18th February 2024, 23:13
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| A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park Prologue Ever since i first read the "Maneaters of Kumaon" by Jim Corbett, i have been fascinated by the Terai region of North India esp the wild cats. While there are other parks in the region like Dudhwa, Kishanpur, Rajaji etc, i personally believe no other park offers the kind of varied landscapes that Corbett has. Beautiful mountains, river running through the park, magical grasslands etc. In short it has setting for those magical frames which any wildlife photographer dreams of (similar to what Maara in that sense). Please dont get me wrong on Dudhwa, Rajaji etc. They have their own charm as well. Numerous travelogues in our very own T-BHP followed and some brilliant images on Facebook/Instagram by some superb photographers only made my urge to visit Corbett more stronger. However the actual travel finally materialized only this January (i.e 2024) thanks mainly to the transparent booking system which was introduced by Uttarakhand Forest Dept in Nov 2023. While it did exist previously too, it was almost impossible for common people to get bookings done on our own. We had to rely on taking help from agents who would almost charge us double the actual amount for a confirmed booking. Stays at Forest Rest Houses (FRH) and safaris can now be booked online on https://www.corbettonline.uk.gov.in/ Some important points on the booking process are a) The bookings open every Monday at 10am with a 45 days advance window. b) For popular zones like Dhikala, you have to be pretty fast in terms of keying in all the information and get the payment done in less than 2 mins.....You heard it right. I got mine done in almost 90 secs (this took 2-3 weeks of practice to get a hang of the process). The rooms get booked in flat 2 mins. c) The portal assumes 2 persons per room. However you can accomodate a 3rd person at extra costs which need to be done at the time of entry at Dhangarhi gate. The costs will provide for an extra bed. d) The costs only cover stay. Food is extra (and on actuals) e) A booking for 1N stay will also automatically give you 2 safari permits the costs of which are already included. f) The costs does not include gypsy costs and they need to be paid directly to the gypsy driver during the stay. While the permit mentions the costs of safaris, the actuals can vary depending on where the driver picks you up at Ramnagar etc. In our case for a 3N stay (i.e 6 safaris we paid 20K) which included pick up and drop to our place of stay at Ramnagar. The costs also does not cover guide charges (current guide charges are 800 per safari). g) In case you already have identified a driver and spoken to him, you can get the vehicle number and request the CTR (Corbett Tiger Reserve) support team to allocate this vehicle to your permit. This can be done through the whatsapp number provided in the booking portal. Else CTR team will assign a vehicle randomly and the same will be automatically reflected in your online permit. The driver's mobile number will also be updated which will help you co-ordinate with your driver. h) Max of 3N can be booked for a trip. i) There are around 5 categories of rooms in Dhikala FRH namely New FRH, Cabin, Annexe, Hutment and the Loghut which houses a 24 bed dormitory. j) Apart from Dhikala FRH, there are 3 more FRHs in Dhikala zone namely Sultan, Gairal and Sarpduli. Dhikala FRH is the only one which has almost 24 hour electricity while the others run on solar and lasts for 6-8 hours during the day. h)One other important aspect to remember is that Dhikala FRH has a restaurant which serves Vegetarian meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) on a buffet basis. Apart from there is a canteen which serves Maggi, Sandwich, Omlette etc apart from tea/coffee. Most of the other FRHs in Dhikala dont have this facility. One has to carry the essentials and has to be cooked in the FRH. Dhikala Forest Rest House is one of the most popular FRH as it is deep in the core zone (it is almost 35-40kms from the gate of entry i.e Dangarhi gate). It overlooks the beautiful Ramganga river. If you are lucky you can actually spot Tigers or Elephants crossing the river from the main viewing deck. Here's a pano shot on my iPhone standing near the main viewing deck at Dhikala FRH  Our plan Me and my photography buddy planned on visiting Corbett during the last week of January. The main idea was to try and photograph the amazing landscapes with the morning fog. We managed to get the FRH bookings for 28-31 Jan. The plan was to take a flight to Delhi (from Pune) and take a cab to Ramnagar and reach by 27th evening. This would allow us some rest before we headed into the park on 28th morning. Total 6 safaris were booked as part of the 3N stay. We booked our cabs (to and fro Ramnagar from IGI Terminal 3) via Gozocabs. I found their prices to be very competitive and service to be good as well. We booked our stay at Ramnagar for 27th Jan at Karan's Corbett Motel (which is around 30 mins drive from Dangarhi gate). The Actual trip We were very vary of the fog situation in Delhi and how the flights were getting impacted. I was closely tracking the situation on flightradar24.com on a daily basis. But thankfully flights were on time during our travel and we arrived to a very chilly welcome at Delhi. Our cab was waiting for us at the parking lot in T3. We offloaded our luggage and off we were towards Ramnagar. It only got much colder as we landed in Ramnagar with temperatures around 7 Celcius by late evening. Our driver came to meet us at the resort and briefed us on