This
morning saw me and 3 others head out on a rod trip to Simlipal National park located approx 170 km from Jamshedpur in Orissa. There was another couple that joined us
later. They had a flat tyre to start there day with thus delaying there start by 30 minutes.
This
is a birding trip and as summer approaches migratory birds are possibly headed
back, and Summer birds are returning to the warm areas around here,
I
have never been to Simlipal so I was excited and I had Three Birding stalwarts
for company, Dr (mrs)Vijaya Bharat, Dr Bharat and Mr TK Sridhar. there is so much about birds to know, a life long journey I am told.
Mr.
Shridhar actually lives in the same complex as me, so we started out together
and Dr Bharat was kind enough to drive all through, (I guess he enjoys driving)
We
are on our way by 0700 hours and is a smooth ride till Bahraghora approx 100km from JSR, where we turn
right towards Baripada and 10 km onto the road once again there is a agitation
by the tribal's( don't ask me there demands, doubt if those agitating knows either) vehicles had
lined up for a couple of km already. Finding a low point on the divider, we jumped the divider
and drove up to where the agitation blockade was, mercy be, we managed to talk our way
past the agitators.
We sped on to Hotel Anita where
we hoped to catch breakfast; this place has good restrooms for ladies and the
only place I know around here with good restroom facility. Unfortunetly we learnt on this day that Hotel Anita does
not serve Breakfast, they open at 1200 noon and open till 2359 midnight, we were quiet hungry by now the clock showed 0930
Time
to open our emergency ration that Dr Vijaya Bharat was carrying and we ate some scacks before we drove on in direction of Simlipal, trusting there would be a
dhaba near the Toll Plaza, after all these Toll guys have to eat it would also
give the 2nd car time to catch up with us.
Ten km later we came across a dhaba at the Toll Plaza and we all scanned our phone one last time as we waited for breakfast.
word was we would lose connectivity soon as we entered
Simlipal National Forest.
Food
was Paratha and dal( when hunger pangs are storng all tastes great ) and here the cooking was superb, we stuffed ourselves well,( I felt like I might need to skip lunch)
We
had to stop and enter our details at the forest gate register before we drove on approx.
7 km to the border of Core area where
our Forest Guest house was
We
checked into Lulung Aranya Nivas, one of 2 Luxury guest house inside the Simlipal
national forest, rates are approx. Rs 7000/room and food is 1000/ head for
buffet lunch and dinner, and oh ya Ala cart is available too.
The riverside rooms seen above are
closer to the dining area.
The
Meadow rooms shown below are further away, but larger and avalaible here are golf cart or a 5 minute walk to
the room, I preferred these rooms as they had less hustle bustle around and
more chances of seeing birds (I was proved correct) on this count,’’
Lunch
done we walked around the property
As I sat outside my room, I was lucky to
get some amazing birds come pose for me.
Black headed Oriole
Pigmy woodpecker
Leaf Bird
Red vented Bulbul
( see before this trip I would have named this picture Bulbul, now with my birding friends guiding me , I have gotten more detailed with species )
Relaxing
for a while we decided to drive around the forest some, in the buffer zone we
were allowed to take our own car and we headed out, Sitakund was a point of
interest as it had a waterfall and we presumed there might be some birding
activity there.
As
was to be expected we did Photograph ourself here and found a lovely statue of
Lord Hanuman in a cave meditating
while there we were visited by a thirsty cousin that joined us for a dink of water and a few
locals who were ready for a bath.
Soon
it was beginning to get dark and we headed back to Lulung Aranya Nivas to get some rest and
prepare for next day.
#Jharkhand#beauty#spring
#reflection#motorbiketrip#backtonewnormalseries #jampotblues
#minimalism#peace#motivation
#editorialphotography#newfriends
#rajatghoshfilm #biketaleswithrajat#travelphotography
#targetpractice#environmentalportraits #stockimage #rajatghoshphotograph
#storytellingimage
#conceptualimages#orissa#leafBird#sitakund
#backheadedOriole
#dailylife #Creative#instagood#simlipal
