Sarapduli FRH : A different night out at Corbett

As the sun goes down behind the hills turning the landscape into a canvas of myriad shades of orange, jungle folk leisurely walks back to their cocoons for roosting. And then darkness descends to engulf the forest in a think black blanket, enthusing a new lease of life into the nocturnal fauna. The generally quiet jungle suddenly springs to life with a cacophony of calls and sounds. Predators who rules the night are out on the prowl. Many will not survive the night to see the light of tomorrow. Being out there in the dark is certainly a frightening proposition, but watching this drama unfold from inside an electric fence to fend off the predators is an altogether a different experience. Imagine yourself sitting right in the midst of all these actions, feeling the pulse of the jungle nightlife and soak in the unforgettable experience. Welcome to the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, the land of roar and trumpet.

Asitic wild elephants

The evergreen dense forest of Corbett NP with patches of saal trees, grasslands, hills and rivers is the ideal habitat for two of the giants of Indian forests – the Royal Bengal Tiger and the Asiatic Wild Elephants. Corbett is one of those rare places in India that offers feel of real jungle night stay if you can manage to get accommodation in one of its Forest Rest Houses (FRH). These are tourist facilities run by the forest department of Uttaranchal and can be booked online through Corbett’s official site corbettonline.uk.gov.in. Of all the FRHs located across various ranges of the park, the Dhikala FRH is the most sought after, followed by Gairal and Bijrani. All of them are basic facilities, yet any true wild lifer will gleefully trade his luxurious hotel room for a night at these FRH. The Dhikala FRH is the biggest of all the facilities, located 31km inside forest on the bank of Rāmgangā reservoir, has good facilities for food, almost 24 hr electricity and next door access to the famed chaur or grasslands of Corbett. Therefore Dhikala FRH generally stays full with tourists, nature lovers and wildlife photographers. Other rest houses too are alluring, each of them in its unique way. The Gairal FRH and Bijrani FRH too have canteen facilities, but have limited choice of food. They do not have electricity, but are solar powered upto 10pm only. In my last visit this summer, I could not manage booking at either at Dhikala or Gairal. So when I was offered a choice of Sarapduli FRH during my last visit, I thought why not. A different kind of jungle stay was waiting to be experienced.

The Sarapduli FRH is located almost halfway to the Dhikala FRH from the Dhanagiri gate entry point on NH121. Travelling from the Dhanagiri gate, you first reach Sultan FRH. This two room FRH is the only one without any electric fencing and canteen. Hence you need to be super adventurous to plan a night stay here under a small solar lantern in the midst of prime tiger and elephant habitat. Travelling further through large patches of saal forests, after climbing up and down hills, crossing rivulets and, on almost reaching the plains of Dhikala, you reach the Sarapduli FRH. The facility is almost similar to Sultan, but here you have the comfort of an electric fencing.

A tiger in Dhikala zone of Corbett

Entering the Sarapduli FRH campus, we went pass couple of staff quarters lined on both side of the road. At the end of the 200 odd mtr road, which is the other end of the campus, facing a river is the tourist hutment. The building is an old British era heritage. It has two rooms with attached bath. One of the rooms is meant for tourist booking online, and the other for officials or someone who manages booking though connections. As the official room generally remains vacant, you are expected to spend the night alone in that house. The dining hall with a fire place is common to both the rooms. The guest room was smaller as compared to those in Dhikala or Gairal. However the toilet was almost the same size as the room itself. There also is a veranda facing the river, lined with many chairs, in case you find time to relax. You do not get river view though, because of overgrown bushes. About fifty feet away is a 3 bed dormitory in a separate building. Their common toilet is outside, making it scarier.

A modern time extension has been added to the old building, to serve as the kitchen. Cooking gas cylinder is available along with utensils. Charges for using these items are already included in the room rent for the night. Guests are required to carry raw materials for meals. You should be meticulous to carry everything, from salt to sugar to tea to turmeric to spices. You will not get anything there. You may either cook yourselves or else the caretaker will cook. Most guests generally goes out for safari at the crack of dawn, only to return to Sarapduli in the evening. Thus one is likely to have only dinner at Sarapduli. Or a cup of tea in the morning and evening.

Given the surroundings, we were excited at the prospect of spending the night at Sarapduli. It was almost dusk when we hit the campus after safari. Electric fencing were activated soon after we had entered. As we were the only guests for that night, we pulled out chairs in the open while the caretaker served us evening tea. The campus was dimly lit by few solar lights placed along the pathway. As the night fell, the staff quarters, though inside the campus, appeared too far away for comfort. The darkness and silence of the forest was overpowering. It started to engulf all of us, including the driver of my gypsy. He is a local guy, often goes to forest, yet he was scarred to sleep alone in the driver’s room. He cooked up haunting stories. Finally he managed to stay with the caretaker in his quarter. We too had become anxious. Despite being a regular to Corbett, being alone was unique experience.  We had to make a polite query as to how far help is available if we call someone at night. I estimated the caretaker’s room was about 200 feet away. We could see a light in a room about 100 feet away. We were told that a staff sleeps in that room. We were assured somewhat but was not sure how will someone react if we really need help at night.

Discussions on tiger sightings and other incidences accompanied our tea. I always enjoy such discussions with men who spends most of their days and nights in the forest. A storm was building up. Flashes of lightning were illuminating the surroundings occasionally. A cool breeze started blowing bringing in some relief from the heat. As we were enjoying the moments, we felt a sudden commotion along the fence and then a panic call from a scarred Sambhar deer. The source of the call was so close that all of us stood up instinctively. The electric fencing on the side from where the call came is about 100 feet from where we were sitting. Call of Sambher deer is a certainty about presence of a tiger or leopard. It was almost certain that a tiger was walking by the fence, probably to to the adjoining riverbed. We pulled out torches to scan for any sign of animal close to the fence, but without any success. My family made anxious query about safety of the electric fencing. The caretaker did his bit to assure them that bigger animals cannot trespass. There has not been any incident of tiger or leopard straying into the campus. To me a tiger may be too big for the fencing hole, but a leopard can come climbing any of the tree, if it wants to do so.