the plan for the next day. Since it was only 2 of us in the gypsy, we got the middle row seat removed which allowed us to sit on the gypsy floor and get a much lower angle to shoot. After a good meal, we hit the bed quite early to catch up on some much wanted sleep. Though it was biting cold, the thoughts of seeing a Tiger or an Elephant crossing Ramganga river kept us in good spirits. Our driver promptly came to pick us up at 9.30am. Most of the gypsys in Corbett have a luggage basket as an attachment at the tail. This will allow them to carry luggage while going to FRH. We reached Dangarhi gate and completed the checkin formalities (Id cards were checked against our booking permits, our bags were checked to ensure there was no alcohol etc). While we were excited about getting into Dhikala zone, one reason for a bit of sadness was the fact that the Grassland area of Dhikala was closed since November due to a couple of human deaths due to Tiger attacks. We were told that the particular tiger was tranquilized and moved out, however there was another tiger which was particularly aggressive towards any vehicles. Hence the Forest Ranger had decided to keep the area shut for tourists which was indeed necessary considering everyone's safety was of paramount importance. We saw the bust of the great Jim Corbett at the Dangarhi gate entry.  Dhikala Forest Rest House (FRH) takes approximately 1hour30 mins to reach from the Dangarhi gate. With a few stops for photography etc that can stretch. Our first glimpse of the famed Dhikala FRH  We had booked the New FRH at Dhikala for 3 nights. This is the very first building on the right side and it also houses the restaurant on the ground floor. The room was reasonably spacious and the best part was the window opens to the Ramganga river.  We had company when we checked into the room. A curious guy checking who the new occupants were from the window.  After checking in we had a quick stroll across the property as we still had some time before lunch. Another pano of the viewing area. The building on the left is the New FRH with restaurant on the ground floor. This is the old FRH. We were told that bookings for this is done purely offline and is usually reserved only for VIPs.  Since it was January and due to the cold and foggy weather, the timings of safaris were as below Morning safari - [6.45am - 10.45am] Afternoon safari - [1.30pm - 5.30pm] Day 1 Afternoon safari After a sumptuous lunch, it was time for our first sojourn into the Dhikala range of the Corbett Tiger Reserve. We started off on the famous Sambhar road and checked for any signs of big cat movement. We traversed the entire length of Sambar road and then checked the main road but there was absolutely no signs of any movement. We then proceeded towards the Ramganga bridge which apparently was rebuilt and was opened only a couple of days prior to our visit. It was a magnificent sight. While we didnt proceed towards the Paar region, we decided to go back to Sambar road and try our luck. The Paar bridge across Ramganga river  When we returned back to the Sambar road, we could see a few gypsys waiting and we could hear alarm calls of Rhesus macaques. We could clearly see that the macaques were looking downwards and sounding off calls. However a couple of male macaques were almost trying to climb down the trees in a very intimidatory fashion. Our guide interpreted this in a way and told us that there is a good possibility that the cubs (which apparently are around 8-10 months old) of Pedwali tigress (which is the resident of the Sambar road and the daughter of the legendary Paarwali) were currently present there however the mother is not likely to be around. This was the reason he felt the macaques were trying to intimidate the cubs. We waited for more than an hour but since the mother was not around, the cubs were unlikely to move and it was time for us to move on. Thus ended our first safari. The temperatures plummeted big time (i assume it was close to 2-3 degrees by late night). The piping hot tea was such a relief in such weather. When you stay inside the forest, there was never a dull moment. As we were preparing to get ready to head to the restaurant for dinner, we could hear continuous alarm calls of spotted deer. The calls went on for nearly 15-20 mins but since it was pitch dark outside the campus, we couldnt see anything. One of the staff members at the FRH told us that it must be most likely a sub adult male tiger that usually crosses the road in front of Dhikala FRH from the grassland side. Day 2 Morning safari Our guide and driver had clearly warned us of the bone chilling cold that would await us in the morning safaris. Accordingly we had almost 4 layers of clothing (including a base layer of thermal wear) to beat the cold. 2 layers of socks and gloves made it much better for us. We could clearly see pugmarks of a male tiger ourside the FRH gate which confirmed the tiger's movement the previous night. We slowly proceeded towards the Sambar road and checked for any pugmarks of Pedwali having returned back to the area where we had heard the Macaque alarm calls the previous evening. However there was no such movement. We scanned the entire length of Sambar road and then our guide decided to move towards the Paar area. Paar area is currently being ruled by Junior Paarwali (who is also the daughter of the legendary Paarwali). She now has 4 cubs which are around 3 months old. There were videos on social media when she had moved her cubs along the banks of Ramganga. Will we be lucky to sight them? This was the thought was running in our mind when we crossed the bridge and onto the Paar area. We headed