Corbett National Park

Bijrani Forest area, Corbett Park.

Journey-not so smooth.

It is advisable to leave home early so you can cross Delhi before the rush hour traffic if you want a smooth  car journey to any of the nearby tourist destinations. We did not leave quite that early but it was not the NH24 traffic in East Delhi that bothered us but the road that turns towards Ramnagar once you cross the Moradabad bypass. Before that Gajraula was a good place to stop for breakfast as many fancy eateries have opened there. Once we turned left towards Ramnagar, the nightmare of travelling on the 30 km of broken roads of Uttar Pradesh started. The Toyota Innova went up and down the big potholes and we went up and down with the mighty vehicle. At that point one did not know whether to be sorry for ourselves or the poor car. Thankfully, we were greeted by the sign of ‘Welcome to Uttarakhand’ after being tortured for more than an hour and a half.  Miraculously the roads became perfect thereon.

You are outside the forest reserve as soon as you cross Ramnagar. The Corbett national park is a welcome sight after a drive of almost 6 hours. You feel that roar of tiger would greet you soon enough. All along the road opposite to the forest area are the numerous hotels and on the road you can spot many tourists zipping across in military green Maruti Gypsies. Many companies take their employees for 'bonding' and 'workshops' etc so the hotels stay busy. You can spot Kosi river from the road itself and the huge tall trees towards the reserve make you feel welcome in this abode of the tiger. All we wanted to do was to quickly dump the luggage in the resort and jump into one of the Gypsies for a 4 hour jungle safari.

Dhikala-the best place to stay

Safaris are allowed only on official vehicles

These private resorts including the club mahindra resort in which we stayed in are very picturesque and nice but there is no better place to stay in Corbett park than the Dhikala forest rest house. Rajiv Gandhi had gone along with his friends Arun Singh and Amitabh Bachchan and their families back in 1985 to usher in the new year. Stories about their sighting many tigers had appeared in newspapers at that time. It is said that Amitabh Bachchan gave a scintillating performance of ‘Mere angney mein………..’ at their exclusive private party near the bonfire on a freezing  December night. He apparently lifted Jaya in his arms while singing 'jiski biwi chotti.....' which got him the standing ovation from the PM and the first lady. A forest guard had told me about this performance when I had gone and stayed in Dhikala around a decade back. Other than the time when 2 tigers had entered the rest house, the song and dance by the superstar had been the most memorable night for him.

Some vantage points inside the forest

It is no longer an easy task getting a booking inside Dhikala. Either you have to be a VVIP or an expert at computers so you could book accommodation within 2 minutes when the bookings open 45 days before visit date. I could manage neither even though I tried hard enough. The travel agents control the system and then rent out rooms to tourists at a very high price. Dhikala is 32 km’s from Dhangari gate and right in the heart of the forest. The food served there is vegetarian and liquor is not allowed. The rooms are nothing great but they have water and electricity. There are some places where you can stay inside the forest in Sultan, Gairal and Jhirna where there is no restaurant and no electricity also. Only those who stay the night in Dhikala are allowed inside the Dhangari gate. A decade ago, we could go into Dhikala driving our own vehicles and then could go looking for tiger in our own cars along with a guide. All this is a thing of the past. Now you can only enter the Dhangari gate on official vehicles. Safaris  can be booked in advance on the website and those are done only on a canter. Also available at Dhikala are the elephant safaris which are really popular and need to be booked much in advance. The elephants can enter the thick part of the forests where vehicles cannot. The chances of tiger sighting are high in Dhikala.

Tiger can't be nearby

A guard at Corbett museum at the Dhangari gate informed us that a year back a tiger had come right up to the gate. This sounded exciting. Corbett museum is the most disappointing museum you can ever come across. It virtually has nothing but a few carcasses of animals including tigers. It has a bit of history of the Corbett Park. They certainly can improve this.

Jungle Safaris and search for Tiger

You do see a lot of pretty birds

Many have seen tigers on the main Ranikhet road as well outside the reserve. Leopards often stray out of the reserve. The forest guard amusingly told us that as a guard he had seen tiger many times but his children had never spotted a single tiger in the last 22 years even though they had always lived in the forest. Agonizingly a couple of times the tiger had passed almost under their noses and they missed him! According to him, he advised them not to be obsessed with tiger but learn to enjoy the forest and the nature. Tiger will automatically be sighted.Fair advise this.

