Dhanaulti : A hidden paradise of Uttrakhand

Dhanaulti is a famous hill station of Mussoorie and Chamba region.It is situated at an altitude of 2286 meters.This place is known for quiet environment amidst the alpine forest of Deodar, Rhododendron and Oak. One can get a 360 degree view of Gharwal Himalaya from Dhanaulti.

The easiest route to go Dhanaulti is by hiring a car from Haridwar.Its a 3.30-4 hrs drive through breathtaking beauty of Tehri Gharwal district.Refreshment available on roadside dhaba's or else one can prepare their breakfast from hotels. It is must to carry water and proper dry food as there is not much shop available in Dhanaulti.

Picture Courtesy : Piangshuk Mukherjee

During winter season there is a probability of snowfall and chilly cold winds blow every time, so it's better to take precaution.The driver should be experienced as the terrain you cover is treacherous.It's better to descend from Dhanaulti well before the sunset.

Picture Courtesy: Piangshuk Mukherjee

If one can withstand cold and loves nature Dhanaulti is the right place to visit from Haridwar.

360 degree view of Gharwal Himalaya

Sharing my experience after visiting National Parks in India

                 

Gorumara National Park

Each and every time I sit to write my experience after visiting a national park, I ran out of words. The beauty and mesmerizing environment makes me spell bound. To start with I always had fascination about the national parks of West Bengal, according to the plan we made it to Gorumara National park(Mal Bazar subdivision,Jalpaiguri district) this time. I always prefer to visit a national park when there is not much commotion of tourists,that's the off season. The reason is a simple but an effective one because the chance of viewing animals increases 10 times. I visited the park during evening hours. First thing that touched my heart was the silence and grandeur of the forest. It symbolises how small we are in front of the mother nature but it was just a beginning, after that many times I felt the same way, a experience I will share next time (#Trekking India's top mountains). We borrowed a safari vehicle and a guide which was mandatory, but according to me it was not a good ploy to sell man power. According to me a driver is good enough to guide people thoroughly, though it's entirely  my personal view.

We started off around 3.30 pm and the trails were scintillating. That day only 12 safari vehicles entered the forest. I was on vigilance from the word go and the atmosphere inside the vehicle was calm and quite, though everybody was sweating in excitement. Our first destination was "Chandrachur Watch Tower" also renowned as "Old Kunia Watch Tower". The river that cut's the national park in and out is Murti River and it's also the prime source of drinking water for the games inside the park. Gorumara National Park covers a vast area of 80 sq kms. The forest consist mainly of Sal tree though other tree like Rain tree and Bombax also can be found inside the forest. Gorumara National Park is famous for one horn Indian Rhinoceros though I could not find a single one inside the forest. I was upset but not surprised as viewing a wild animal in it's own habitat is not a child's play. I have been to numerous forest's and in many of them I didn't see a single animal but this time luck was in our favour. As we were patrolling through the trails we saw a huge male Gaur (Indian Bison) it was so monstrous that one of my friend shouted saying elephant. It was standing on the forest road blocking our path. We waited there in pin drop silence and followed it's movement carefully. Our guide warned us not to step out of the vehicle out of excitement. Suddenly we noticed the forest on the left hand side of the vehicle and our jaw dropped. There were a group of 25 Gaur standing inside the lush Savana staring at us. If one of them decides to attack, we would been dead meat. Thankfully that was not the case.

Picture courtesy: Sourav Karmokar

The funny part of the situation was our guide got to much excited and jumped shouting that you all are super lucky to view Gaur and that distracted the animals tranquillity,as it left the scene.Then we took the upper hand of the situation and guided other tourists to the spot.Then we spotted few elephants though from far distance as they were deep inside the jungle canopy.We left the park around 5.45 pm to visit the local tribal dance,that was an awesome experience in the middle of the forest far from the hustle and bustle of the city life.

Next day we were preparing ourselves for a morning patrol inside the forest when a local forest guard advised us to visit " Jatra Proshad Watch Tower " and believe me that was the wisest decision we took at that stage to follow his advise otherwise we had to regret throughout our life. It was a spellbound moment for me and all other members in our group.So according to the plan we all set off towards Jatra Proshad. We had to rush because only 35 ticket's are issued per day, fortunately for us we grabbed the ticket's, courtesy to a local boy, who became a good friend later, named Riju. I have never imagined that there can be such a place inside the jungle and a watch tower of such grandeur demands respect.

Picture Courtesy : Sourav Karmokar

Our heart was filled with satisfaction and joy after viewing this heaven on earth, that would stay with us for long. We returned back to Dooars and from there back to Kolkata. Then slowly and gradually we all became busy in the buzz of city life but still sometimes in the darkest hours our mind flies to the serenity and tranquillity of jungle life that we experienced in Gorumara National Park. I would tell all those who love to travel, explore and live life outdoor to pack your bags and visit Gorumara National Park, West Bengal's hidden paradise. I am quite sure that after visiting all these places your experiences are most likely to be the same as of mine.

I am waiting are you next?????????

Trekking India's top mountains......

On the top of Rishop (Altitude-9682 ft)

The terrain was treacherous and negotiating them was a big deal 

It's just like a dream coming true experience while standing on a edge of a mountain top 

(Rishop)

Accolade Alipore Zoological Park

Black Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina)

This is a unique specimen in the collection of Alipore Zoological Park. It's a Black Crowned Crane,scientific name Balearica Pavonina. They are mainly found in Savannah region in south of Sahara desert.Like all cranes they feed on small mammals, insect and reptiles.It is listed as endangered species specially in west due to habitat loss and degradation.

My advice to all children who visit a zoological park is to understand the species and then see it because it will help you to learn about the animal. 

