The proposition was simply irresistible: a drive far from the madding crowd to the Jim Corbett National Park and that too in Hyundai’s Santa Fé
Travelling is a part and parcel of our work. Back-to-back trips, living out of a suitcase and writing articles on a flight are all part of the job. However, it was amusing the way we greeted December, myself and Sanjay, even by our standards. We were at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida on the first weekend of the month to witness a bunch of adrenaline junkies go wild with their cars. And then the next morning, we woke up in the middle of a jungle and experienced a completely different meaning of the word ‘wild’!
The Corbett National Park is the oldest and the most popular wildlife reserve in India, named after the famous hunter-turned-conservationist, Jim Corbett. It is located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand and commands an area of 521 square kilometres in the lower Himalayas. Ramnagar is the biggest town in Corbett, which is a five-hour drive from the national capital. The proximity makes Corbett a great weekend getaway, which we set out to explore after the race weekend on the circuit.
We had at our disposal Hyundai’s very capable SUV, the Santa Fé, and were to be accompanied by, Vikrum, a friend of mine, who looks after the Tiger Trail resort in Corbett. However, it took him an hour-and-a-half to join us in the parking lot of the circuit, where we were fuming on account of the delay. It became dark and chilly at 6.00 pm, so we got inside the car and switched on the heater. The Santa Fé’s climate control was a boon for us at that point, because both of us preferred different temperatures and, given our grumpy mood, that just could have been the trigger for an argument. Finally, Vikrum arrived and we started rolling at 7.30 pm.
We drove up to Noida to join NH 24 at Ghaziabad and head eastwards towards Moradabad. NH 24 is a four-lane highway, but has a lot of truck traffic due to the sugar mills in that region. It also has a few surprises in store en route, such as sudden reduction in road width on certain stretches where the government could not acquire the required land! So one needs to be careful while driving on this road.
Contrary to a common belief, the back of a car’s seat should be kept upright when driving for a long distance, because it prevents back-ache. I noticed that in that position, the head restraint of the Santa Fé’s front seat has the right amount of protrusion to support the occupant’s head; a simple comfort feature which I find not properly designed in many cars. I drove on in the dead of the night, music keeping me company as Sanjay and Vikrum were fast asleep, thanks to the Santa Fé’s smooth ride.
We took a break for supper at Gajraula, which was roughly the midpoint of our journey. There is a cluster of fast food joints along the highway near Gajraula, which is suitable for a quick break on this route. Until now we had been ensconced in a temperature of our choice and so I hadn’t expected the sudden blast of chill that hit me as soon as I opened the car’s door. I glanced at the ambient temperature display, which read five degrees Celsius, and decided I would go for a take-away from a nearby fast food restaurant instead. After bypassing Moradabad, we turned left and headed north on NH 121 for Kashipur. The condition of the road deteriorated here and there was a dense fog on the road. I was amazed to see how well the Santa Fé managed lane changes during my attempts to avoid potholes, but what surprised me even more was the fact that Sanjay and Vikrum were still fast asleep!
At Kashipur, our progress was reduced to crawling speeds as the road conditions worsened and the truck traffic became heavier due to the presence of a few factories along the highway. Vikrum was in action now to guide me through the internal roads as we were very close to our destination.
The Tiger Trails resort is located near village Dhela, about 10 km away from Ramnagar. We passed a few forest check posts, which denoted the official beginning of the national park territory. It was pitch dark and not a soul was in sight until we saw a pair of eyes gazing in our direction. I stepped on the brake and approached the animal slowly until the car’s headlights revealed its identity. It was a stag with beautiful antlers and it crossed the road, completely unconcerned with our presence. Vikrum smiled at me and said, “Welcome to Jim Corbett.” We had arrived. A few clicks further, we saw a fox facing our car and, unlike the stag, it didn’t seem to move. A fox goes blind when it faces strong light, so we switched off the headlight until it ran across into the hedge. We kept the lights off for some more time to get a feel of the jungle. I put the car into the parking mode, reclined the seat and we just sat there, taking in every sound. The sky looked beautiful with thousands of stars that were the only source of light at that time. Every now and then, we would hear an animal movement and I would hope for the obvious: the tiger!
But the big cat had no intention of showing up that night. As we drove ahead, we noticed smashed trees and piles of dung on the road, which indicated the presence of wild elephants in the vicinity. We got off the road at that very spot and followed the trail that went inside the forest on the left and reached the resort gate. It was one o’clock in the morning now and we were too exhausted to notice anything. We were led into a cottage, where we dropped our bags and hit the hay without further delay.
