Jungle Safari on a moonlit night

On the third day of our stay at Chhotkei Nature Camp, we decided to go for a Jungle Safari, exploring more of the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. Personally, I, being the laziest of the entire group, was not quite interested in the night safari in the Satkosia jungle as I wanted to soak in more of the Chhotkei ambience. By then, I had begun enjoying the customary night strolling around the Chhotkei Nature Camp premises.

Anyways, after dinner, at around 9 PM, we prepared ourselves and our kids for the night safari. We were apprehensive about spotting animals in this accessible sanctuary, but we could not miss the chance of experiencing the jungle’s beauty in the Poornima (Full Moon) night.

That moonlit night in the jet-black jungle would be one of our treasured travel memories. The jeep moved really slow, barely making any sound that might scare the animals away. But it was our misfortune not to spot a lot of animals – they didn’t come out from their safe havens because of the full moon. We spotted a deer family which had come to drink water and waited to spot a few bisons or elephants. The bisons or elephants did not turn up although.

The trees that lined the jungle road displayed red circles in their mid-trunks. The circles acted as markers for the jungle boundary. The red circles shone brilliantly as we moved through. It felt as if hundreds of red eyes were scolding us for daring to disturb their night sleep.

There was a place where a waterfall gushed down the fault scarps to reach the nearby river through the jungle road. It might be Bhimdhara Falls. On that night name of the waterfalls did not matter to us much. We stopped there for some time for stretching our backs. The kids were fast asleep inside the jeep. The sky looked silver. The gushing water was a white ribbon from where silver droplets trickled down. The ambience looked ethereal. I wanted to remember the poem ‘Silver’ then, but memory went for a holiday too!

On our way back to the Chhotkei Nature Camp, my other group mates except me stopped at a local fair that was an annual event organised a day before Holi. They said that they loved the colourful rural culture displayed in the fair. An open theatre show was also underway then, but they couldn’t enjoy much of it as we had to hurry back to our cottages because of the advancing night and the probability of disturbing the animals.

As they enjoyed themselves at the fair, I held my sleeping kid close to me and smelt the air around. All the jeep windows were open. The still silvery night waited outside the windows. The moment of solitude that I experienced then is beyond words.

A few hours in Purunakote on the way back to Kolkata

Sunil Da was extremely sad that he couldn’t make us spot a few animals in the safari. He wished us to enjoy our stay and soak in the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary’s ambience as much as we could. 

A short halt in Purunakote was suggested by him as well. He said that there’s nothing to see, just a mud house, a couple of charpais, a mango grove and some chulha cooked simple homemade food.

The extremely humble mud establishment was being run by an elderly couple. The wife was energetic and industrious. She made us some tea and chatted about her place in Oriya. Since the language had some familiarity with Bengali, we could understand her words. She said that her place used to serve as Machaan for hunters in earlier years when the jungle was denser. A few Machaans were still functional for protecting the goats during the nights from the attacks of wild animals.

The mango trees in and around the premises displayed new leaves. As our kids played around with the fallen leaves on the earth below, I smelt a pair of new leaves. The aroma was still fresh, reminded me of the mango trees of Durgapur.

The food had a beautiful aroma, all thanks to the earthen hearth. The post-lunch Adda inside one of the cool mud houses had to be cut short because of our bus timings. At times, even if people don’t want to leave a comforting place, they have to because of the life’s waves that wait to drift them along with them. With our lives’ waves waiting to take us along, we had to accept the summon and come back to our homes. Little did we knew then that it would be months before we could go out again.

Information about travelling in Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary

Best Time

Between the months of October and April. You can also choose to go during May-June to spot the animals, but those are the hottest months there.

Best mode of Transport

The best mode of travel to Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary is train. You can also take a flight to Bhubaneshwar and then take a train to Angul station. From Angul, you can take a hired cab to the nature camps that offer stay in Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary.

Stay options

There are three nature camps in Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary – Chhotkei, Baghamunda, Tikarpada, and Tarava. You can book your stay through this website link, – https://www.ecotourodisha.com/exploreecotourism.php.  

Hiring Cabs and guide

We had contacted Sunil Sahu, who provided us a cab that picked us from Bhubaneshwar and stayed with us throughout our stay in Chhotkei Nature Camp. Sunil Sahu personally drove us in the night safari. Sunil Sahu’s contact numbers are – (+91)9938543854, (+91)9438588478

Activities in the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary

Bird watching, jungle walks, short hikes to the nearby hillocks, and river cruise. You can spot birds like Red Vented Bulbul, Great Indian Hornbill, Black Oriole, Woodpecker, Night Jar, and Jungle Warblers from the nature camp cottages themselves. 

Food served in the Nature Camps

The quality and quantity are excellent but there are no fancy items offered. Only basic rice, daal, eggs, vegetable curry and chicken curry are served. Occasionally, if fishes are available, they are served to the guests staying in the nature camps.

Approximate Expenses

The approximate total expenses in the Satkosia Gorge trip on March 2020 was 12k to 13k per person excluding the kids. I am not giving any details about the cost breakup because it is subject to change.

If you really want to experience a forest ambience by staying inside the heart of it, the eco-tourism to Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary can be your next travel destination. Bon Voyage!

