Diary of North Bengal 4/ Safari at Garumara
“Have a look at him. He is going far away crossing the
river. Probably he is very sad.”
No, he is not a man, but a rhino. He is crossing a small
stream. A bird is enjoying the slow ride, sitting on his back. We are
thoroughly enjoying the scenes.
Jaldapara and Garumara are the two main National Parks of
Dooars. After sighting four rhinos in Jaldapara, the day before, we have now
come to Garumara with the hope of seeing more.
Just where the Garumara forest ends, there is a small hamlet
named Lataguri, comprising mainly hotels.
After checking in one of those hotels, we had to rush to Lataguri Nature
Interpretation Center to book the safari tickets. The counter opened at
12’noon.
Tourists can get tickets of various points in the
National Park like Madhla, Khunia etc, but the first choice is always the
Jatraproshad Watch Tower. But the demand for Jatraproshad is so high that one
should consider himself or herself extremely lucky, if he or she can get hold
of a ticket. The ticket rates of Jatraproshad are much more than the other
points.
We
were very lucky as we got what we wanted. Safari was to start at 3pm. We were asked to
report at 2’o clock.
With Pilot Tanmoy and guide Ram, our journey
started. After travelling almost 10 kms from Lataguri towards Chalsa, the entry
gate of the Garumara National Park came on the right hand side. When we reached
in front of the gate, it was 2:45pm. After 15 minutes, the gates opened. With
the tea gardens on the left and thick forest on the right, we progressed.
This time also we saw a peacock right at the
beginning of the Safari. But the myth, that seeing peacock at the beginning of
safari is unlucky, has been proven wrong during Jaldapara safari. Anyways, we
moved through the forest.
Although rhinos are resident of Garumara has well,
this National Park is more famous for its habitat of byson. The Characteristics
of the forest is different from Jaldapara. The forest mainly consists of Sal,
Teak and Sil Cotton trees.
The Jatraproshad Watch Tower is the last point of
the safari, but the real safari starts here only. According to our guide, we
were to spent half-an-hour or so in the watch tower. If luck favours, we can
see rhinos, bysons, deers and infact elephant also.
It’s a two-tier watch tower, with the lower tier
being an open air balcony, so that people can enjoy the forest. It can hold
more that hundred people at a time.
A small stream is flowing in front of us. According
to our guide, it’s the Murti River. The area which lies on the other side of Murti River is considered to be
the habitat of rhinos and bysons. Himalayas can be seen far away. The guide has
ordered us to maintain silence, otherwise we cannot see anyone. The clock
ticked 3:30.
After waiting anxiously for five minutes or so, the
guide said, he had spotted a rhino.
“Where? We can’t see anyone.” We asked
“He his hiding under the bushes. Will appear in a
moment or two.” Guide assured
us.
What an assurance it was! Hardly three to four
minutes have passed; the rhino came out of the bushes. The cameras also rolled
out. But the rhino seemed unperturbed. He was in no mood to give any attention
to us.
We saw four rhinos in Jaldapara, will we saw more
today? Few moments later, a rhino-duo came out. They can be husband-wife or
very close friends also. We were much relived after having seeing three rhinos,
just one less than Jaldapara. A byson,
the prime resident of Garumara was also sighted by us. The two-horned body
resembles much like a cow, but visibly much violent. He was drinking the water
of the Murti River.
Just then we noticed another rhino, which was
crossing the river. Someone from the crowd said, probably the rhino has been
betrayed by his lover. Whatever the reason, we were enjoying the scenes. Soon
after, we glued to the elephant grass, and found out that loads of bysons were
hiding behind the elephant grass.
“Its time to leave now, otherwise it will become
darker.” The guide reminded us that the time for staying in Jatraproshad is
over, and we have to move to another point now. Just when we were about to
leave the watch tower, another rhino was sighted by us. We saw five rhinos now
and broke the record made by us in Jaldapara. But we didn’t see any elephant.
We stayed for fifteen minutes in our next point
Rhino Point, but this time, we didn’t see anyone. But anyways, after having
experienced some wonderful scenes, we headed back to Lataguri, with some lovely
memories.
How to reach
There are many ways to reach Lataguri. Firstly you
can avail any New Jalpaiguri bound train from anywhere in country. Lataguri is
50 kms from New Jalpaiguri. You can avail any New Mal Junction bound train
also. Lataguri, from New Mal Junction is at a distance of 30 kms. You can get
down at New Maynaguri Railway station. Distance from New Maynaguri to Lataguri
is 23 kms. Lataguri is situated at a distance of 23 kms from Jalpaiguri. Lataguri
is at a distance of 50 kms from Bagdogra Airport
Where to Stay?
There are lots of private hotels in Lataguri town.
You can find them in various hotel booking sites. West Bengal tourism runs two
tourist lodges in Batabari and Tilabari
respectively, but they are very far away from the Lataguri Nature
Interpretation Center, from where the Garumara tickets are available. To book
these two lodges, you can log in to the website of the tourism, www.wbtdcl.com. West Bengal Forest Development
Agency runs two units here, the Bichabanga Eco Cottage and Neora Jungle Camp.
Visit the website www.wbsfda.gov.in to book these
two resorts.
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