Early morning, and the
jungle was completely silent. A cool breeze was blowing and everything seemed
very tranquil. But every creature around seemed to be on edge, as if something
was just about to erupt. And suddenly, it did. The silence was shattered by a
volley of alarm calls and the spotted deer scattered at top speed.
A few seconds later, out of
the bushes emerged a beautiful lioness, all tawny and glowing. She came up
nonchalantly, gave us the leonine equivalent of a snort and walked off, nose in
the air. Now if that’s not royalty, I don’t know what is.
Lioness with her nose up in the air |
We walked with her for a
bit, saw that she was heading towards a male lion, lying in the bush. We nipped
ahead of her, got to the male first and got a few pictures of the lazy ‘King of
Beasts’. He just opened his eyes, looked at us and went back to sleep. And the
lioness came within 50 feet of him, saw him sleeping, gave him a glare and
turned away, as if in a huff. Women!!!
This was our first morning
in Gir National Park in Gujarat, the last home of the Asiatic Lion, which once
roamed forests from Greece to India. Now, there are only about 400 wild lions left
in the world. And they’re all in and around Gir; a beautiful 1412 sq km forest, which is a mix of bush, open grassland and thick forest. With the spectacular Kamleshwar Dam in the middle of the forest.
Kamleshwar Dam |
Male Lion with a bloodied nose |
The next morning, we hit pay
dirt. We got route 2, which had frequent sightings of a pride and we went in
all excited and hopeful. We saw some beautiful birds straight up, a majestic
Crested Serpent Eagle (standing on one leg) and beautiful Kingfisher right by
the road. And as we went further down, we met a bunch of jeeps and they told us
that a pride of seven lions had been on the road and we’d missed them by a few
minutes. Bummer!
Crested Serpent Eagle, standing on one leg |
Kingfisher |
Our driver then worked out an
ingenious yet (technically) legal solution. He backed the jeep for a kilometer
or so, at more than pedestrian speed. On a winding, bumpy forest road, with
only side mirrors for rear vision, it was amazing skill.
We
waited half an hour near a water hole, but no lions. Then, out of nothing, our guide whispered –
‘Lion on Road’. And there they were, having appeared out of nothing. The
dominant lioness came first and parked herself just off the road. Then two
mother-cub pairs walked onto the road and sat right in front of us. And one
lioness sat in the bushes and snoozed. One youngster and his mum played the
gallery to the hilt. They posed for pictures, rolled over on the road and
generally seemed to be in a very good mood that morning.
Then, once we’d had our fill
they left just as suddenly as they came. One by one they headed into the bush
with the dominant lioness waiting till the end to ensure her brood was safely
out of the road. My first ‘pride’ sighting was an experience I will never ever
forget.
We saw more lions on our
next few trips, including a couple of lionesses just beside the road, with one
of them seemingly keen on a kill. But, laziness won over hunger and they just
sat, yawned and never really got beyond a few keen looks at passing spotted
deer.
On our last morning, thanks
to Suleimanbhai (one of Gir’s legendary trackers) we saw two sub-adult siblings
sitting together in comfortable mid-morning peace. They very graciously posed
for our pictures and then walked gracefully away into the shade. And on our way
out, our guide pointed out one of nature’s most amazingly camouflaged birds –
The Nightjar sitting on a tree. Believe me, if you didn’t know it was there you
would never ever be able to spot it.
So that was Gir. Lion
sightings galore, including my first ‘pride’ sighting. An amazing trip and a
superb start to my Wildlife Wander. Somewhere, giving the Lion pride of place
in a tiger-obsessed country seemed the least that this superb, but less
glamorous and hence unsung cat deserves.
Gir Trip Guide
Getting there
We took the early morning
Jet Airways flight to Rajkot (150 kms away) Rajkot has very good rail
connectivity with all major cities, but air connectivity is best via Mumbai.
From Rajkot we drove on the
excellent Rajkot-Junagadh highway via Gondal, and then onwards to Sasan, the
base for Gir National Park. We had an excellent Innova driven by Prakashbhai
(+91 95581 27727)
En route tips
A good pit stop at Rajkot is
the Imperial Palace Hotel (Dr. Yagnik Road) is close to both the station and
the airport, so it’s a great place to stop over for a cuppa or a meal and
definitely for a loo break.