The mystic Corbett mornings

It was a long day for us and lights were to go off at 10pm. So we went for an early dinner. While waiting for food to be served, my eyes spotted something under a chair in the dining hall. The chair was directly under the only light glowing in the room and hence insects were converging onto it. Smaller insects, that had died, fell to the floor under the chair. Among those dead insects, there was something longer than any insect. So I went to inspect. I got excited to see a small white scorpion about 3 inches long, feasting on the dead insects. What we should have worried is that this scorpion was inside the house, and barely couple of 4-5 feet from the door of the room where we were supposed to spend the night without any electricity. Scary, isn’t it. But this is the thrill of spending a night in a jungle. And where do one get to stay in such a place in these times where humans have not rarely left any space unoccupied. This is Corbett, the real jungle. And this is Sarapduli, providing much better feel of jungle than Dhikala. When I brought it to the notice of the caretaker, he immediately arranged to remove the scorpion. He informed that it is more poisonous than the black scorpion.

The night passed of well. We were provided a small solar lantern for use after lights went off. Though the cacophony of sound had stopped before we went to bed, few Nightjar birds, with its terrible high pitch calls, kept waking us up from time to time. Being peak of summer in May, it was quite hot to spend the night without a fan. We stayed at Sarapduli for one more night. Second night was better with bit of rain and cool breeze. We felt confident to keep the door between bedroom and dining hall open that night. It provided much needed cross ventilation. We slept peacefully that night. Rains kept the nightjars away. I have been to Corbett so many times, generally staying at Dhikala and Gairal. This first time stay at Sarapduli was unique in its own way. We will remember the events of those two nights for a long time. It was a true jungle night stay in all sense. If you are looking for adventure, then you should certainly give it a try. You are sure to be back with treasure trove of memories from these places.

How to reach there:

There are multitudes of options to travel from Delhi to Ramnagar. You can use the Ranikhet Express that leaves every night from Old Delhi. Buses are available from Anand Vihar ISBT. Always travel by Govt Buses in Delhi NCR for safety. We typically hire  a cab which drops us and returns. The cab returns to pick us up on day of retun. By road it is about 240 km and takes 5 hours.

Where to stay:

Forest Rest Houses (FRH) can be booked through forest department's website only, though some agents arranges for your booking for a hefty charge. But no one can arrange a trip for you on short notice. You need to plan in advance. Typically FRH booking use to open 45 days in advance. Rooms are limited and hence gets sold out within minutes of opening. Rules keep chnaging. Pl check the offcial site for recent guideleines at corbettonline.uk.gov.in and select Book Tickets --> Night Stay. There are hundreds of resorts outside the park. You can do day visit Jeep safari only if you stay outside. Even for day safaris, you need to book in adavnce. Else you will end of beeing fleeced by doing safari in buffer zone like Sitabani.

Gentle giants of Corbett grasslands

This April, I was on my second visit this year to Corbett National Park. This place is heaven for wildlife photographers. I can keep going there whenever time and finances permit. This visit was special because of the conglomeration of almost 50 fellow photographers as part of the Canon Wild Click Season-V. Major part of the event was hosted at the Infinity Resort at Dhikuli with nature trails along the Kosi river at both Dhikuli and Mohan, and also at Sitabani range under Ramnagar forest division. The event was organised by Nature Wanderers and was sponsored by Canon India, Sanctuary Asia, WIldcraft. The Forest Deptt of Uttarakhand also extended its support to the event allowing access. Part of the event was conducted at Dhikala with one night stay and 3 safaris at the Dhikala range.

The participants were required to shoot photos for 5 themes and submit 1 photo in each category. It was evident that subjects for some of the themes were to be found either in the nature trail or in the sprawling Infinity campus and subjects for some of the themes were to be found either in the saal forests or grasslands of Dhikala.

As we had entered into Dhikala zone very early into the second morning, the sweet smell of the  saal forest greeted us. The vehicles moved in such a way to avoid a convoy.  Most of the roads wore a carpet of falls leaves resembling a mauve carpet stretched as far as you can see. We took the detour via the deep forest road to Gairal. En-route, we had one of the best moments of the trip when a small group of elephants crossed the main road giving us opportunity to shoot them with classic background of saal forest of Corbett.

The second safari post lunch was fantastic. We were warned about not to run after tigers because of the danger of ending up the day without any photo to show. It was prime time for elephants. We were advised to reach the grassland, known as chaur, in search of pachyderm by 3 pm. I took a trip a trip in March expecting to shoot elephants. But because of an extended winter the herds were yet to arrive. As the news of arrival of elephants is confirmed, I got excited. And what an evening it turned out to be.  We could shoot elephants from as close as 15 feet. The herd had been very patient and enjoyed being photographed by another herd of photographers. By the end of the day, almost all us had some dream shots of elephants. I had elephants in the river, having mud bath, tossing up grass, display of emotions, group dynamics, etc. This was an evening not to forget for a lifetime.

Back at the Infinity resort, we got involved in the race against time of the event. This edition of wild click was won by young Daanish Shastri. I am happy to have made some fantastic images over those 3 days for my collection. As usual made some new friends from different parts of India. Looking forward to going back again to Corbett in June this year before the park closes for monsoon.

Bleak feature for Dhikala grassland at Corbett

Was back to Corbett in March for yet another visit to one of my favorite destinations. The 3N/4D visit this time was split between Bijrani FRH and Dhikala FRH. This was my first night stay at Bijrani range. Dhikala has always been the favorite. The landscape of Bijrani range is altogether different from the Dhikala range. So are the animal dynamics. After a couple of dry years, tiger sighting reports at Bijrani is encouraging. My first trip to Bijrani was not that fruitful as we had missed the majestic animal. Or rather it decided that we need to come again in search of him.  

as mist rises from the Ramganga riverbed, the Dhikla landscpe transforms into a canvas

Bijrani FRH is somewhat similar to the Gairal FRH. However Garial is better located by a river. Bijrani has 4 double bedded rooms and 2 four bedded rooms. The canteen has been taken over by KMVN. There is no running electricty. Solar powerer electricity is provided between 6 pm to 9 pm. If for some reason you want to stay awake beyond that then you have to manage with a solar lantern provided in your room. There is not even a electric plug in rooms for you to charge your camera batteries. Me and my friend decided to sit on the open varandah and observe what happens after lights goes off. Under the moonlight we could see couple of deer and probably a fox roaming around inside the solar powered FENCED campus.