Sharing my experience after visiting National Parks in India

            

Rajaji National Park

• Last year I visited Rajaji National Park on 20th December, as usual I was very excited. To start with I would love to give a brief description about the park. Rajaji National Park is located in Uttarakhand, it is an Indian National Park that encompasses the Shivaliks , near the foothills of the Himalayas.It spreads over 820 square kilometers and three districts of Uttarakhand i,e Haridwar, Dehradun, Pauri Gharwal. In 1983 three wildlife sanctuaries in the area namely Chilla, Motichur and Rajaji sanctuaries were merged into one.
• Rajaji National Park has been named after C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) a prominent leader of the freedom struggle, the second and last Governor- General of independent India and one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (in 1954).

• Rajaji is famous for it's wide variety of Flora and Fauna. To start with I would like to choose Fauna, Rajaji National Park contains tropical and sub-tropical broad leaf forest in particular those of the "Upper Gangetic Plains" moist deciduous forest Eco-region. Important plants such as Shovea, Mallotus, Adina and Phoebe are found in the park and studies have revealed some important associations between them. Now to write about something that I love the most i,e Fauna. Rajaji is famous for both elephants and tigers. Though it has wide range other species such as Leopard, Jungle cat, Stripped Hyena, Goral, Indian hare, Sloth bear, Himalayan black bear, Python, Monitor Lizard, Indian Porcupine, Rhesus Macaque, Wild Boar, Sambhar, Barking Dear, King Cobra and Jackel. 315 species of birds are found inside the park, such as Great Pied Hornbill, Himalayan Pied Kingfisher and Fire Tailed Sunbird and other migratory birds across Himalayas. The river that flows through the park mainly contains two fishes such as Trout and Mahseer.

Standing in front a National Park with such a huge biodiversity was a treat and a dream coming true fact for nature lovers like me. I feel very proud that I got the opportunity. Now to start off with my experience, I purposefully choose my visit at these national parks when it is mostly off season. The reason behind the fact is that while in the park I don't like the commotion of the people and the possibility of seeing the illusive animals is at it's best. Though you have to prepare for the worst 9 out of 10 times. I find that many people has misconception about the wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, they think there's animals sitting at every corner of the park waiting for us to see them, we just have to borrow a car and enjoy. If one goes to the National Parks with this mentality then I sorry to say that you are totally mistaken and these things are not your cup of tea. Instead I would like to request everybody to enjoy this unique wilderness and if you are lucky,have patience and have high level of endurance you never know what nature preserves for you.I borrowed a local gepsey with a guide named Bhupinder.Bhupinder was an efficient man and knows every bit of the park as he is working there for last five to six years.Seeing my interest in wildlife he told me that he would love to take me to the areas where they generally don't take other tourists.I geared up and started my journey with huge expectation and excitement .

That was a cold and chilling day.At first we went to a watch tower for where as far many animals can be located but alas I couldn't see even a single one.

Lucky to grab one binocular form one of the local shop for rent

As I have told earlier one should follow the key word and march on and I did the same.Then we came across a dried river bed actually that was a tributary of Ganges.The prime drinking spot for variety for fauna that flourished in that region.It was a beautiful place and the forest officials had done a marvellous job in marking the driving route with stone in order to avoid difficulty while driving.On that river bed I saw a female Asiatic elephant crossing with her two babies in front of us.The feeling that i had at that point was beyond expectation and cannot be expressed in words.In one word mind boggling.My feeling at that point can be understood by those who had been to the wild and experienced that at one piece.

Then as we drove slowly through the grasslands we saw numerous other animals like wild boars,peacock,spotted deers, sambars, hornbills, etc. It seemed that nature has preserved a lot for me,just when I stared thinking that today is my day and tried to push my luck a bit by jumping out of the vehicle Bhupinder warned me and told me "don't take thing for granted  when you are in wild" I appreciated him and quickly rectified my mistake.Slowly we drove our way back with an ever green memory and an enormous experience to share with everyone.Only despair was that i could not see the big cats and I heard that there were 13 Bengal tigers according to a recent census apart from Leopards.For this reason I will come back to Rajaji National Park all over again with new hope and mount of expectation.

Expectation grew bigger every time I visited these national parks and I feel an eternal urge to come back all over again

 One thing I must really say about Rajaji National Park is that the official are making an earnest effort to make people about these endangered wild species through promotional events and wildlife documentary.They make sure that every tourists who visits the park watches these documentary courtesy Arundhuti a shop named after a local resident female elephant.

Wild beckons what are you waiting for

"Kudos Rajaji National Park forest officers for making an effort in order to save these last patches of wild land where the wild animals still roam free."
 

This is a beautiful specimen of hawk family..........can you guess what is its name??? one of the revealing fact about hawk is that it is the fastest bird in this whole world..........when it dives from great heights it does not uses it's wing only it's tail to navigate and gravity..........it falls at such a high speed that if human try this our heart will burst at such a pressure.............miracle absolutely miracle.......and yes it's faster than cheetah......... kudos.........

Last month I went to Alipore Zoological Park with my cousin brother .........I went there to take few photographs of wild big cats........but it seems that was not my day as the cats were preferring cool shed in the far end of the cage and the crowd was overwhelming....so I did not get much of a chance to shoot them......I was sad but that is the reality when you are shooting wildlife.........but soon my sadness vanished when I came to the arena of Asiatic elephant..........they were so used to human contact that they gave some of the beautiful pictures what I was aiming about........here are some of my clicks..... 

I was very happy to see them .........but the next thing I remember that is my heart was filled with sadness as these pictures are extremely rare in the wild as these Asiatic elephants are extremely rare........Highly endangered species and if we don't act soon extinct within years........... Wake up, you people..........For further detail log on to www.earasia.org............check out how you can help......