On a Tiger Trail in Corbett

kritikal

During the extended Holi Weekend in March, I finally got around to striking one more of the list of ‘must-visit' places in India – the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The trip didn’t exactly work out the way we planned – It turned to be much better sometimes and not so great some other times, but I got more than what I bargained for. For one, I did manage a glimpse of
a tiger! An one-minute window, but it is etched in my memory forever!

Here are some more details.

19th March-20th March
Our tryst with Plan-B began early. Not that we had a Plan B.... On getting to the Bombay airport, we learnt that our Spicejet flight, which was slated to take off at 5.15 p.m., had been indefinitely postponed. If we had taken off at the right time, we would have reached Delhi by 7.15, leaving us with enough time to get to Old Delhi railway station, from where the train to Ramnagar was to leave at around 10.30. Eventually, the flight took off later in the night and we reached Delhi at about 1.30 a.m. Now, venturing out during those hours is not a great idea in Delhi, let alone for two women traveling together. So we stayed put at the airport and left for ISBT around dawn.

On reaching the Anand Vihar ISBT, we did find a direct bus to Ramnagar. This seemed to be the only option, since there were no direct trains during the day. But then again, we hadn’t slept a wink the whole night and a 7-hour bus ride in a state-run bus was not going to give us any chance of catching up on some sleep. So we decided to take one of the AC buses to Moradabad and then catch another bus to Ramnagar from there. Turned out to be quite a good idea and we did manage to catch some shut-eye for about 2 hours.

We reached Moradabad at about 11 a.m and were told to take a ‘super-fast’ bus to Ramnagar. This essentially meant it was a bus which stopped a lot less than the normal buses. However, we got conned into sitting in a normal bus and we spent the next three hours having one of most uncomfortable rides. It didn’t help that we were tired and the sun was beating down on us quite a bit! Three hours went by and there was no sign of Ramnagar and so, after picking a fight with the bus driver, we got off and took another bus (a super-fast one this time around) to Ramnagar and reached there at about 3.30 p.m

Since we had pretty much lost most of the day, there was nothing much to do except spending time at the resort. Now, I had tried hard to get accommodation at Dhikala, but thanks to the long weekend, it was not possible. We had to make do good at one of those umpteen resorts which are present between Ramnagar and Dhikala. IMO, these resorts are overpriced and the artificial lakes and settings that they create are so faraway from the real deal.

21st March

We reached the Ramnagar Booking office at about 8.30 a.m to try to book ourselves a safari. Unfortunately the afternoon Dhikala safari was booked and so we booked for the morning for the next day. Private vehicles are not allowed inside Dhikala for a day safari. So unless you are lucky enough to find accommodation within Dhikala, you will have to make peace with those big army canters with a bunch of other folks. However, you could either hire a jeep or take your car for a day safari at Bijrani or Jhirna. The counter for booking these safaris opens at 11 a.m, but the queue starts forming for it as early as 8. This is because there are limited number of jeeps/cars allowed to each of these areas and there were quite a few tourists thanks to the long Holi weekend. We were told that the first 25 jeeps/cars are allowed inside Bijrani. Since we were already at the office by 8.30, we were at the front of the queue and we got our passes soon after the counter opened at 11 . We rented a jeep for about 500 bucks and reached the gates to Bijrani at 2 p.m.

One has to take a guide from the gate for about 100 bucks and the guide who went with us was really good. One of those honest and genuine guys, who wasn’t really making trying to make a fast buck. Soon, we found ourselves going through the buffer zone where some villagers stay even today. Their abodes are protected by solar fencing, so that they can be safe from the animals. We spotted a couple of deers even in the buffer zone and were straining to get a good shot (with a camera of course!). The guide told us that soon we will see so many deers that we will be tired of them, which turned out to be true. As we went through the tourist zone, there were lots of lots of the spotted deers. We also spotted sambhars, barasinghas, peacock and even a jackal. There is a nice machan hut from where we could look across the open field.

Of course, by now, we wanted to get a pinch of some real action. Soon, we got to know that there is a tiger which is lazing around a river bed and we dashed to see it. Once we got there, we found that the tiger had just left the river bed. We hung around there, trying desperately to try spot it inside the foliage. We didn’t have any luck and then we moved further ahead and saw a family of elephants. There were around 10 of them with a few young ones too.

By this time, all we wanted to do was, more than anything else, was to get to see a tiger. At then, it happened. We got to a spot where a couple of jeeps were gathered and they had just seen a tiger amongst the dense forest. We craned our necks out of the jeep to steal a glance and after looking long and hard enough, we spotted the tiger. It is probably my most memorable one minute. Since it was within the foliage, it was hard to get a good photo shot. However, the video cam and the binoculars came in handy as we could zoom in and see it. For a moment, when I was looking through binoculars, I saw the tiger staring right back at us. I was transfixed and actually, a shiver ran through my spine.

The tiger soon disappeared deeper and so we left the spot and headed back to the gate as we were near closing time…As we were going back, we came to a clearing where a huge tusker was alone in the field. The guide predicted that if we go close to him, he might try to charge us. A few seconds later, that’s exactly what happened. We rushed back in reverse gear and there he was, chasing us down the path! He is really quick for his size too. Soon he simmered down and stopped and went back into the field. Another jeep overtook us and tried the same thing and he tried charging them too. Finally, he turned his back and we made a quick dash and passed him. It was quite an adventure!

22nd March
The early morning canter ride wasn’t as eventful. But, Dhikala is a place that you have to really experience. Wide and vast, it takes nearly two hours just to get there from the gate. We spotted the usual scenery of lots of spotted deers, a few sambhars, langurs and the like. One young deer was very close to the canter and didn’t move an inch inspite of us watching him from so up close. We saw a couple of tuskers as well. Once we reached the Dhikala rest houses, I got to know what I had really missed  I made a mental note to myself that I would only return to Corbett if I get a reservation here!

On our way back, there was an half chance of spotting another tiger and lots of jeeps were present close to a ridge. But the guy who was driving the canter had no great deal of patience and did not stop there for more than a few minutes. I guess he was eager to get back to town and join in on the Holi festivities.We stopped at a spot from where we could look into a small creek down and spot a few crocs lazing around. Apart from that, the ride back was just long and largely uneventful.

So, all around, our trip was exciting and we had tonnes of fun. In case, any of you are planning to go there, try to get into the Dhikala accommodation, with all your might. In case you can’t, it actually makes sense to stay at Ramnagar (instead of the resorts) and try to get onto as many safaris as you can!

shahronakm

Thanks for that Corbett trip report. We (with my wife)have been to Corbett in Feb '05 & was fortunate enough to find accomodation at Dhikala but unfortunate enough to see a tiger. Actually we had booking for just one day & later regretted that we did not booked for more days. Dhikala is a wonderful place in the middle of the jungle. Next time we will plan for more no. of days.

Ronak.

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