Excitements in safaris at Bijrani were low. The highlight was the rare sighting of a Yellow Throated Morten. We left Bijrani after two safaris and headed for Dhikala. As we left the Dhanagiri gate, we could feel the familiar smell of forest. In Dhikla range, there always is the possibility of facing a rampaging elephant at next corner. We missed the tiger in one of the safaris by a whisker. It came out of the bushes, but went back immediately seeing the waiting vehicles.  So no tigers this time, despite 3 days and 6 safaris. Yet we enjoyed every bit of out four safaris. I do not go to Corbett to see tigers. If you get to see one, then consider it as bonus. Unlike Ranthambhore, the tigers in Corbett are very shy.  

the view from platform at Dhikla FRH

What was of great surprise to me was flooding of the famed grassland at Dhikala. A substantial part of the grassland was submerged under the water released from the Ramganga reservoir. In fact water was flowing upto the walls of Dhikla campus. One can see fishes standing at the wooden platform at the campus. The floor of the grassland is wet and hence grasses had not dried completely. This is preventing forest department from setting them on fire to let new grass grow. Grasses have grown quite tall and are not allowing good game view. With next monsoon due in couple of months, the situation is likely to detoriate. Dhikala may end up losing the grassland again this year. It happened couple of years ago.

Dhikala grassland submerged

Let’s hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed. It has been the wettest March in Delhi (and North) in years. Climate is changing for sure. Before ending, I would like to warn roadies about the extreme condition of the road. Once you leave the NH24 at Moradabad and heads for Kashipur, the road has lost its topping completely. It is as bumpy and dusty as you can imagine. Then you compete with the trucks and overladen sugarcane tractors. Of the 90 odd kilometres thereon, around 10 KM are extremely bad, further around 30 KM are in bad shape. It will take years for tourism facilities in Uttarakhand to revive. Appalled at the road condition, I had booked train tickets for my next visit. Looking forward to my next visit in April first week as part of Canon Wild Click.

The Sordid Story of Corbett Resorts

We had stayed at a small resort at Dhikuli near Ramnagar. A recent article in the TOI had highlighted the sordid state of luxurious private resorts causing irreparable damage to the Corbett National Park. In the night we got a taste of what the article was telling us. The Corbett Inn one of the luxury reports, was located next to pur resort. It was having guests of some TVS group company and was hosting a party. The loud music with booz is not what people should expect in a nture resort. But the residents of the hotel differ with this opinion and so got indulged in a booz party rather than enjoying the tranquilness of the jungle. One of the guys who were drunk got hold of the loudspeaker and was creating a scene which we could hear from our resort. Night is the time for 4 legged animals, not for drunken 2 legged ones making his voice heard over the loudspeakers. If the tiger roars, the jungles shake. But when a man roars with a mike in hand, the jungle shed tears. Hosting parties with loud music at night is a regular feature of these so called nature resorts. These unscrupulous hoteliers are doing irreparable damage to the flora and fauna of the area. 77 private resorts have come up in the area close to the park and it is a booming business.

In the park, we had befriended a forest ranger. He told us another sad story. Some of these resorts are resorting to dirty tactics like throwing meats around edges of the park to draw out carnivores so that their guests can be offered chance to see them without entering the park. Easy food makes these carnivores change their natural instinct of hunting for food. If they change their habit, they will look for easy prey like cattle of the villagers living around the park. Villagers are retaliating by poisoning the animals. This is a serious cocktail cooking right under the nose of the administration. Do you believe that administration is not aware of these? The booming resort business has given a fillip to corruption as well.

Almost all these resorts are located in an area called Dhikuli which is strikingly similar to Dhikala located in the core area of the park. Most tourists get duped by the promise of accommodation at Dhikala and end up staying at Dhikuli. So next time you are going there, make sure where you are going. Dhikala accommodations are all Forest Rest Houses. It can be booked only by directly contacting the CTR office. We were told of another sad tale of corruption. Some corrupted CTR officials have been bribed by these resorts to create artificial shortage of FRH accommodation in the park so that people are forced to stay at these resorts. While so much hullabaloo is made about just 1411 tigers left in India, all these dirty things are happening right at the place which is suppose to have the largest number of tigers in India. Disgusting, isn’t it!

This is how we have read, seen and were told by people who really care but have no ways to make their voices heard. Our ranger friend was so proud to tell that they get a hike of Rs.500/- per month in their salary because Corbett has come first in tiger conservation effort and has recorded the highest tiger population in India. The forest is their livelihood and they really want the forest and tiger to live. And we need the tiger to save the forest and save us from ecological disasters like draught and global warming.

Gairal FRH : Should the tourists be charged at par with Dhikala FRH

Gairal FRH

Despite reading some good reviews of Gairal FRH, I have a different point of view to offer to my readers. As someone who had stayed at both Dhikala FRH and Gairal FRH, this review will make you think twice about staying at Gairal.

Location :

We had started for Gairal shortly after sunrise. The 3 km part of the road off the main road through wooded forest was fantastic. Fortunately we did not meet any elephant en-route. The 9:30am arrival at Gairal turns out to be a bit early as the parties staying there were yet to vacate rooms. The normal check out time is 11 am. While waiting for rooms we had our breakfast in the canteen. The campus had hill on one side and river on the other. The location was really beautiful. This probably is the only plus point of Gairal. The large campus had the river flowing by on one side. One can go down to almost bank of the river, but onto the river. The campus is protected by solar powered electric fencing.

Canteen at Gairal:

The canteen is a private run one. We were told that the contract for this canteen was auctioned at Rs.6 lakh a year. The contractor has to recover this cost in 6 / 7 months time. Thus everything was offered at a premium. The rates were in fact same as that of the Govt run restaurant at the Dhikala complex. Lunch and dinner are offered at per person rate of Rs.200/- for adult and Rs.150/- for child. Though rates are same, Dhikala had a proper restaurant with trained staff, but this one is a canteen resembling a roadside hotel.

Rooms at Gairal:

There is an old FRH with two big rooms. The new FRH has four rooms. The rates charged for rooms were at par with Dhikala. But the rooms were much inferior to what is there at Dhikala. Services were also were of lower quality. Anyway, you do not expect classy accomodation in FRH in a jungle. Because I had stayed at Dhikala, I feel a tad disappointed that I had to pay the rates of Dhikala for this kind of room. There also is a 20 bed dormitory and 3 huts. Electricity is available only from 6pm to 9 pm. It is generator only power supply. Dhikala has round the clock power supply. Candles are provided in case you want to stay awake beyond 9pm. But getting out of the room after nine is scary. The solar powered fence is porous. Rooms do not have fans. Even if fans were there, there is no electricity to run them. So think n times before accepting accomodation at Gairal.