Stop at the Khodiyar Hotel
at Gondal on the Junagadh highway for the most outstanding gathia breakfast,
with a cup of hot tea. To be eaten with flavoured green chillies and raw
onions. And jalebis – but you have to get there at 6 am to get them really hot.
It’s a roadside dhaba and a very popular one with locals, so expect crowds but
no service.
Stay
We stayed at the Gir Birding
Lodge (Pradeep Kumar, Manager - +91 97239 71842), which shares its boundary
wall with the forest. Lovely property, with nice, comfortable cottages (all
names after birds) set in a beautiful mango orchard. The food was quite average
(regular cook supposedly out on a family emergency) and there was quite some
chaos with our safari bookings as well.
Other good stay options in
Gir include the Taj Gateway, The Fern and Sinh Sadan, the forest guest house
complex. There is also a Club Mahindra property near Sasan.
Food
Most of your meals will be
at your hotel, but if you have the time, have a meal at the Rajwada Kathiawadi
Restaurant on the main road at Sasan. The Thali is excellent– try the sev
tamatar ki subzi with kathiawadi dal and bhakri with mustard flavoured chilli
pickle and cold chaas (Gujarati Beer) to cool things down.
Safaris
Thanks to Amitabh Bachchan
and his campaign for Gujarat Tourism, safaris in Gir are no longer a breeze
like they used to be. When we went, it was Holi weekend, and it was unbelievably
crowded. So much so that we didn’t get
permits for 2 safaris.
The Forest Department allows
30 gypsies (50 on peak days/ weekends) per safari of which half can be booked
in advance and the rest on the day. We had our own issues with the hotel on
advance bookings and hence we waited hours in the current booking queue. My
advice – please ensure that your hotel gives you some kind of confirmation of
advance booking, especially on busy weekends or peak periods.
The safaris are in 3
different time slots – early morning, late morning and evening. The late
morning safaris (9:30 am start in March) are the least preferred, because
animal movements are highest early morning and late evening.
Routes – while we visited
routes 2,5 and 6 were the hottest for lion sightings. Check with your hotel in
advance and try and wangle the ones with the best sightings.
The Forest Department also
run an interpretation centre at Devaliya (7 kms from Gir) with Bus Safaris in a
fenced off area where they have a lion pride. This is a virtual guarantee for
lion sightings, so plan for a trip here, especially if you’re with kids. This
is even more crowded though and no advance bookings, so budget for long queues
on weekends and holidays.
Unique to Gir
The Maldharis
Don’t be surprised if in the
middle of your jungle safari, you suddenly see a little village or people
grazing livestock. The Maldhari people live with their cattle in thorn-fenced
villages called ‘Nesses’ all over the buffer area. And as they graze their cattle
in the nearby jungle, the lions are not averse to grabbing a cow or two from
time to time.
Thorn-fenced Maldhari Ness |
Neither should you be
surprised to see people of African origin speaking fluent Gujarati. The Siddis
(as they are known) are believed to have been brought from Africa by the
Portuguese as gifts for the Nawab of Junagadh, who stayed on and settled in the
forests of Gir. The village of Sirwan on the way to Deva-dungar is one such
settlement.
People who make a difference
Mayurbhai – One of Gir’s
oldest guides, with 20+ years of experience. He claims to have walked every
square km of the 1412 sq km of Gir national park and has literally seen the
park flower. He was our guide on our last trip 10 years ago, where he would lead
us down a nallah or up a jungle path and see lions up close. Rules no longer
allow tourists to get off jeeps, but those memories of Mayurbhai will always stay
with me.
Suleimanbhai – a legendary tracker,
he has been with the forest department for nerly 25 years now, this genial gent
is originally from the Siddi village near Talala (a few kms from Sasan) It’s
incredible how close he can get to those lions, he knows their behavior
patterns and mannerisms and knows just when to leave them alone. He’s always
game to help tourists get a sighting if he can help it.
Guides – The best of the
guys we got were Bhavesh K, Jitu and Vijay amongst the younger lot and
Razzakbhai, Ibubhai and of course Mayurbhai from the seniors.
Suleimanbhai - Tracker Extraordinaire |
Very well written. Thanks for updating the blog for people like us who wish to visit the same place in near future.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your lion pics, they are brilliant and are making us want to return! Really like your blog. Hope you are enjoying your travels x
ReplyDeleteAmazing!! very informative..superb pics, loved ur blog.
ReplyDelete