Towards Gaya February 2025
11th February
The start of a postponed trip.
Had planned this September October of 2024. But, a fervent request from my daughter got me cancel.
The idea regenerated in January while in Sri Lanka. Thought of a early March Departure. The weather played a large part in pulling it forward.
The route was thru the smaller Tiger Reserves in the East, North and Central India. With all the key religious places in North Central India brought in.
Only when I reached Prayagraj in my bookings did I realise it was Kumbh time. So much for my religious indoctrination.
The hotels were extremely expensive. Though of dropping it, the younger one agreed. The elder whacked me on my head. So, booked.
Departed Chennai at 0600. Headed towards my first halt - Nagarjuna Srisailam Tiger Reserve - NSTR - also called the Nalamalla Forest Reserve. Had my booking for two nights at one of their camps at Pacherla. Each night had one Safari thrown in.
Got out of Chennai very fast, Was amazed at the smooth run, till I realised that all the bottlenecks now had flyovers.
Crossed into Andhra and joined the heavy vehicle traffic. As long as there were three lanes, one could stay on a gear for a while. Else, it was a constant downshift and wait for place to overtake. Autos hogged the road.
Had planned to go up NH16 till Nellore, and then go west, But the Maps offered a route 7 minutes faster much before Nellore, I turned with the map.
Wasn’t expecting too much in terms of the roads, as I was going on the interior roads. Was extremely surprised at the quality. And, lack of traffic. Went of NH16 to NH71 and the NH565.
Except for a few stretches where the road was being torn up and relayed, it was a good drive.
Had turned on my breakfast radar by 0830. Wasn’t till I reached NH565 that I saw a place I could stop. That happened because I turned onto the NH, and there it was. Had a couple of thosais, off the tava, with a drop of local sambar. Did not want to take a chance with their spice levels.
Reached the Jungle camp by 1300. The camp huge. Lots and lots of cottages. But, later realised I was the only one in for today and tomorrow. The crowds come in for the weekend.
Took my vehicle all the way to the cottage.
Had lunch. Then had
to rush out to find network signals for any one of my phones. Very
important mail needed to be sent. Got it about 10 kilometres away from
the camp.
Got back, with some time to stretch leg before the 1600 safari. At 1545 decided I had waited long enough.
The safari itself is not much about animals. Or Birds. The driver is a novice at it. And, definitely not a spotter by any chance.
The terrain is lovely. Very shrubby. Many variety of bamboo. The place is drying up fast. There were a few forest fires picking up. Believe they started naturally because the wind rubbed branches against one another.
Went fast for a water hole on the route, which is a circuit the driver cannot go off.
Only sighting at the water hole was a giant squirrel. 
Waited for a bit. Would have liked to wait till the sun started setting, but the driver was fidgeting.
Sighted a large bird of prey. White head and shoulders, brown body. The driver stopped under it but kept engine running. The bird got pissed off and flew away.
Dinner is at 2030. Then sleep.
Tomorrow morning coffee is at 0630. Believe the mist is in till 0700. So that’s when the safari will start.
Have asked the guys to check name of bird. And, check if anyone knows where it is normally sighted, of where it’s nest could be.
12th February
Was told that the mist is till 0700. At 0600 it was dark, so visibility was anyhow affected. At 0630, when the coffee was brought, it was light. No mist.
Got ready and headed to the office for the safari. It was cold, so had my jacket on. The driver did not come till 0730. Lazy buggers.
As it is their animal density is low. And, they charge as much as any central India reserve for the safari. The vehicle is a TATA diesel, with a fabricated body. It rattles, probably scaring any animal that might be around. The guy drives to finish the circuit within one hour. When he could so easily crawl and double the time. Give sighting a chance.
The fires which had been burning had burnt out quite a large patch. Fortunately it was only the dry stuff on the ground.
The forest is a dense dry deciduous forest. Loads of shrub around. Maybe this is one natural was yo clear the shrub load. Helps both better sighting and rejuvenation. The terrain is great for just driving around. With summer coming, it is going to get very very dusty.
Saw a couple of antlered Sambhar trying to cross. They were extremely skittish. Instead of stopping and shutting engine, the driver kept moving. Stopped when he reached where the animals were seen in the bush. One had crossed. The other had gone back into the brush. Instead of offering to wait and watch, the driver wanted to head off. Not really oriented towards good sighting behaviour.