Tourist facilities :

Gairal turns out to be full of surprises. Contrary to what is advertised at the official website of Corbett, there are no visitor facilities for elephant rides or jeep safari. This means one will have to go the Dhikala complex to hire a jeep safari, unless you have taken one from outside. Stuck with this situation, we headed for Dhikala. Though we had taken 4 cars inside, we used only 2 vehicles by sharing between families. When we were leaving for Dhikala, guides stationed there approached us. The park has put up a kind of rule that tourist can not go out without a guide. This is apparently in good spirit aimed at mainly novices from losing way in the jungle. The guide charges are only Rs.250/-, but we had no space in our cars. We in any case will be hiring safari jeep and hence guide from Dhikala. Thus we had ignored them. However this proved to be costly for us as the so called nature guides which are supposed to be tourist friendly turned out goons by evening when we had returned. The rule is in Good spirit, but the way it is tried to enforce is wrong. One is allowed to travel without a guide from Dhanagiri to Gairal or Dhikala. How one who has made it to Gairal safely could would lose way while travelling from Gairal to Dhikala. Beyond my comprehension. Everybody takes jeep safaris and hires a guide. Why a guide is being forced into a vehicle not on safari.

Day1 : Gairal – Dhikala - Gairal

Our first stop en-route was the Crocodile point, which is on the Gairal – Dhikala road. There were about 7 crocodiles of different sizes. As we were in no position to take a safari from Dhikala at that hour, we had driven slowly reaching Dhikala for lunch. Being noon time there was not even a deer around. A new rule also has been put up which bares safaris from 12 noon to 2 pm.

When we had approached the office for elephant safari we had another surprise. Initially it was a blatant no as we are staying put at Gairal. The reason cited was that safari of 2 hours duration will start at 3:30 and we will have to leave Dhikala by 5pm to be able to reach Gairal before gates are closed. Imagine the scenario – neither there are any facilities at Gairal, nor can you avail the ones available at Dhikala because you are staying at Gairal. We pursued our case and the official relented to allow one of the groups to have a curtailed safari of 1 ½ hour. So the newbies among us went for elephant safari and oldies like us went for a jeep safari.

The group on elephant got delayed by 10 min and so we headed back for Gairal by 5:20pm. Keeping in mind the speed limit and 6pm closure of gates, we had tried our best to reach Gairal. If you can drive at reasonable speed, the 13 km distance from Dhikala to Gairal will take at least 45 min. The road is not that motorable and you have to keep in mind the animals crossing in those late afternoon hours. Finally we had reached Gairal by 6:10 pm, with enough daylight to spare, but 10 min beyond the schedule closure of gates. This is where trouble had started. The situation was beyond our control. We got delayed by the late arrival of elephant. Then we had followed the guidelines on speed and had arrived with enough daylight. After some arguments and delay, they had opened the gates for us. The ranger though was showing his displeasure, was understanding. But the so called supposed to be tourist friendly nature guides posted there had started to incite the ranger to impose penalty on us. Their grudge was that we did not hire their services and instead hired guides from Dhikala. As I had mentioned earlier, we had no space in our cars to carry the guide as each vehicle had 4 adults and 3 kids. Further we were quite familiar with the routes as we were not first timers. But the heated discussion took an ugly turn because the leader of the guides behaved like a goon. However, a fight was avoided as better sense prevailed with some of the people there. The ranger also fell to their pressure tactics. We had decided to pay a fine of Rs.500/- per vehicle as asked by the ranger. However we had refused to write an apology as worded by those rustic goons. They wanted us to write kind of things like we had knowingly violated rules, had arrived half an hour late. We were clear that we will pay fine if a receipt is issued so that we can take it up with higher authorities if required. But no apology in their terms. They would have easily allowed us in and compensated for this 10 min had we hired a guide from the group. It is a situation which arises solely because we had stayed at that damned place called Gairal. It is not the place if you plan to move around in the park. But if you want a break where you just plan to stay put in a secluded hut, like the ones by wildlife photographers, then Gairal is the ideal place. If you want to stay in Gairal, there are couple of secluded huts where you can relax and wait for animal rather than running after them.

Such botched was our luck that day that a group of 3 guys from Nasik got to see a tiger on their way back. We had met the group day before and assisted them in getting accommodation inside as they had arrived at Ramnagar without any booking. Believe it or not, none of the guys had a camera. All they had was their mobiles where they captured the tiger sitting majestically just 15/20 feet from their jeep. And imagine dozens of people with high end cameras and professional lenses are moving around in the park without any luck. Getting to see the tiger is pure luck.

Day 2:

By morning temper on both sides had cooled down. We spoke to the ranger and also to the moderate ones in the group of the guides. We had made it clear to them that money is not an issue, but it is the space in the cars for which we can not take them. If they wish they can take 500 rupees from us and spare us the trouble of carrying one of them. Despite the previous evening’s incidence, they had no problem in allowing us to leave without a guide.

Even though we started almost at dawn break, it was obvious that we would not be able to take any of the prime time jeep safaris. So we had to make our trip itself a safari. We had started encountering deer, boras etc. almost on the entire route. The difference in time of our trip was clearly visible. We hardly had seen a deer in yesterday’s trip almost at noon. But there were so many animals around on this early morning trip. This is what I meant by prime time jeep safaris from Dhikala which one can not catch by staying at Gairal.

We decided to scout the Kamarpatta road where the group saw the tiger previous evening. We were quite familiar with Dhikala range and hence had no problem in moving around alone. In fact that day we had scoured the Kamarpatta road 3 times without any luck. We are now so familiar with Kamarpatta road that we can get out of it even at night. We spent the entire morning moving around in our own vehicle doing our own safari. Corbett is not only for tigers. Getting to see a tiger is extreme good luck and encountering an angry pachyderm is extreme bad luck. Leaving aside these two extremes, there is so much of unspoiled nature to explore and enjoy.

But sometimes the quota of bad luck exceeds what you normally expect. While returning to Dhikala for breakfast, one of our vehicles was hit by a safari vehicle. Though we had maintained a safe distance, the driver of the safari jeep ahead of us suddenly stopped. We saw him stopping and so had stopped our vehicle some 10 /15 feet behind him. Then the jeep reversed suddenly in high speed without giving us any reaction time. By the time we shouted the stapney had hit our bonnet. It was his fault and so we could confront him. Had we been at fault he would have made our life miserable. He was insisting that he had no money and will get our vehicle repaired at Ramnagar. We knew that we had to settle is on the spot as outside it will be his den where we will be at disadvantage. We also understood that the guy is only a driver and can not afford to pay actual cost of repair. All we should get from him is the money to file an insurance claim. He was even dithering at it. When we had threatened to lodge a written complaint at Dhikala itself, he budged and paid 500. Misfortune was following us on this trip.