towards the small grassland area to scan for any elephants. And we were lucky to find a lone tusker gently foraging the grass and having his fill. Lone tusker on a magical foggy morning   We had our heart's content of photographs and left the gentle giant to his morning routine. We then proceeded to all the other major hotspots of Paar to check for any movement but there were none. After spending more than an hour, we decided to head back to Main road and then back to Sambar road. The main road was offered us some amazing photography opportunities where there was a great play of light and shadow. And to our luck we had some subjects (though common ones) that graced the area for us to get some shots that we wanted. A lone Sambar stag crossing the main road under the forest canopy  Since Sambar road has one way gypsy movement, we had to go towards the FRH and then detour towards Sambar road. While doing so, we saw many gypsys waiting near the turn who told us that a male sub adult tiger had just crossed over the road towards the grassland slide. To which our guide said it must be the same male which had moved across the FRH the previous night and it was now returning back. We missed it by around 5-10 mins. A gypsy heading back towards FRH on main road basking in the early morning light  Thus our 2nd safari came to an end. Afternoon Safari We had a new guide for our drive who was also a keen birder which obviously was to our liking. After the usual routine of checking on sambar road, we crossed over to Paar area and were heading towards the grassland. After negotiating a turn, we bumped into a male tusker (probably the same one which we had seen in the morning drive). While the distance between us and the tusker must've been around 50 meters, he was slowly walking towards us on the road. It was a side lit situation which gave us a good opportunity to click to some decent pictures of the bull. All of a sudden he gave us a mock charge. Thankfully it lasted only for 10-15 secs. It was enough to scare the hell out of me  Monochrome is my favourite when it comes to Elephant portraits. The bull in all its glory  Side lit portrait  The tusker thankfully veered off the main road and gave up the chase. It eventually went towards a tree and brought it down with its entire might. We left him to his self and headed back towards the Ramganga banks. On the way we got an opportunity to click this Pied Kingfisher  While crossing Ramganga we could see the same tusker getting on the river banks  After crossing over the river we went towards an area called Ramsingh based on a local forest guard's word that the tigress had made a kill. When we reached the spot there were already several gypsys but there was no sign of the tiger. After waiting for close to an hour it was time to head back to the FRH for closure. On the way we were lucky to see a Hog Deer which was a first for me. This guy was extremely shy and hardly gave us an opportunity for a photograph. Hog Deer  Thus ended our 3rd safari. While the tiger was proving to be elusive, we were very happy with the frames we managed to get of the Elephant. Day 3 Morning safari We had the same guide for our morning drive. It was back to the usual pattern of checking for any movements on Sambar road and then to Paar. There were hardly any movements during this entire safari. However we managed to click a few frames of some of the commoners. A Spotted deer on the main road  A grey heron on a perch on Ramganga. Felt as if it was medidating (he was still for a very long time)  Long tailed Shrike  Thus ended our morning drive. Afternoon Safari This was our 5th safari. With no luck on the big cat sightings i was beginning to feel a bit disappointed. Till date i've never had a single trip where there was no big cat sighthings (either a Tiger or Leopard). While i was banking on some luck to continue this streak, somewhere deep down in my heart i felt this trip would break this trend. We had a new guide this time. I hoped he would prove lucky for us. Only time will tell if so. Anyways with a prayer on my lip, we started our safari and followed the usual routine of checking Sambar road first. Then headed to Paar region. On our way we saw a beautiful Black Shouldered kite perched on top of a tree but the green hill in its backdrop gave us the perfect background to click him.  After checking all the main areas of Paar, we came across a junction just near the Paar grassland where there were a few gypsys who had seen Jr. Paarwali cross the road. She was trying to get her 4 cubs but left them at the last minute. They said it had probably made a kill and wanted to get her cubs to feed. Since the cubs hadnt crossed over, it meant we had a great chance of seeing them. By then almost 20 odd gypsys had coverged across either side of the crossway. After waiting for a while the tigress Jr. Paarwali crossed over to the other side where her cubs were waiting for her. This gave us an opportunity to click a couple of images of her. Jr. Paarwali   The jinx of the previous 4 safaris was thankfully broken. Me and my friend high fived each other. However we were waiting for the bigger reward of seeing her 3 month old furballs from close quarters. While i had seen cubs of similar age group at Tadoba, i had seen only 2 of them. With 4 cubs, this was a unique opportunity for me. We waited for almost 30 mins, when our driver spotted the tiger walking down the hill slope with her cubs and was about a few yards from crossing. Because the whole area had thick undergrowth we couldnt photograph them while they were climbing down the slope. Based on what we had observed and seen on many tiger documentaries, the