Jungle Jaunt

Jaldapara National Park, India

Hollong Guest House, Jaldapara, West Bengal

Imagine sitting on a bench, staring out into the forest and having your own personal Imax wildlife show playing out in real life. That's exactly what we experienced in the Jaldapara National Park in April this year. Jaldapara, spanning 141 square kilometers in the northern part of West Bengal is a lush, dense forest, home to the one horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger, elephants, many types of deer, leopards, bison, wild pigs and not to mention, its a feast for bird watchers.

Coronation Bridge, Sevoke

We started off from Bagdogra, a small town in the foot of the Darjeeling hills and drove the three hours to the Hollong guest house in Jaldapara, covering 88 miles of awesome road (very surprising for north Bengal), picturesque river beds, tea gardens, forests and hills.

 Arriving at the guest house, which was located deep within the forest, we settled in and then had a typical Bengali lunch of maacher jhol – fish in very light gravy – rice, dal, vegetables and aloo bhaja – potato sticks – and salad. The fare at Hollong is simple and doesn't change much but it's wholesome and tasty. Fish for lunch, chicken for dinner. Then some of us went straight to the benches on the lawns and sat and waited for the animals. Being a complete nature freak, I didn't want to miss out on anything.

On to the right side of the tracks!

Over the bridge to the Dooars

The guest house is located in a large clearing in the forest. The lawns end at a tiny stream which is no more than a foot deep at its worst and a few meters wide and then the animal playground begins with no protective barrier whatsoever. I was told that in this place you are guaranteed sightings of wild animals but I was quite skeptical given my luck in not spotting the elusive tiger despite numerous visits to Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand and catching the backside of one rhino in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, as it ambled into the wild grass. But the eternal optimist in me kept her hopes up and fingers crossed.

Beautiful Bengal

So my mom and I sat on the bench while the kids and other family members were in different parts of the lawn just waiting and waiting, staring out into the distance. The quiet peaceful atmosphere also served as a wonderfully relaxed bonding experience between mother and daughter, so far from our daily chores and responsibilities. The clearing has a large pit in which forest officials put two piles of salt every day and the animals, after a hard day come to re-hydrate, which is why sighting is guaranteed.

In the jungle it's a waiting game. You have to be patient and willing to wait for hours or even days to spot an animal. At first, we saw a peacock far out in the brush. Then beautiful birds like the Blue Jay, eagle, hornbill and parrots. Then came the monkeys. These bu**ers are everywhere! There were at least fifty or so jumping around the sand pit and I wondered if I'd come all the way just for a `planet of the apes' experience. 

After two and a half hours I was grumbling away about this when suddenly in the distance emerging from the trees we see two ivory tusks and attached to them is a magnificent wild elephant ambling steadily into the clearing. Ah my heart. It did a happy dance. The tusker kept walking straight down then veered off to its left and back into the jungle. All of us were spellbound and I mostly heard myself saying ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod WOW!

How awesome is that!

Shortly after, we saw movement in the same spot the elephant emerged from and out popped some Indian bison, or Indian Gaur, as they are called. They came in a line then, charging toward the salt pit. Five, six, ten, twelve, then more and more until the entire herd arrived. At its peak, I counted 44 bison hanging out not 50 yards from us, lapping up salt, grazing and some of them headbutting each other. Another wondrous sight. Gazed at them for a while but I was really waiting for the rhinoceros. The Indian one horned rhino is an amazing sight to behold and I couldn't wait to see it. Though the tusker was an amazing bonus. Never thought that would happen.

Herd of Indian bison

But, where's my rhino? The beast I was most eager to see and was assured of sighting was proving as elusive as the Corbett tiger! We waited and waited and waited. It got dark and still no rhino. Finally we went into the guest house and sat in the drawing room on the first floor and kept a watch from large open windows facing the clearing with the lights off because it was attracting a serious amount of bugs. The guest house has a couple of powerful spot lights which are used to see animals at night.

After a while, we shone the light onto the pit and whaddya know, four wild elephants, few bison, couple of deer and one rhino were hanging out having a party! We went running back into the lawns and stared at them from the edge. Suddenly, one of the bison or elephants scared off the rhino and that huge guy took off and cleared the 75 or so meters towards us in less than four seconds. Before we knew it, it had crossed the brook and was on our side to the far left. Most people hastened back to the building. Poor guy, think it was more spooked than any of us and it just went off from there through the forest. For an animal that size it sure is timid and can run really fast!

Who you lookin' at mister?

The next morning we were on a 6.45 a.m. elephant ride inside the forest. I was still hankering to see a rhino during the day as the night sighting was not nearly as satisfactory. Bumping along the beautiful lush forest through streams and jungle, we come out into a huge clearing with tall grass. I asked the mahout about the chances of spotting a rhino and he said `sure, you will definitely see them'. A minute later, he points to a little pool of water ahead of us and wallowing in it is a huge rhinoceros! Happy dance again! We go to within three feet and it sees us hovering, gives us the wary eye, gets up a bit alarmed and stares suspiciously.

Am sure it was annoyed at having its quiet wallow disturbed by pesky intruders. They're also scared of elephants, so we move off. My trip was complete. Couldn't ask for more. Didn't see any more rhinos or any other animals after that but the later you go the less are the chances of spotting animals as they move away from those areas knowing there will be a steady stream of gawking tourists coming that route all day.

Who dare disturb my peaceful wallow!