We proceeded on jeep safaris almost immediately after lunch. Every safari makes you see newer areas of the park and revisit the most common areas like the sambher road and the grassland. After moving around the park for some time, we finally came to location, where calls were heard. We also decided to wait. Soon we heard our first call of a sambher deer. The call of the deer becomes frequent. Everyone was certain that the tiger is around and is likely come down to the river. We all now know what a call for tiger is. Clock was ticking and time was running out fast. The guide and driver of our jeep told that if we fail to see the tiger today, we have to blame our stay at Gairal. Had we stayed at Dhikala we could have waited for another hour or so. To our utter disappointment, we had to call of our wait at 4:45pm and proceed for Dhikala. Even while leaving the place we could hear the call of sambher and could see few alert deer around. The tiger was definitely around. It was so close yet so far. All for this damned place called Gairal.

We left Dhikala by 5 pm and had reached Gairal 15 min before time. Probably the guides were unhappy to see us back before time that day. To get over our disappointment we had party that night with the halfties taken from Delhi.

The last day:

The ranger had befriended us by this time. He probably felt bad for the incident where he had to impose a fine on us apparently for no fault of us. He told us stories of his encounters with the Dhola tiger which falls under his jurisdiction. The area for which he has to supervise, there are two tigers and two leopards. He often has to go out on foot and report activities / movements of these animals. As he was concluding his jungle stories and we were about to leave, howling of the tiger was heard from the hill opposite the rest house. The howling started to grow and become frequent. The growling reverberating from hills was majestic. It is different from the ones we hear from caged tigers in zoo. Some tourists, who had just arrived, ran towards the fence on the river hoping to see the tiger. But the ranger told us that tiger will not come to this side of the complex and will follow a route further up the hill. He offered us to take to the watch tower up the hill that may offer us a chance to see the tiger. The ranger sat in my car. Leading the pack of four cars up a stony patch of road, I had wished not to face any wild elephants. There were tell-a-tale signs of wild elephants passing by that area. The ranger told me not to worry and assured me that he can handle wild elephants. Without meeting the misfortune of encountering a herd of pachyderms we had arrived at the watch tower. Though within tourist areas, this watch tower is beyond normal tourist itinerary. Thus we had an excellent view of the river down below and areas around it. By this time the growling of the tiger had also died down. It appeared that the tiger got angry after a failed attempt in hunting. Tired of its effort it probably had laid down somewhere. So we decided to come down. The ranger told that had he been empowered he would have taken us close to the tiger on foot. As that could not happen because neither had he had permission nor we are kith and kin of some forest official to manage one, we thanked him for taking us to the watch tower and got ready for leaving.

This ended an eventful trip. We were so close to the tiger – not once but twice, but could not see it. Three tiger sighting were reported during our stay. But this time we had a feel of what a call for tiger is and also heard the majestic growl of an angry wild tiger. May be, better luck next time. Despite failing to see the tiger in two attempts, we will certainly come back here. The place has such a charm it will make you come back again and again. But this we will certainly stay only at Dhikala as we had learned the dirty tricks of getting confirmed accommodation at Dhikala. May be one last day for a lazy sit and wait for animal day at Gairal as well, rather than running after them.But for a full trip, I will never stay at Gairal.

Corbett a 2nd time : Part-I

The second visit to Corbett turned out to be as exciting as the first one. We will remember it more for some misadventure than the thrill of being very close to the tiger. Luck was not on our side this time too. Thus our sighting score is 0 out of 2.

This time we had a drive in trip. Last one was a KMVN package with confirmed Dhikala booking. The highway NH24 from Delhi has improved a lot since our last visit, specially the section beyond Gajraula. You can easily drive above 100 in the Gajraula – Moradabad section. Construction activities have shifted to Ghaziabad – Gajraula section. We got stuck in jams at some areas on this section on our return which coincided with the evening rush hour. However on our onward trip there was very little traffic hold up. But I would like to warn you of Simbhaoli and Garhmukteswar. If you can cross these two points without getting stuck you should feel lucky.

We had stopped at Gajraula for breakfast. If one starts early from Delhi, then this is where you have to stop for breakfast. Though there are many eateries located at the point where the flyover starts at Gajraula, most of them are run of the mill. If you looking for decent ones, then you need to cross the flyover. There even is a McDonald at Gajraula on the other side of the flyover, some half km from the end point of the flyover. Around the same location, there is a good restaurant (I forgot the name) which is on the right side of the road if you are travelling from Delhi.

We had arrived at CTR Office in Ramnagar town around noon. Getting the passes took some time as the staff was out for lunch as well. While waiting for our passes, we decided to satiate our lunchtime apetite at the KMVN located next the campus. The KMVN restaurant offers good home like food which is not very spicy or oily. Having the entry permit spared us the trouble of coming back to the town next day and stand in queue for permit. We would save a couple of hours by this. We headed out of the town to look for good accommodation for the night. We had enquired with a couple of resorts at Dhikuli. The ones along the highway are costlier. The bigger the sign board, the more the costlier. The Corbett Inn quoted 5500 per room. These resorts are running on packages booked by various travel agents in big cities like Delhi. The luxury cars in their parking tell the story. Thus they are off the limit of smart traveler.

We spotted a small signboard of a resort named Jungle Paradise, just next to the Corbett Inn. It was pointing to a narrow lane by the wall of its luxurious neighbor. About a 100 meter walk along a paddy field lead us to a scenic campus with natural surroundings. This resort comprised of few cottages nested among a paddy field and forest. The place appeared much better to us than the costlier Corbett Inn which appeared artificially landscaped. We were initially quoted Rs.1200/- per cottage. But then because of our requirement of 4 cottages, we could bargain it down to just 900 rupees. That was a real bargain. All the families liked the place, specially the kids for the lush green lawns. Photos of the resort tell the story. We were offered the services of a local boy who led us to the Koshi river in the evening. It was a small nature walk to refresh us after the days driving. Food served for dinner was decent.

(Contact nos. of Jungle Paradise : 09412035559, 05947-284314, 09927772567)

Corbett : a second time

Getting geared up for my second trip to Corbett next weekend. My first trip was in 2008 when I had availed a KMVN package from Delhi. This time it will be a drive in trip. Last time we had stayed at the Dhikala FRH complex. This time we be staying at the Gairal Forest Rest House.  Gairal FRH is also supposed to be a self sufficient complex. On my return, my blog will have review of both Dhikala and Gairal complexs.

