I have always loved traveling... Thanks to an Uncle who was more or less a wanderlust, and who was kind enough to take us children along in his jungle sojourn, I soon acquired a love for the jungle and its inhabitants early in my childhood. If I had been a bit more adventurous than I care to admit, I might have even ended up as a wild life photographer or a wild life activities. But alas, I was more interested in Human Relations by the time I grew up and the wilderness was put into the back burner of my mind... But, the love was always there!
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| Billy Arjan Singh |
Hence, it was with a lot of expectation that we set off to Dudhwa National Park. It lies in Uttar Pradesh, and shares it's border with Nepal. At first it was established as a wild life sanctuary, and later due to the efforts of 'Billy" Arjan Singh (the Indian hunter turned conservationist and author, who was said to be the first one who attempted the re-introduction of tigers and leopards into the wild from captivity- courtesy: Wikipedia) Dudhwa was converted into a national Park in 1977. It was in 1988 that the park was declared a Tiger Reserve. Dudhwa is also famous for the successful re-introduction of the famous one horned rhinoceros from Assam.
It was on a bleak November Morning that we set off from our Lucknow home to Dudhwa. We passed through the rural UP that includes Sitapur (the land of rishis - it is here that the famous Naimisharanya is situated) Lakhimpur Kheri (famous for its sugar mills) and Gokkarnath (chotti Kashi) before we ended up at Dudhwa. But the most terrifying and exhilarating experience was crossing the dual bridge across the
river Sharda which works as a common one way bridge for road as well as
the railway track. There was no other way to reach the Park. One person at the other end of the bridge informs it is all clear to cross the road, and the few motor vehicles will trudge along the rail bridge to the other end. Many a times, one has to wait for the train to pass before the motor vehicles can proceed. It was one of the Unique experience I ever had in my whole life!!
Once we reached the Park, accommodation was arranged in one of the cottages... Since we reached around noon, we decided to have lunch at the humble canteen - we all had Aaloo ke Paranthe. After resting a while, we decided to walk around a little. There was small park near the entrance and soon we all gathered there watching my son play. By evening we went on the safari...
I was all eyes and ears to spot the tiger, but all I saw was some deers - Barasingha (swamp deer). As the name suggests these deers have 12 antlers.They are said to be found only in Indian forests. And almost half of the entire population of barasingha lives in Dudhwa.As we moved on we could not see much as fog had set in unexpectedly. There are different varieties of Birds too, we were told. But the thick fog spoiled our party and we came back dejected!
Night time was both silent and creepy... Though the guards and other staff urge us visitors to keep our voices low and not to create much noise, they can't do anything about the train that screams and chug through the forest!!! This is the first time that I saw a railway line running through the forest. It is said that many animals get killed because of this; but, sadly it still runs through the park. Every time I heard the long whistle (perhaps to warn the animals of the danger) of the engine, I felt sad. I hope someone stop the trains running through the forest!
We
were told how that tigers often come to the courtyard of the guest
house... I thought, may be we will be lucky!!! The electricity was
another problem. In the sense that there was no power. Generators were
there, but was turned off in the night so as not to disturb the animals.
(What about that Howling train?. I asked myself) Any how, we turned in
for the night as early as possible and I dreamed of Royal Bengals that
night...
Morning was again gloomy... and I knew our chances are dim if the Sun didn't show up. Anyhow, after breakfast, we set off to the Rhino re-introduction area. The plan was to go for an elephant ride in the area. Jeeps are kept outside the Rhino area (it is a separate wired enclosure) as Rhinos will attack the vehicle. I was surprised to know that a Rhino can easily outrun a jeep.
We mounted on an elephant, which seemed far too small to carry us all (we were 4 adults and a child). Our inhibitions grew when we saw the mahout. He was only a boy! To add to that, he was not the regular mahout!!! Anyhow, we had already crossed into the Rhino land, and it was too late to turn back. Slowly we went into the tall grass. Even atop an elephant, these grass reached one's leg. ..
On and on, round and round we went in the foggy morning. The boy was confident of spotting the rhino; but as the time passed by, he started sounding unsure... Nothing was visible in the fog. A couple of times the elephant behaved as if it sensed some animal (a tiger, I hoped), but it turned out to be false alarm. At last, the boy decided it was futile to go on - it was one of the rarest of rare occasions that neither a Rhino, nor a tiger could be spotted, he told us. I don't know who was more disappointed, us or the boy.
We got back to the guest house and prepared for our journey back. There was nothing much to take back from this trip- may be the unique dual bridge and the rail track inside the forest was the highlight. Only one consolation was there - it was written near the exit "Don't be sad if you didn't see the Tiger, it has seen you" Perhaps, it did!
I was all eyes and ears to spot the tiger, but all I saw was some deers - Barasingha (swamp deer). As the name suggests these deers have 12 antlers.They are said to be found only in Indian forests. And almost half of the entire population of barasingha lives in Dudhwa.As we moved on we could not see much as fog had set in unexpectedly. There are different varieties of Birds too, we were told. But the thick fog spoiled our party and we came back dejected!
Night time was both silent and creepy... Though the guards and other staff urge us visitors to keep our voices low and not to create much noise, they can't do anything about the train that screams and chug through the forest!!! This is the first time that I saw a railway line running through the forest. It is said that many animals get killed because of this; but, sadly it still runs through the park. Every time I heard the long whistle (perhaps to warn the animals of the danger) of the engine, I felt sad. I hope someone stop the trains running through the forest!
We
were told how that tigers often come to the courtyard of the guest
house... I thought, may be we will be lucky!!! The electricity was
another problem. In the sense that there was no power. Generators were
there, but was turned off in the night so as not to disturb the animals.
(What about that Howling train?. I asked myself) Any how, we turned in
for the night as early as possible and I dreamed of Royal Bengals that
night...Morning was again gloomy... and I knew our chances are dim if the Sun didn't show up. Anyhow, after breakfast, we set off to the Rhino re-introduction area. The plan was to go for an elephant ride in the area. Jeeps are kept outside the Rhino area (it is a separate wired enclosure) as Rhinos will attack the vehicle. I was surprised to know that a Rhino can easily outrun a jeep.
We mounted on an elephant, which seemed far too small to carry us all (we were 4 adults and a child). Our inhibitions grew when we saw the mahout. He was only a boy! To add to that, he was not the regular mahout!!! Anyhow, we had already crossed into the Rhino land, and it was too late to turn back. Slowly we went into the tall grass. Even atop an elephant, these grass reached one's leg. ..
On and on, round and round we went in the foggy morning. The boy was confident of spotting the rhino; but as the time passed by, he started sounding unsure... Nothing was visible in the fog. A couple of times the elephant behaved as if it sensed some animal (a tiger, I hoped), but it turned out to be false alarm. At last, the boy decided it was futile to go on - it was one of the rarest of rare occasions that neither a Rhino, nor a tiger could be spotted, he told us. I don't know who was more disappointed, us or the boy.
We got back to the guest house and prepared for our journey back. There was nothing much to take back from this trip- may be the unique dual bridge and the rail track inside the forest was the highlight. Only one consolation was there - it was written near the exit "Don't be sad if you didn't see the Tiger, it has seen you" Perhaps, it did!
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