jab main Gir gaya...

Thanks to my dear friend "M", I was able to see the Asiatic lions up close and personal :)

M decided to get married at the right place at the right time and we saw this as a window of opportunity to make a trip to the last of the asiatic lions at Gir National Park.

I booked a hotel near the Gir national park, The Gir Birding lodge. Though the hotel is expensive and isnt value for money but still given the 4 days of extended weekend, i did not want to take a chance and transferred the amount for 2 rooms in advance :)

We decided to take the flight to Diu early morning, and travel from Diu to Gir (100kms) by a car. The hotel asked for Rs.3500 for an AC innova for the 100kms journey, so we did not book any car and decided we will hire a car directly from Diu as we land..

As usual, the early morning mess of Jet awaited us at the Mumbai airport on 26th, but we did not have much problem in boarding our flight to Diu. It was a Mumbai-Porbandar-Diu-Mumbai flight. 

We reached Diu at exactly 8.30 on schedule and walked out on the tarmac to reach the arrival terminal..

Our next plan was to find a cab which would take us to Gir. There was only One indica in view which asked for Rs.2000 to drop us at Gir.. We thought we should go and check the "main market area" of Diu..

So we asked around, and we were told that the main market is around 7-8kms from the airport and the Rick would charge about 150 bucks..

We dint have a choice and we agreed. but the rickshaw wala was adamant and charged Rs.200 from us :(

We asked him to take us to a good hotel for breakfast and we were at Hotel Anand.. Its on the sea shore and a beautiful view of the arabian ocean is what you see..

We had a good heavy breakfast of alu-parathas and malasa dosas and coffees.. but the bill was also heavy.. Rs.650 :D ..

A closer look revealed, Alu parathas cost Rs.65 so does a masala dosa ... *sigh*..

While "A" and "S", went around in search of a Cab for Gir, Me and "D" waited for them in the hotel with all the luggage..

Finally we got a call from them that they booked a Qualis for Rs.2200/- and were on their way to pick us up at the hotel. We started from Diu around 10.30am ..

We reached Gir around 1.30pm and went straight to Sinh Sadan to check if we could find a place in the Jungle safari which is at 3.30pm.. "S" decided to stick around to see if he can do something while me/"D" went to the room to dump the luggage..

We were back and "S" was sealing a deal with a local (who turned out to be driver of the gypsy) for 1000bucks to get the top spot in the line..

And the deal was sealed.. We shamelessly bagged the top spot in the line with more than 50 people standing there..

We got the booking for the 3.30 safari and to our luck , the safari was to start from the Gate# 2 which was right next to our hotel.

A few photos from Sinh Sadan..

We went back to the room for a quick lunch.. Told the driver and the guide that to pick us up from the hotel itself.

We were ready by 3.30pm and the open Gypsy was standing there..

We sat into the gypsy and the trail started...

Safari 1 : December 26th.. 3.30pm

As they say, there are around 40,000 of them...

For a looooong time we were did not spot anything apart from the Peacocks/Langurs/Deers... not even a sambhar .. My hopes of seeing the Giant Cat were vanishing, but the guide kept on saying "dont worry guys sher to pakka dikhaunga"..

Shikra on the way...

Finally we came to a spot where there were about 4 gypsys standing on the road and a "Tracker" ( i call him the ringmaster) standing right there as he was asking one - one gypsy to go inside and come out.

We took the detour from our main jungle road to the interiors of the jungle.. and we found the babbaaaar sheeerrrrrrrrr.. We were really delighted at the sight of these huge cats..

Time to move on as the show still goes on for the remaining gypsys :)

We came out of the jungle trail and i asked the driver to stop.. i spotted something :)

The Asian Paradise Flycatcher..

We continued on the trail.. According to the guide we were only half done :) and we were quite happy to know that..

We then saw the Sambhar family ..

The trail of the jungle with the sun rays through the trees..

We kept going on our trail and to our amazement there were nearly 20 odd gypsys stationed at a place where people were looking on their left and right to see if they were able to see the big cat..

according to the news, there were around 6-8 of them inside ... 

We grinned ear to ear..