If you are not staying in Dhikala then you have to take jungle safari either in Bijrani area (Entry from Amdanda gate right next to Ramnagar) or Jhirna area, around 20 km’s away.  Dhangari gate for Dhikala is around 20 km’s from Ramnagar on Ranikhet road. The rule is simple. Book an entry  permit on the website. This booking opens 30 days in advance.  The Supreme Court order a couple of years back had regulated ‘tiger tourism’ and only 30 gypsies can enter each area in one session. There are 2 sessions in a day. Session one is normally from 6 AM to 10 AM and session 2 is from 2 PM to 6 PM. Time changes somewhat during winter. You cannot enter the jungle if you do not have the permit. Cancellations are not allowed so do not go to Corbett thinking you will manage permits if you can’t manage it online. You will not be able to enter the forest. 

lol

We had permit for Bijrani area on day 1 and Jhirna area for day 2. On day 1 we asked the resort to book Gypsy and guide and they did so for Rs 3800.00. Next day  we did it on our own and it cost Rs 2250.00. Hiring Gypsy is no problem as there are many available in Ramnagar and outside the reserve. Each vehicle allows for 6 people , driver and guide. If your group has only 3 people, you just cannot ask anyone to join you. Your names have to be on permit to enter the jungle.

Tiger eluded us in Bijrani though one could make by certain indications that there was one around. We did wait patiently along with some other gypsies but he/she never came out of the thick forest. There have been a lot of sightings recently in this area as there is a tigress with 4 cubs and they often venture  out on the jungle paths. We had 3 children with us (age 14-17) who did enjoy this gypsy ride, this spirit of adventure and the rough terrain. Unfortunately they could not experience the thrill of sighting tiger in the wild.  I was happy that they enjoyed  the forest and the landscapes. The very next morning a photographer staying in the neighboring resort got some lovely snaps of a tigress in action. We did envy him.

Elephants at Jhirna

We would have gone to Bijrani once again the next day and taken a chance of sighting the tigress and cubs but we had permit for Jhirna so this is where we had to go. We had the most unenthusiastic guide possible. He told us right in the beginning that we should not expect to see a tiger or any exciting animal. This was a bit unfair as there are tigers in the area and some people had sighted a tiger just 2 days back. We did manage to see some lovely forests and a herd of elephants so it was not a total washout.  Being close to natural beauty can never be a washout.

Marchula area with Ramganga river

Marchula-A pretty place nearby

We did have another day with us and each day we had been trying to get a booking for Dhikala. We would visit the forest officers office in Ramnagar each day and were willing to grab a chance of staying in Dhikala if we did get one. But this did not happen and we went for a drive to Marchula which was around 30 km’s from our resort. It was a lovely day and we sat on the rocks near Ramganga river enjoying the flow of river with beautiful backdrop of forests and mountains.The last time I was here was a decade back when we had stayed at the beautiful Ramganga resorts. 
A place this lovely is so near Delhi and it is a pity that we gave it a total miss for more than a decade. I hope we can make amends in the next few years and in the bargain see first hand the tiger in the wild. It is definitely worth a try. 

Fun on the rocks

Corbett Facts

Delhi to Corbett Park : 258 km’s

Corbett Park to Nainital via Kalidungi : 65 km's
Nearest railway station : Kathgodam.

Bookings for Accommodation inside the park and for safari permits : http://corbettonline.uk.gov.in

Accommodation bookings open : 45 days advance for Indians

Safari bookings : 30 days in advance

Main Gates : 1) Amdanda (for Bijrani). 2) Dhangari (For Dhikala). 3) Durga Devi 4) Jhirna

Places to stay : 

Inside the Park : Dhikala, Gairal and Sultan from Dhangari gate. Jhirna on the other side.

Many resorts outside the park are very popular with tourists and corporates.

Jeep Hire : From Forest office at Ramnagar or Amdanda gate. Rs 1750.

Guide Hire. Compulsory. Rs 500. From the gate you are entering for Safari.

Note : Carry the same ID which you had used for booking of  permit. Carry your permit.
Park closes during monsoons other than Jhirna area.