The entire hour, there was a baby elephant who accompanied us, following its mommy everywhere. It went on all the trips through the day, stopping to nurse once in a while. On our way back, we had reached the clearing of the guest house when I looked to the right and whoa, there was the tusker coming towards us in the distance. I exclaimed and pointed him out and the mahouts got quite agitated. There were four elephants and a baby in the group and the mahouts started urging them to move faster towards our drop off point as they were scared for little Champakuli as it was the most vulnerable.

Coming right at us!

Those were some apprehensive moments as I really didn't fancy us getting gored or trampled by a wild elephant. Luckily we made it back without incident and this time the tusker came all the way to the stream touching the guest house lawns, giving some lucky people a close look and amazing photographic opportunity. I of course missed the show as the drop off point was about 100 meters from where the tusker was and I was busy petting the elephant that gave us such a wonderful ride. Would have loved to see the magnificent wild beast up close though.

Our lovely companion

North Bengal is home to 529 elephants across 2,200 kilometers of forest area and with the increasing population and pressure on land, the man-elephant conflict is on the rise. Train tracks through the forests have been responsible for an increasingly alarming number of collisions with the jumbos and at least 44 elephants have died in that area after being hit by trains since 2004.

In November 2013 a train rammed into a herd crossing the tracks in the Chapramari wildlife sanctuary killing five adult and two baby elephants on the spot and stopped only after a mangled carcass got entangled under its wheels. It's heartbreaking to hear such news and leaves me wondering why they have train tracks going through the forests in the first place. Couldn't they skirt around it?

According to a study by Teri University, the number of elephant deaths have tripled since the railways decided to convert the rails from meter gauge to broad gauge in 2004. The trains have a maximum speed of 100 kilometers an hour. The study found that 86 percent of the collisions happened at night and during crop season which can be avoided if train services are halted at night. They have also suggested a maximum speed 40 km an hour in those areas. Will the railways do something about it? I really really hope so. Trains and poachers need to be kept at bay.

Can you please leave me alone!

Soon it was time to leave Jaldapara, and leave I did with a heavy heart. The place was magical to me and my kids and the time too short. The poor husband, bogged down by work troubles couldn't really enjoy the experience. We tried to book two nights there but only managed one. The booking process is absolutely nuts! You've got to be a real wildlife enthusiast and seriously dedicated to be able to get to spend a few days there. The procedure through the government website is truly not for the fainthearted.

Firstly, the bookings open 120 days in advance, so the real eager beavers are sitting in front of their computers with their fingers poised to hit the reservation button at 12 a.m. sharp! If you want a room for more than one night, repeat the procedure the next night and so on. My dad and uncle tried to get a booking (we needed two rooms for two nights) failed, went running to the forest department in Siliguri, West Bengal's third biggest city a half hours drive from Bagdogra, and they managed to reserve one night for us at the back rooms which didn't overlook the park. The booking for the next night was not open yet, so the two of them woke at 5 a.m. the next morning and tried... with no luck. We had to spend the next night at another forest reserve called Gorumara, an hour and a half's drive away.

Great advice!

In Gorumara we stayed in a private resort outside the forest and the next day took a Jeep ride into the jungles. There was a stark difference between the two properties. The Reserve, being privately owned was clean and comfortable and plush though the rooms were small. The food was very nice and we had a mix of cuisines, Indian, Chinese, Italian to break the monotony. But the charm of staying inside the forest is unparalleled.

Jaldapara being a typical government concern had uneven wooden floors covered with vinyl which were not mopped properly, frayed, old, worn out couches with frayed, old, faded covers. Though the guesthouse had been recently painted, the room corners had a few months worth of dust settled under the armchairs and I had to get it swept again before the children's mattress could be put over it. Would have preferred to have it mopped with water too but apparently the sweeper and mopper are different and the fellow wasn't around. Or maybe, the guy didn't want to do the extra work.

Our bathroom had the most peculiar smell with a crack along the length of the basin. And not to mention the towels!!! Originally white, but had turned grey, threadbare and was so off-putting that I refused to bathe there. If you're ever planning to go to any government property in India, unless its the governor's private mansion, carry your own towels!! I refused to even use our bathroom, instead, preferred to go down the rickety circular stairs to my parents bathroom on the floor below.

Huge cotton tree

It surprises me that with the abundance of manpower government facilities have, how little they use it for proper maintenance and cleanliness. The short stairs to the first floor rooms had a bunch of bees congregating right in the center and some buzzing around and we had to quickly run through them trying not to step on any. My kids were naturally apprehensive of getting stung by the bees but I got them through a few times.

After three such dashes I asked someone to remove them and he replied with a blase ``it's okay, they won't do anything''. I got annoyed and asked them if they would tell the chief secretary of West Bengal, the highest administration official in the state, the same when he arrived later that evening. They promptly removed the bees. My uncle gave the guesthouse in-charge a one-hour lecture on organizational skills and how to maintain standards before we left!

Another thing peculiar to government establishments is the extreme deference they give to VIP's, i.e. government babus, There are all of seven rooms in the guesthouse, Two of those ...obviously the best ones... are reserved for VIP's.

Party all night

Even with all that,  I felt terrible leaving the Hollong guest house, and would gladly have spent another few days there just for the serenity and the amazing animals. The guest house, with its spacious rooms, bathrooms and sitting areas would have been really wonderful had they just maintained it properly. And the good part is that with such few rooms you don't have too many people staying there, so it stays peaceful. I plan to go back next year but when I do, I'll make sure to bring my own towels!