Reached the water hole. Not a animal in sight. But did see a bird of prey on a tree.
Rest of the drive flew past. A few langurs appeared to tempt the vehicle to stop. But, that did not happen.
Were back at the camp within the hour.
As a forest, NSTR is brilliant.
As a safari destination, NSTR Pacherla is terrible.
As a camp site, it is fantastic. The cook and her husband have just taken over. They are very into local herbs, vegetables and local cuisine.
Breakfast was Upma with a chutney made of a mixture of nuts.
Lunch was two types of chutney - one was tomato, pudding and onion, the other was groundnut and tomato. This was with small green brinjal half cut, stuffed with masala and pan fried. The Rice was with masoor dal.
As you would have figured out, ate too much.
Dinner willl hopefully be simple. Was told it is some millet roti with a subj.
Tomorrow drive out towards Sterling Godavari.
13th February
Departed from my room as planned at 0600 after an excellent light dinner of Jawar roti and Potatoe curry.
My cottage was deep into the camp, at the end away from the entrance. Required navigating thru the trees to get there. Had no problem finding my way, but, found the inner gate locked. A slightly cooler check revealed that the gate opened even with the lock. Given that one side was not anchored, opening only meant sliding the latch out.
The roads were as good as can be expected in the interior of a state. Early morning the traffic was non existent. Breakfast was once again at a roadside eatery, slightly larger, more populated.
Reached NH16. Made driving simpler. Could increase speed. Though I stayed inside the 100 kmph limit.
Stopped for fuel. Checked my messages to find one from Vahan Parivahan saying that a traffic ticket had been raised on my vehicle, number given. And, I had to download the attached Vahan app to check the ticket and pay.
My great feel went down the drain.Rest of the run was not so great.
Got to Sterling Godavari in time for lunch. As food was being prepared, tried to get the app downloaded. Did not work on my iphone, so tried the android. There were some security blocks. Decided to message the guys back, asking if there was any other method to check. Got a reply back quite fast, telling me not to do anything.The message was a scam. Things we learn. No clue what could have happened if I was phone security savvy and had installed the app.
Anyways checked the echallan site on Parivahan for my vehicle. No new tickets.
Sterling Godavari is located about 20 kilometers from where the river enters the Bay of Bengal. The Godavari itself splits into three large river bodies and flows to the Bay. Sterling is about 100 meters from the banks of one of them.
Given my head was now clear of the traffic ticket mess, slept a bit. Woke up before sunset and went to see the river.
Hung around till the mosquitos started taking interest in me. Headed back to my room.
Not a place I would recommend to anyone. The place is as good as any star hotel. Food is sad, more because the chef is just not interested. Cannot imagine a place by the river and sea that does not have fresh prawns and fish.
It was on my list to be visited. Done
The next day was a long run, to Gopalpur-on-sea. Had been there in 2009 with my wife. All that was there those days were a few tea shacks. And, hundreds of fishing boats.
This time around while checking for a night halt between Sterling and the next night, was amazed at the number of resorts at Gopalpur. Decision was easy.
14th February 2025
The drive was in three phases. Distance to cover was about 550 kilometers.
The first phase was narrow roads thru rice fields. There was a fog at places. The road had twists and turns.
That was the reason I had left by 0540, to beat the cyclists, and any other traffic.
And, it was great. No traffic at all.
Reached Nh16 without much effort.
NH16 had traffic, even that early. There was no fuel bunk for close to a hundred kilometers. Stopped for fuel as soon as I could.
Then started the next phase. It was still a two lane highway. Came up behind a police patrol vehicle. Stayed behind him all the way to Vishakapatnam. Did not want to tickle any fate that may be hanging around. The speed was not bad. We stayed at 80 kmph.
NH16 has speed readers ever few kilometers. If your speed is over the limit the display is red. Fortunately, there readers are visible from a distance. Staying behind the police vehicle helped.
The third phase was when I lost the police vehicle at the Vishakapatnam toll gate.
And, the road became three lane. And, traffic seemed to thin.
My speed picked up to 100 kmph, while keeping a eye open for the speed checks.