Wiser from the experiences of last visit, we knew that our second visit will be a drive in one. A drive in trip requires acomodation in any of the FRH which has to be booked directly with Corbett authorities. The net result is that we will be getting full 2 days inside the park and no missing safari trip because of shortages of safari vehicle. You can actually drive around in the park if you have your own vehicle. Of course you have to be familiar with the park. The entry permits are issued for 2 nights which means you have to report back on 3rd day. When we took the KMVN package, we effectively got only 1 full day inside the park as travelling by road from Delhi we could arrive at Ramnagar only by noon and Dhikala by afternoon. Thus day 1 was wasted in reaching Dhikala, day 2 was spent inside and day 3 we had to leave by 10 am. This time we will be leaving Delhi a day prior to our reservation date. After collecting the gate passes for next day, we plan to retire in a private resort that dots the highway from Ramnagar to Dhanagiri gate. As there are 77 resorts in the area and we are a group of 4 families, we can expect a good bargain for a night stay. We can enter the park early next morning. By driving own cars we will not be wasting time in hiring a jeep.

Booking accommodation directly is a painful and laborious process, but worth it. However, if you want to experience the real Corbett, then you have to manage your stay in one of the FRHs deep inside forest. Dhikala is 31 KM and Gairal 18 KM inside from the Dhanagiri gate. These are solar powered complexes with electric fencing for your protection. All packages offered by private tour operators are for resorts outside the park. You are allowed to enter the core zone through the Dhanagiri gate only if have confirmed accommodation in a FRH. If you stay in private resort then your chances of visiting this core zone is almost nil and have to satisfy yourself by visiting smaller tourism zones like Birjani and Zirna. We faxed our accommodation request for Feb 2010 in the last week of December 2009. You need to plan at least a month ahead, better if you can send the request 2 months ahead. We had given many dates like all combination of Fri + Sat, Sat + Sun and Sun + Mon to ensure that we can use the weekend and manage the 4 day trip with 2 days leave. This followed several phone calls to ascertain that the fax has been received. We were informed that the our request no was 120 in queue for February. The accommodation was confirmed in the last week January. On confirmation we had to make a DD in SBI (only bank they accept) for payment which was Rs.1250/- per room per night and then send the DD by Speed Post. We followed up to ascertain that DD has been received which confirms the booking. Room rates have gone up considerably. The rates given in their website are quite outdated. It probably has been revised twice. I will be able to put up complete information on return. But as of now, tentative room rent is Rs.1250 + Rs.250 (Housekeeping charges) = Rs.1500/= per night. Even then it is cheaper than private run packages which quotes a per person rate of about 3000.

If you want to book FRH accommodation, then send a fax addressed to the Director, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar – 244715. Fax no. is 05947 – 251012. Booking office telefax is 05947 – 251376 for following up activities. The fax should have your address, contact no and tentative dates. It has to be a range of dates rather than being just two dates.

Jim Corbett : From a hunter to a legend

Ramnagar, a small town in Uttaranchal, is infatuated with the words Jim and Corbett. Everything from dhaba, to tailor shop, to saloons to costly resorts has to have one of these two words in their name. The town has probably nothing to do with Lord Ram, but with Jim Corbett. It owes its fame to the Corbett National Park which provide livelihood for a sizeable population of the area. Such is the importance of these names that the town should have been named Jimnagar, Jimpur or Corbett nagar.

Anyway, my renewed interest in Jim Corbett after my recent visit to the first national park of India, now named after the famous British hunter turned conservationist, had made me acquire a compilation of his famous books. His hunting stories have been translated into almost all languages in India. I had read few of his stories translated into Assamese as part of our curriculum, probably in class VI or VII, i.e. some 25 years back. Such powerful and engrossing were the stories in that book called Araonyar Moh (Lure of the Jungle) that they are still vivid in my mind, specially the one about the Man Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, the Man Eater of Mohan and the Prince of Powalgarh. Corbett’s translated stories had left indelible mark in our young minds. 25 years hence, I saw the original books written by the man Corbett himself in the souvenir shops around the park. These books are published by Oxford University Press, India. I wanted to get the one named ‘The Jim Corbett Omnibus Vol-I’ which is a compilation of his 3 famous books viz. Man eaters of Kumaon, Temple Tiger and More Man Eaters of Kumaon, and the Man Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. However none of the shop were willing to give any discount on the MRP of 555.

On my return to Delhi, I had procured the book through the newly launched site A1Books India. I got the book for Rs.475 (against MRP of 555) with free delivery and delivered in 2 days of placing the order. It was quick service, may be because the vendor was from Darya Ganj, some 10 km from my address. But I was happy with the service. The reading started the night of the books’s arrival.

I was a voracious reader many years back. I was one of those kind who would finish a novel in one go. But that habit had died over the years. More so after getting married and having a kid. Every time I tried to pick up a book, the intervention in the form of my dear wife or kid would nip it in the bud. I had been trying to read Khuswant Singh's Delhi for more than a month without any success. This time I specially told them not to disturb me. My kid was happy to listen the hunting stories at bed time. Despite the occasional protest from my wife, I had finished the book containing 600 pages in about a month’s time. That is a big achievement.

After reading the book few things had dawned on me. The translated version was much easier to comprehend, specially the portions where Corbett tried to give vivid description of a location. It is difficult to conjure an image of the location from the descriptions. I had tried making a sketch on paper on few occasions to have a better understanding. The translator had probably left out those portions for better understanding of the readers.

The second thing that had dawned on me is that despite becoming a conservationist in his later life and calling the tiger a ‘Big Hearted Gentleman’, Corbett had killed many leopards and also the occasional tiger for hunting pleasure. He killed the tiger referred to as the Prince of Powalgarh apparently for no reason. It was not man eater. He had referred to hunting as sports and fellow hunters as sportsman. The skins are called as trophies. It appeared that that the tendency to kill a tiger or snake on sight is inborn in human. This human tendency has led these majestic animals to near extinction. Corbett was also no exception. However, he realised his mistakes and traded the gun for a camera. This change in Corbett was responsible for the efforts towards tiger conservation in India.

