beautiful mix of dense sal jungles, lush grasslands and expansive swamps. It particularly abounds in bird life. The India Roller (the colours that it exhibits in flight are a sight to behold), Great Indian Hornbill, jungle fowl, drongo, white throated kingfisher, emerald dove are some of the birds that we spotted.

There is a watch tower by the swamp and we spotted a distant herd of swamp deer from there. This was the first time I got to see the swamp deer (barasingha in local parlance). Five species of deer call the Dudhwa and Kishanpur habitat their home. We could spot the spotted deer, sambhar deer and the swamp deer at Kishanpur. Ladi really wanted us to experience a tiger sighting. He kept trying and took us repeatedly to the water holes that tigers frequent. This going around in circles was wearing some of us down. A tiger sighting can never be guaranteed and the only way to maximize your chances to keep at it till the big cat obliges. And the tiger did oblige us. At a water hole, a tigress walked in from the lush green grass, took a dip in the water, lay there for sometime and gave us the sighting of a lifetime. As if this wasn’t enough (and maybe she heard some of us complain that she wasn’t fully visible in the water), she came out of the water and made her perch on a mound of soil near the water hole. She kept looking at us – calm and unperturbed. With the tiger sighting under our belt, there was no way Dudhwa was going to disappoint us.

After the sighting, we made our way to the Dudhwa Forest Rest House. On the way we crossed the beautiful Sharda river – the lifeblood that nourishes the jungle of the terai around Dudhwa and Pilibhit. We checked into our rooms soon and retired for some rest. We had only a few hours to relax before our safari in Dudhwa at 3 pm. The rooms at the FRH were surprisingly well appointed. The reviews on Trip Advisor had scared us into bringing mosquito repellants, torches and power banks for our personal electronics. The rooms were clean and power supply was reliable.

All of us got a few hours of sleep and embarked on the second safari ride of the day with our spirits soaring high and our faith in our luck restored. The Dudhwa jungle is a lot more green and dense than the one in Kishanpur. Fifteen minutes into the safari, our guide informed us that entry into the rhino habitat was barred because of elephant menace. This was a dampner, but the jungle was just so beautiful and so alive that we were all again soon absorbing the sights and sounds of the jungle. The pull of nature is sometimes so strong…it just overpowers your senses and quenches the city dweller’s parched soul. We spotted herds of spotted deer, wild boar and swamp deer. The highlight of the evening was a crested serpent eagle that was making light work of a snake it had preyed upon. Just as the sun was setting, we exit the jungle and were back to the FRH. One half of our group were lucky to see a lone tusker at the fag end of the safari. It even gave them a chase!

The next morning we got up really early with the intention of making sure we were the first set of vehicles to enter the jungle. Early entry increases chances of sightings. At least, that is what the guides told us. We had been on the safari trail for barely 5 mins and we had to stop. A small bird was taking its time to walk across it. After reaching the middle point, it decided to take some rest. We had no option but to wait for it to cross the other half or fly away. And little birdie took the better part of 10 minutes to make its move. The bird out of the way and a convoy of vehicles behind, we began our ride. It was such a beautiful site – the rising sun, the blue sky and birds with colourful feathers in the sky. We again spotted a few hornbills. It is such a beautiful bird. It made me realize I need to buy a pair of binoculars before my next safari. We spotted quite a few birds – the yellow footed green pigeon, the snake bird, the black necked stork, the chestnut headed green bee eater, the orange breasted green pigeon are few of the names I remember. This was the first time in my life that I had really focused on birds while on a safari and I was left amazed with the myriad of colours that Mother Nature can conjure up in process of creation of life. A particularly scenic spot was a steep river bank by the Suheli river. The place was literally teeming with birds of every conceivable hue. And in the midst of this beauty, lay two mugger crocodiles – one on the bank and other one in the river. It was a sight to behold! We also spotted a hog deer stag and then a hog deer mother nursing her fawn. It made for such a powerful scene. The rest of our safari was quite uneventful and we came back to the FRH had our breakfast and prepared to leave. Just them someone told us there were some elephants that the park authorities had arranged from other jungles to help in the patrolling of the difficult parts of the jungle. It was heart breaking to see Durga, an eleven month old elephant calf, trying to break away from the chains that constrained her. She kept at it for the 30 minutes we were with her. She was born wild. A part of me wished she could have stayed wild.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Immerse yourselves in the sights and sounds of the jungle by the #Suheli river. #Dudhwa #India #Nature #wildlife #pixelxl

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A #mugger #crocodile basking on the banks of the #Suheli river #Dudhwa #india #wildlife #Nature #pixelxl

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And this one prefers the water to the banks #mugger #crocodile #Nature #India #wildlife #Dudhwa #pixelxl

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That’s a #hogdeer #Dudhwa #Nature #wildlife #india #pixelxl

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A #hogdeer mom nursing its baby! #Dudhwa #Nature #india #wildlife #pixelxl

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#Durga – born wild but in chains! #elephant #heartbreaking

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In a way this is what I took away from Dudhwa – a sense of what we humans do to nature to make our world tick. But what is equally important is what Dudhwa took away from me – a piece of my heart. I shall be back again…and again and then some.

One comment to Dudhwa: A Jungle Odyssey

  • anshaj  says:

    Wow. What a mesmerizing account of your trip. It was great to read and I could actually visualize what you described.
    Great , keep it up.

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