There is no fuel station for a clear 250 kilometers to the Gopalpur turn off. Amazing.
Swosti Palm Resort is well located. Checked with the people at reception of they had a bar. They did not. But they did tell me that alcohol is served on request !!
Lunch was good. Prawn curry Odiya style, with rice.
Went to the beach in the evening. It has changed completely. The boats have been cleared. Fantastic. 15 years and they had moved the fishing village, got the place cleaned up, resorts had flourished. Great job.
Clean beach. Chairs for people to sit. Some ATVs for fun. A few power boats. Food on the beach is peanuts and the like. But there is no litter.
Lovely place to spend a few quiet days.
Tomorrow is back to the forests.
For dinner, had a couple of vodka with fried fish and boiled vegetables.
Crashed early
15th February 2025
Clean departure at 0600. Was on NH16 within the hour. Thereafter it was one steady run at 90kmph. Dropping to below 80 every time I saw the speed cameras.
Stopped for breakfast at a place where many others had stopped. Poori and dal. Closed the deal with a rasagulla.
And that, is the dining area with the kitchen in front.
Lunch was at 1400.
So went to the forest office and got my safari booked for tomorrow morning at 0530. Need to be there by 0500.
Had a chat with the Range officer. Got his nod for an afternoon safari, if the morning safari is good. Else, do nothing.
Had a vegetagle thali for lunch.
Then a walk at 1630 to the locally famous Sitakund Waterfall. Unfortunately it was not very watery.
But, the walk was great. 4 kilometers up and down. Legs felt good.
This place has a gas fired geyser. Only problem is that it is on the outside. A good gust of wind and the gas fire goes off. Had to get a immersion rod. It is chill. Need hot water for a bath.
Have asked for dinner at 2000. Early to bed. Up at 0430.
16th February 2025
Was up and ready for the safari. Found the resort gate locked, even after my repeatedly requesting that it be open at 0500. Blew the horn, waking loads of others up. The gate was opened.
Reached the forest gate. Not a soul in sight. The forest guys turned up before 0530. But all was stuck. Because the place they park their vehicles was locked. That guy turned up at 0600 and refused to open the gate unless some dues were paid. Could not understand negotiations, but gate opened.
Entered the forest at 0630, an hour behind schedule.
Once I was inside, it was great. Lovely Sal forest. It has parts that are hilly. Not too high, around 1000 meters. Steep gradients. Curving roads. There are flats with grassland. Lush thick forest. Means at times sighting chance was good. At times, only if on road. But, the terrain made up for it all.
And, the driver. His spotting was excellent.
Sighting was good, given density here is low. Got to see
Giant Squirrel black
Giant Squirrel Brown
Cheetal - Spotted deer
One Elephant
You have to look carefully. If you do, you will see the tail, the butt, and a bit in front of that the tusks !! Patience is all I can ask for.
Also saw what looks like a Crested Serpent Eagle
Normal load of pictures were not really there as the forest does not allow line of sight. Too many trees.
And, the sighting above one's head is impossible as the vehicle has a roof.
The vehicle is an electric Jiminy. Excellent for the forest. Very silent running, except for the rattling roof. Except for the roof.
Great morning. Totally enjoyed myself.
Got back to the forest office by 1130. Spoke to the Range Officer and got him agree to book me into the afternoon safari. Which is normally to be done a day early. Asked for the same driver.
Got back to the forest gate by 1330. Walked the distance, which was a bit over a kilometer.
Got the same driver, and a guide. Looks like I made an impression.
Entered the forest at 1430. Saw a Mongoose run across the path as we were going in. It was too good a sight to be true. These are statements. And early sighting means a bad ride thereafter. And so it was, as far as seeing animals or birds was concerned.
Except for this guy.
Sure you recognize him.
But the beauty of the forest more than made up for the lack of sightings.
By the time we got back out of the forest it was dark. And chill.
Had to walk back to the place I was staying. Made it back, though I did get disoriented, walking by the light on my phone. Pitch dark otherwise.
Tomorrow comes the middle phase. Away from the forest into culture and religion.
Have a reasonable distance to go. Dinner early. Bill settled. Departure planned for 0530.
Comments
Post a Comment