The third realisation was that Corbett was an exceptionally brave man. In simple words he was different from others. Man eater hunting on foot was thought to be suicidal. He would go into the jungle in search of a man eater and would come out after a couple of days. When night falls, he would climb a tree and sleep. He often stayed alone at deserted dak bungalows in remote hilly areas and go in search of a man eater alone. But even a brave man like Corbett, who had spent night after night in tree tops in jungle infested all kind of wild animals or sitting in dark with a partly eaten human body, had mentioned about few incidences which to him was not natural. He told that he had no explanations for these supernatural occurrences. Reporting of these incidences was from a man as courageous as Corbett makes one really ponder about supernatural occurrences.

Finally, I was almost in tears reading the story of a young Garhwali soldier who lost his legs in the World War-II in the last chapter of Man Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag. The young man, who could not see the Saheb that killed the infamous leopard because his father could not carry him the long distance from his village to Rudraprayag, was so happy that he could see and speak to that saheb after 18 years. He was happy because he can go back to his village and can tell his father and folks proudly that he had met and speak to that Saheb. Just meeting Corbett had made him forget his misery of losing his legs at war at such a young age. This respect from Indians, specially from the peoples of Kumaon and Garhwal to whom he was a saviour and who believed that he was bestowed with some supernatural power that had enabled him to kill so many notorious man eaters, had made Corbett love this country. This respect had also made him a legend for the people of the hills.

Corbett National Park

Back from Corbett. It was a wonderful weekend break. Driving inside forests and vast grasslands inhaling the freshness of nature, an adventurous elephant ride through dense sal forest, saw fishing eagle hunting, a crocodile rushing to the safety of water on spotting us --- these sums up the trip. We saw many things, but the king -- the tiger i nthe wild. Yet we were happy.

We had started from Delhi at around 6:30 am. The 240 odd km journey by NH24 to Ramnagar via Moradabad – Kashipur took about 6 hours with one break at Gajraula for breakfast. Lunch was offered at the KMVN’s Tourist Reception Centre at Ramnagar. While we were having lunch, KMVN staff had arranged for our entry permit etc. One has to leave his contact no. while obtaining permit for emergency purpose as you will be cut off from the rest of the world for two days. Permits are issued for a max of 3 days., i.e., you will have to come out of the park by afternoon of day 3. Thus if you travel by train from Delhi, you get a full extra day at your disposal.

Our journey into Corbett continued post lunch. The NH121 to Ranikhet takes you out of the Ramnagar town. You will get the feel of the jungle barely 2 km out of the Ramnagar town. The park is located on one side of the NH121, while the other side is human habitat. This habitation area between the NH121 and the river Ramganaga house almost all the Private Resorts. There are n numbers of them and none of them are cheap. But to me it makes very little sense to stay in those costly resorts. If you are planning a visit, then plan well and try for some FRH accommodation. All last moment travelers lands up in these resorts. About 5 km from the town, we saw the gate for Birjani range. This is a day game view range open to all tourists. If you stay in the private resorts, then you will have to satisfy yourself with a visit to this range. Because of the large no. of tourist that arrive Corbett, this place is pretty crowded. Crowd is what one needs to avoid. Else the animals will give you a miss.

The Dhanagiri gate, which is the entry point for Dhikala and many other FRH like Gairal, Sultan, Sarapdaulli, Khinnauli, etc. is 18 km from Ramnagar town. Entry through this gate is allowed only if you have confirmed accommodation inside. Therefore most visitors to Corbett do not get an opportunity to visit this range. If you are staying at a private resort, then the only possibility of getting into the Dhikala range is to take the day long ride in open mini bus offered by the Forest Deptt. Two buses go there everyday and so seats are limited. I have heard that, it is more like old time ticketing in cinema halls. If you reach the counter early enough, then you might get a seat. The other catch is that they are costly. Most animals will run away at the sound of such a big vehicle. All you will get is a feel of the jungle. Then you see the Dhikala FRH and will feel more disappointed for staying outside.

While making entries at the register at the gate, the ranger apprised us of the rules to be followed inside. We had to buy a jute bag and bring back all plastic waste in it. Making you pay for the bag is an effort in creating awareness on conservation. The driver was well versed with the rules of driving in the park. He drove within the permissible limit inside the park. Blowing of horns is not allowed. No one was observing, but yet he followed that rule. We had stopped at many places to enjoy the wild life roaming close to the main road. Then we had a fairly long unwanted halt. A safari gypsy carrying some youths had its axle broken on a narrow stretch and was waiting right in the middle of the road. It had blocked almost the entire road. Suggestions like to lift it up tone side cropped up. Finally, everyone had to clear stones on one side of the road so that vehicles can cross. By 3:30 pm we had arrived at the Dhikala FRH.

Located in the midst of a vast grass land, the campus overlooks the reservoir of the Ramganga river. There are 31 rooms in all at the campus plus a 20 seat dormitory for students. Bookings for these accommodation, except for 7 rooms which is done by KMVN from Delhi, is done by the Corebett Tiger Reserve office at Ramnagar. The demand is huge and so one has to book well in advance. The campus has solar powered fencing around it. The fencing was erected some 3 years back after an incident of tiger attacking some staffer in the campus. The electrified gates are closed at 6pm. Movement in the jungle after 6pm is not allowed. In fact, no one is allowed outside the campus gate without a guide. Even with the electrified fence, it was scary at night. You are 31 kms inside a jungle with sizeable population of tigers. Even though there was no power cut during our stay of about 40 hours, the campus is not that well illuminated. I just wondered as to how one could dare to stay there before the electrified fencing was erected! The campus also houses some staff quarters for forest staff.

The safaris for the afternoon had departed before we had reach. Thus we had nothing to do but to explore the campus and fix up our safaris. The KMVN package includes a jeep safari and elephant safari. The demand for elephant safari is high as there are only 5 elephants, i.e., about 20 seats per trip as against the full occupancy of about 70 persons in the campus. Thus the first thing one should do on arrival is to book your elephant safari. We managed seats for the afternoon trip of day 2.

There is very little to do after sunset. Wild life documentary film is shown in the campus every evening. We watch a film on day 1. The restaurant at the campus serves buffet meals for fixed price. BF @ 100/-, Lunch @ 150/- and Dinner @150/-. The KMVN package has all meals included. The food was good. We had early dinner and retired into our rooms. For your information : there also is a canteen cum grocery shop in the campus which sells essential items, mainly to cater to the need of the drivers and residing forest staffs. But you get cigarettes, toffees, biscuits and chips there. Smoking and alcohol is not permitted outside your room. No one was seen enforcing the smoking ban and as such you will see smokers in the campus.