Finally our turn.. We could see only 3 of them lazing around.. but the middle one lifted its head to give me a decent look  :))

We headed back on the route after a good half an hour in the Queue for a chance to see the Lioness..

The guide suddenly asked the driver to hit the brakes and stand still.. no it wasnt a lion/leopard crossing.. he pointed to the sky..

There it was, in its full glory.. sitting on top and watching us closely ...

The Changeable Hawk Eagle..

Last few kms of the safari were left... and that would be it. we would be back at Sinh Sadan and take rest for the next days safari in the morning at 6.30am..

But were we lucky or were we lucky..

What a day it has been.. With the woodpecker to start with and the babbar to finish it off.........

Safari 2 : December 27th.. 6.30am

It was chillling and bone freezing for me.. I had decided to wear a thermal inner + tshirt + sweater + tshirt to keep myself warm on the chilly chilly morning.. We woke up at 5.15am to get ready for the safari.. I was all set by 6.15 and waiting for others to join in.. It took sometime for us to regroup but we were at the gate at 6.30am.. The gypsy arrived on time but this time our gate entry was different.. We were allotted Route 6 through gate# 5 which was next to Sinh sadan.. 

Guys wanted to have a cup of tea, and i was the only one who dint.. Majority wins in a democracy.. dint have a choice, did i?

Finally we start our trail by 7am.. 

Good morning Gir...

Again there is nothing.. We dont see a single soul on the trail.. not even the deers today.. whats wrong.. is the morning safari too chilling for this animals to come out of their hiding.. and i always thought, they love to bask themselves in the early morning sun...

All we see is a spec of a kite very faaaar away... and the crow is taking it on...

We hear some calls .. the guide says, those are the deer calls.. they are warning of a leopard around .. we wait to see if we can catch a glimpse of the beautiful animal.. but after a wait for about 15minutes.. we decide to leave the place..

We come across this beautiful tree and there are a lot of parrots there.. we dont want to go empty hand, we decide we would atleast click these parakeets..

"Sir udhar udhar.. uss jhaad pe..." and we are like.. what?  where ? who ?

"Sir, uss branch pe owl hai"...

I give my confused look ..

and finally i see..... yippppeeeee... im glad we stopped at this tree.. its a Spotted Owl...

Now its the drivers turn... sir aur ek hai... wahi hai neeche.. 

let me take the car a bit ahead so you guys can see... and there it was .. basking in the suns glory..

such a beauty...

 

Looking at my excitement, the guide says, i will show you more owls even closer than this one..

As we move along we find this beautiful peacock.. couldnt resist to click him..

And finally the owls..... 

But where are the Lions... No lions today on the morning safari.. 

its getting very irritating that we dont find them even with the so called trackers attached to them.. Thats the way they mint money.. make sure no one goes back empty handed and the safaris keep filling to the brim...

Suddenly "D" shouts.. Woh dekh be woh dekh... 

and I am AWESTRUCK ! I cant take my eyes off the road ahead... They are moving directly into our gypsy...

WOW ! are they really here.. please someone pinch me.. and pinch me real hard to wake me up from my day dream... 

They were 6... 1 huge female.. followed by 3 mid sized females and 2 sweeet little cubs... 

The huge female came directly behind our gypsy and stood there for a good 2 minutes checking us out..

She was followed on her footsteps by the other females and the cubs...

but they had some other plan as well :)) not to disappoint us at all.. one of them sat behind our gypsy.. max be 10-15 feet away..

We were given special permission by the tracker to back our jeep and follow this beautiful pride for a good half and hour... 

I clicked some 200 images of this pride alone and fully satisfied we returned to the hotel !!

We have our breakfast with the images of these lions still runing in front of our eyes.. we just cant hide our excitement and are elated to say the least.. 

but its time to leave..the beautiful forest of Gir..

I went around the birding lodge in search of the birds, but was utterly disappointed.. anyways came back with only 3 images :(

the red vented bulbul.. it was really close to me and chose not to fly away till i clicked :)

  

 and the Tickell's Blue Flycatcher...

We visited Somnath Temple on the way to Rajkot for the friends wedding.. And that was the end of our beautiful journey to the Gir National Park..