The post A weekend destination near Kolkata – Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Odisha (Part 2) appeared first on KolkataFusion.

About the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary

The Satkosia is the gorge on river Mahanadi which is Saat Kosh or 14 miles (22 Kms) in length. The Satkosia Gorge is the habitat for a variety of wildlife including tigers, crocodiles, bisons, deers, elephants, porcupines, pangolins, langurs and leopards. There are also an amazing variety of colouful birds that can be spotted during the quiet hours of morning or afternoon. Presently, the number of tigers has decreased to 4, leopards are rarely spotted but one can easily spot Gharials basking in the sun while cruising on the Mahanadi river on local boats. The green forests remain rejuvenated throughout the year because of the regular rains showering upon the deciduous trees in and around Satkosia gorge.

There are many nature camps like Tikarpara and Purunakote, but we zeroed our stay in the cottages provided by the Chhotkei Nature Camp. The Chhotkei Nature camp lies on the northern side of the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. We booked our cottages online. (The online link for booking is shared in Part 2).

Reaching Chhotkei Nature Camp from Kolkata

Since train tickets weren’t available, we opted for a bus journey. The night bus started from Esplanade and dropped us at Bhubaneshwar just before dawn. From Bhubaneshwar, we hired a cab till Chhotkei Nature Camp. We drove till Angul Bazar, halted for a breakfast with Idli, turned left to reach Chhotkei Nature Camp. In the midway, we stopped at Pampasar to take the permission and register our entries into the Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary.

In short, our road journey was a tedious one with our kids. We won’t recommend a long drive to Chhotkei Nature Camp from Kolkata with toddlers. It would be best via train. You can take a local train to Angul Station from Bhubaneshwar and then take a cab to Chhotkei.

First Day at Chhotkei Nature Camp

We reached the Chhotkei Nature Camp in the afternoon. As we entered through the gate, the greenery and a calm afternoon breeze soothed our weariness. Our mobiles being transformed into playthings without network towers, we felt more close to nature.

However, after their staff showed our cottages and served our lunch, the steaming hot plates of rice, daal and vegetable curry lured us more than the trees and the chirping of birds around us. We were so hungry! The food was simple and had a homely taste; even our toddlers enjoyed it. The hospitality of the staff won our hearts. 

After the filling food, all we wanted was to have a siesta. The rooms were cool; the drawn curtains made them dark too. Sleep wasn’t elusive anymore. After an hour or so, the pitter-pattering of the rains on the asbestos slopes of the cottages woke us up. The backside verandahs of the cottages opened us up to the lush green forests around us. As the rains dripped in, cool breezes swept over, bringing in some raindrops with them. The rains stopped after some time. The birds started to chatter again, breaking the prevailing silence all around. 

Conforming to the true characteristic of the jungles, there was a sudden nightfall after a not-so-long evening. The crickets and the frogs took over the concert from the birds. Later in the night, as we strolled around the nature camp boundary before getting off to sleep, a Night Jar announced that the day was over.

Boating in Satkosia Gorge

The next morning we started off to Satkosia Gorge in our hired cab. The gorge is around 12 Kms from the Chhotkei Nature Camp. We stopped at Tikarpara for boarding the motorboat. As we waited for our turns to board the boat, we strolled around the nearby enclosures. 

The enclosures housed Gharials, Crocodiles, a few local poisonous snakes, and some monkeys. The signboard installed near the enclosures read ‘Crocodile Breeding Ground and Conservation Site.’

After some time, as the boatman called us, we boarded the motorboat. The two amateur photographers of our group placed themselves in vantage points in the hope of capturing the sights as the boat would advance. Mahanadi and the hillocks around appeared blue – the waves were glassy while the hillocks stood firm with trees dotted around them.

We had a fear that the engine sound emanating from the engine would drive the birds and animals away but nothing of that sort happened. The sound was barely heard by us, almost inaudible. As we glanced around from the mid-river, we caught a nonchalant crocodile lying down on a sandbank upon Mahanadi River and basking in the sun. A River Lapwing jostled around in the hope of catching a few crustaceans.

It was fun to introduce the animal life and the sights around the Satkosia Gorge to our toddlers. They avidly watched, rapt in attention. As we showed our kids the waves the boat made while sailing ahead, a Tern swooped down on the river like lightning, caught a fish on its beak, and flew up above towards its nest, maybe. We wanted to follow the Tern’s direction of flight but the dazzling sun hid it from us. 

The cool, moist breeze over the Mahanadi River was a constant companion and the reason for us not to sweat profusely. The viewing experience would have been better if we could take the boat cruise earlier in the morning. Nevertheless, the experience was marvellous. The Satkosia Gorge is one of those places which can make you crave solitude amidst nature and want to spend some more time by the sandbanks of Mahanadi River, whiling away your time by counting the soft ripples appearing on the surface of the river.

The next day we had planned to go for the customary Jungle Safari. Our driver Sunil, suggested us to go for a night safari after having our dinner. We will describe more about our Satkosia experience in the next part of the travelogue.

The post A weekend destination near Kolkata – Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Odisha (Part 1) appeared first on KolkataFusion.