Day 2 : We set out on the jeep safari at the crack of the dawn. The charges for a jeep safari is Rs.1000/- ( 800 for the jeep and 200 for the guide). The jeeps dashes off for points where tigers could be spotted while crossing the road. There they will wait for alarm calls. Here you can see a tiger only if it chooses to cross the road. So be practical and do not expect to see tiger this way. I doubt at this attempt at tiger spotting. It appeared more to be a time killing technique. After an hour or so of futile waiting, we were taken inside the dense forest through one of the link road. The roads are well laid out and are easily drivable, at least for a Maruti Gypsy. Driving through the dense sal forest where we spotted all 4 varieties of deer found in the park. Finally we reached a vast grass land. These are hunting grounds for tigers. There we saw a large flock of spotted deer. I had never seen such a big flock of deer. These deer are somewhat used to the safari jeeps. They try to run only if you stop. Else they will ignore your presence. By 8:30 am we were back at the resort.

We had decided to take another safari after breakfast. Otherwise we have nothing to do till afternoon. As we were two families, the cost of the trip was shared. This trip took us to the other flank of the main road. We had seen one side of the forest in the morning trip. So we had asked the guide to show the other half. This time there was no hurry. Neither there was any futile waiting for the tiger. The trip took us to another vast grassland on the other side of the Ramganga river. We could see the FRH from the other side of the reservoir. On the way we spotted a large fishing owl, and then saw a fishing eagle hunting live in front of us. We were waiting on a makeshift bridge watching the mahseer fishes feeding in the clear water of the stream. Then the hunting eagle appeared in the scene and swoop down to pick a large fish in a flash. We were taken to a spot where we saw a large crocodile lazing out in the sun. The crocodile was quick to spot us when we got off the jeep to have a better look. It hurried onto the safety of water. Roaming in the wilderness savoring the moments was the best part of the trip. This is why we have come this far. We had every bit of our time’s and money’s worth. By noon, we were back at the resort.

The two hour elephant safari started at 4 pm. After crossing the grassland around the resort, we were taken into the thick sal forest. We saw tiger pug marks just few hundred meters from the FRH. The thought of spending a night so close to the tiger excited us. The ride was an amazing experience for us. The jeep safari offers you travel only through well constructed roads and you need wait for the tiger hoping it to cross the road. But the elephant do not travel by road. Rather, it makes its way through the sal forest and bushes. We had hard times keeping the bushes and plants away from us to prevent them from hitting our faces. Both I and my wife, who were seated just behind the mahout, had minor bruises on our limbs. But it was real fun and adventure. We had thoroughly enjoyed it. After scouting the jungle for some time, we had reached a spot which had fresh pugmarks of tiger. It was a nullah with clear sign of the tiger going up on the nullah. We continued upward following the pugmarks. There were fresh tiger droppings and also urine marking, which tigers use to define its territory. Then we had reached the spot which was used by the tiger for resting. It appeared that we had missed the tiger not by much. The jungle was so dense that we wondered as to whether we will be able to get out of it before dark. I asked the mahout as to how he finds directions. He replied ‘the same way you find roads in cities’. It is instinct. May be experience. It was almost dark by the time the 2 hour ride finished.

Anyway, we saw everything except the view of the majestic beast roaming in the wild. Yet we were not unhappy. We had traveled at least 100 kms within the park. It was a fantastic experience and we will certainly come back here. This time it will be in summer when the possibility of tiger sighting is more.

The KMVN Package :
I recommended the KMVN package before leaving for Corbett. Because of my pleasant experience, I now highly recommend the KMVN package. It had everything you want. The package currently priced @Rs.5000/- plus taxes @3.09% per person is much cheaper than any other private package on offer. Further it had no catch. I had to spend only for the breakfast on the onward journey and lunch on the return journey.

The package includes transportation, entry fees for visiting the park, all meals, one jeep safari and one elephant safari. The transportation from Delhi is by Toyota Innova or similar car. This is a six seater vehicle. You may have problem if you have children older than 5 years and you have not paid for them. The limited space in such vehicles means that you can not even carry children on lap. KMVN charges for children above 5 years is not 50% of adult, but almost 90% of adult. That too without accommodation! This is a deterrent and KMVN should have a look at this policy. KMVN is allotted 7 rooms in the Dhikala FRH. This is the only accommodation inside Corbett which can be booked from Delhi. For booking any other FRH accommodation, you need to contact the Corbett Tiger Reserve office at Ramnager over phone, get the possible dates by fax and then send the payment by DD. This will be cheaper than KMVN package. But booking your trip like that may turn out to be a headache. Therefore the KMVN package is the best possible option from Delhi.

(For more photos of Corbett, please visit this link : Rupankar's Corbett Photo)

Going to Corbett National Park

I have booked a trip to the Corbett National Park next weekend. Despite my aversion for package trips, I had opted for a package trip this time. The main reason for taking a package is that the trip ensures confirmed accommodation at the Dhikala Forest Rest House (FRH), which is 35 km inside the park.

The package is offered by KMVN, an agency of Utrranchal Tourism. Being a Govt. agency, they only offer accommodation in the FRHs located deep inside the park. If you have a look at the map of CNP, you will observe that the park is divided into 3 zones : the Core Zone, the Buffer Zone and the Tourist Zone. The packages offered by private operators are for resorts located in the buffer zone, which is actually is on the periphery of the park. Therefore, if you take a private package, you have almost nil chance of getting into Dhikala zone which is part of core zone. All that you will have to satisfy is with trips to smaller ranges in tourist zone like Jhirna and Birjani. But I feel, if you do not get to stay inside the jungle or get a chance to visit the core zone, there is very little adventure.

The 2N/3D package ex-Delhi is all inclusive. The rate is Rs.5000/- plus taxes @3.22% for adult. It includes transportation from Delhi by car / coach, all veg meals, accommodation at Dhikala FRH and safaris. I went to the KMVN Office located at Barakhamba Road, CP, New Delhi, looking to book accommodation only. But when I heard of the details of the package, I had no second thought. The package frees me from many headaches such as booking train tickets, collecting gate passes at Ramnagar and then bargain prices for hiring a jeep for 3 days. One piece of information is that all passes for CNP are issued at the CTR Office located almost opposite the Ramnagar bus stand. The Dhanagiri gate that takes you into the core zone areas is 18 km from the town.

CNP had its own website which was very informative. Unfortunately it had been hacked. However, the KMVN site has some of the information from the old site. You can check out the site. The rates have not been updated. But as of now I highly recommend this package. I will share my experiences on return.