mother usually looks on either side of the road before calling her cubs to cross. We were hoping for this to happen which would present us with the perfect opportunity to click them looking straight into our lenses. Within minutes the mother first crossed and then the 4 tiny furballs all scooted away in a matter of seconds without looking towards us. The first 2 cubs scooting away  Followed by the 3rd cub  And the 4th one  While we were happy that we got to see them, however a bit disappointed that they didnt look towards us for any decent images. Once the crossing was done, we followed them towards a small nullah where we expected them to cross. However they didnt. After waiting for almost 45 mins, we could see one of cubs which was very bold who made a brief appearance and then disappeared into the bushes. This was quite far and hence couldnt get a decent shot. The bold and curious one  It was time to head back to the FRH. We were extremely happy with the events and had helped ourselves to a hot cup of tea. Back in the canteen it was time to show images to other folks, some of whom were on the other side of the crossing and managed to get better images due to the sideways angle. Day 4 6th and last safari Since we had our return flight in the evening from Delhi, we had to exit Dangarhi gate by 11.30am. This meant we had to conclude our safari by 9.30am and checkout from Dhikala. We used this last safari to mainly try and photograph some of the beautiful canopies formed by the large Sal trees through which sunlight pierces through and creates some wonderful landscapes. Here are a few we managed to capture     Last edited by ramnath_77 : 18th February 2024 at 23:30. |
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18th February 2024, 23:20
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| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2020 Location: Pune
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| Re: A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park   We finally ended our last safari early by around 9.30am. Quickly completed our checkout formalities and exited Dhikala FRH. It took us around an hour and 30 mins to exit Dangarhi gate and proceeded towards the resort property and Ramnagar where we had stayed at the beginning of our tour. Our cab was waiting for us to ferry us to Delhi. This trip was made memorable for me due to 3-4 things 1) The amazing landscapes that Jim Corbett (esp Dhikala zone) has to offer 2) The opportunity to photograph elephants 3) Sighting of Jr. Paarwali with her 4 month old cubs 4) Last but not the least the experience of staying at Dhikala FRH which is deep in the core zone of the forest which is something i will remember for a lifetime. Gear used - Nikon z8 and Nikkor z180-600 lens (which i rented for this trip) I definitely plan to visit sometime during May (which is the peak of the elephant migration season) to make some memorable images of these gentle giants. I hope you liked reading the travelogue as much as i loved to write and post. Thank you for reading. |
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19th February 2024, 04:55
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19th February 2024, 11:29
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19th February 2024, 14:40
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19th February 2024, 16:35
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| Re: A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park Quote:
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19th February 2024, 18:37
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19th February 2024, 18:38
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| Re: A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park Quote:
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To your second point, you can change gypsys if you want but would likely have to come out of the park and go back with a different gypsy. Waste of valuable time and a hassle. Guide allotments used to be random the last few times I visited although you can arrange Gypsy if you know a good driver, as stated by the OP. Quote:
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19th February 2024, 21:29
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20th February 2024, 08:49
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22nd February 2024, 22:39
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| Re: A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park Quote:
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24th February 2024, 20:29
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27th February 2024, 20:30
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4th March 2024, 11:33
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| Re: A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park Quote:
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1) No Dhikala and Dhela are separate zones 2) Yes you can book safaris from the official site. In case of which zone to visit, it depends on what is your expectation. If it is landscapes, i would suggest start with Dhikala. However if it is Tigers, Bijrani is also very good. In case you dont get safaris you can try Dhela as well. 3) You can either ask your resort to provide you a taxi for pickup/drop till the safari gate. Alternatively if you have fixed up the driver for your safari drives, they usually will pick you from the resort at an additional fee. Pls speak to them in advance and finalize | ||
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4th March 2024, 19:07
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