Mount Abu The Abode

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Gir Forest National Park Gujarat

Day 5

9^th March 2013

We arrived at The Gir National Park in the evening after taking a wrong turn for 15-20 km. Our driver Farid quickly realized the mistake and got us back on track. We checked into the ‘Amidhara Resort’, a really clean and natty place. The services were there excellent. The vegan food spread was admirable for the Indian palate though the oil was a little too much. It’s a total Vegetarian joint. If anyone heading this way needs a clean, spacious and above-budget, the resort can give it a go

Click on the link for more information. Amidhara Resort

A note of caution.

If you are planning a trip to Gir, try to book your permit well in advance or you will probably face the same predicament that we went through. Our driver went to the Sinh Sadan Orientation Centre at 4:30 a.m. to get our permit for the 6:30 a.m. trip, but it was already booked. So, we had to take the safari at 9.30 am instead. Lion sighting was no issue for us chaps we were there mainly for birding. We did get to see lions, but our chief aim was to see how many species of birds we could rope in. We did two safaris and as luck should have it the bloody computer generated the same route we had traversed earlier.

If you are planning a trip try and avoid the weekends and peak season festivals as you would probably see more homo sapiens than wild animals.

Appreciate the snaps I have compiled of our two safaris of the forest.

Ibis

Footpath Sinh Sadan Orientation Centre,

Spotted Owl

Wire tailed Swallow

Ibis

Wire Tailed Swallow

Eagle

Picture of Innocence

Forest Road Route 6

Pelican

Was flying overhead

Lion in Gir Paradise

Shepherd's earrings sign of Prosperity

Long-billed Pipit

Another angle

No introduction

Dwelling in the Gir Forest

Samba

Changeable Eagle

Koel

Shikra?

Lion

Deer

Sentry Sinh Sadan Orientation Centre,

Samba

Eagle

Snoozing

Rail through the sanctuary

Tea stall

Stag

Sunrise Gir

Cuckoo?

Koel

Crested Eagle

Eagle

Aavjo!! Hope to see you next season

Monday, March 18, 2013

From the Rann of Kutch to The Temple city of Dwarka Gujarat

Day 3 Continued

After lunch, we bid our host Jugal adieu and left Moti Varani for our next destination, Dwarka. The drive was enjoyable, but they were tearing down bridges on the highway. We might have to pay a toll for the renovations in the future. We reached Dwarka at about 9.45pm and checked into a fairly reasonable hotel, “Hotel Dwarka Residency” on the main road. We gleaned some information about the place from the boys at the reception and the restaurant. The main temple 'Jagad Mandir' was a ten-minute walk from our hotel. If you wanted to visit the famous temple of 'Ranchhodrai', you would have to go to 'Bet Dwarka' by taking the regular ferry services.

The Holy City of Dwarka was indeed a big disappointment; my early morning walk through the city and by lanes left me with a lot of negative vibes. The filth and squalor were certainly a sight for sore eyes. I have never seen so many beggars in all my travels around other places, and the Ghats along the waterfront were in shambles. I had expected to see a more refined place for the comfort of the thousands of pilgrims who make their way to this city to pay homage to their deities. This is one place in Gujarat that needs some attention from the Government to fall into the mainstream of being a “Vibrant Gujarat”.

Gosh, it's time I posted some photographs of events down this road.

We took the route from "Moti Varani to Dwarka"

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Day 4

[ 8th March 2013 ]

After taking a few snaps in Dwarka, we left for our next destination. We were to go to Somnath to see the ruins there, but the negative vibes of the holy city swayed our opinion, also the distance proved a deterrent to our time frame. We headed directly for The Gir Sanctuary. Below is the route we took.

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