At 5.45 am, I woke up with a start as someone was knocking on the door. Bleary-eyed and wrapped in a blanket, I opened the door. For a second, I wondered whether the person at my door was an Eskimo, wrapped as he was in thick warmers and the cold was bone-freezing. Of course, I was still half asleep. It was the waiter, holding a tray full of a tea pot and cups. The purpose of his visit was to wake us up for the 6.30 am safari.
The Tiger Trails resort is located near the Jhirna tourist zone of the Corbett National Park. It is the only zone of the park that is open to tourists throughout the year. The other zones are Bijrani and Dhikala, which are closed during the rainy season. The Corbett tiger reserve currently has about 100 tigers. The adjoining Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary has 70 more and another 57 prowl the buffer zone of the forest. Since the Park is located in the lower Himalayas, there is plenty of water and greenery all around. Saal, kaira, sesam and eucalyptus are the important trees and there many other variety of flora, which ensure food supply for the animals and, consequently, for the predators.
Sadly, its richness has made the Park highly commercial, especially in the Ramnagar area. The Jhirna zone still offers a good experience as there are lesser resorts and they are located deep inside the jungle. Private vehicles are not allowed inside the forest beyond a certain point, so we had to leave our Santa Fé at the resort and get into the safari vehicle. Vikrum had organised our safari permits beforehand so we just had to go and collect them at the forest office at the entrance to the zone.
We were sitting on the second row of seats, which was a bench perched above the car’s roof-line. I had binoculars while Sanjay was ready with his camera, ready to capture any movement around. Yet, when we had the most priceless sighting, both of us just stood there, awestruck and dazed. Within the first kilometre itself we amused ourselves with spotted deer, wild boars and elephants. Then, as we were following a trail surrounded by thick hedges, we heard a deer’s alarm call. When it called out two more times, our driver stopped the car and the guide told us to focus on the region on our left. There was no other sound except the deer’s call, which increased in frequency. For a full five minutes, the deer kept on calling and I started suspecting a con job. “What if the guides run a racket to amuse the tourists? What if it is a recorded sound of a deer, played by a hidden loudspeaker?” The deer stopped calling abruptly. There was complete silence for a minute while we waited with bated breath. And then it happened.
We heard a set of legs splashing through water beyond the hedge and the next moment, a deer jumped out of the foliage, followed by a tiger! The two landed on the ground and jumped for the hedge on the other side of the trail, but the tiger had caught up with the deer and he pounced on it with great force. The deer fell on the ground and the tiger went for its neck and they went out of sight the next moment. As we recovered from what we had just seen, we reversed the car to the point where the tiger had entered the hedge. However, he had dragged the deer deep inside the jungle and had probably started tucking into it already. The whole episode lasted for not more than four seconds, but it will remain imprinted in our memory for ever!
For the next couple of hours, we didn’t encounter a single wild animal in spite of being deep inside the jungle. However, just when we had lost hope, we saw our second tiger of the day! It was a fully grown male, resting in the shade. The sound of our car had alerted him and he was looking right at us when we had the sighting. Being too close for comfort, the driver didn’t stop for long.
After the second sighting we were driven to the Jhirna zone canteen, which is surrounded by an electrified fence to keep the wild elephants away. After returning to the resort, we had a quick lunch and set out in the Santa Fé to explore the forest ourselves. There is much to explore in the permitted region of the forest and we had an able companion for the task. The Santa Fé’s 2.2-litre CRDi engine has a power output of 197 PS with 436 Nm of torque. Ours was the all-wheel drive variant with a six-speed auto transmission, which made a mockery of the challenges thrown at it by nature. Uneven surfaces, water crossings and loose sand in the river-beds, nothing seemed to bother the Santa Fé as we traversed through the jungle all day.
In the evening, we visited Jim Corbett’s house in Choti Haldwani, near Kaladhungi, which has been converted into a museum where his personal possessions are kept. The day ended around a bonfire where the resort’s staff shared stories about their wildlife encounters while the kitchen kept sending delicious dishes.
The next morning, it was time to head back. We covered the 250 km from the resort to New Delhi in just over four hours and made it to the airport well in time for our flight back to Pune. Heck, I even finished writing this story before we landed.
Travelling Tips
New Delhi – Ramnagar, Jim Corbett National Park
Distance: 250 km
Travelling time– Five hours
The Route
New Delhi – Moradabad NH 24
Moradabad – Ramnagar NH 12
Places Worth Visiting In And Around The Park
Jim Corbett museum at Choti Haldwani, Garjiya temple, Nainital and Ranikhet hill stations and Bhimtal lake.
Jhirna, Bijrani and Dhikala are the three tourist zones of the forest where visitors are allowed. The Jhirna zone is open throughout the year while Bijrani and Dhikala are closed during the rainy season (July-September).
It is mandatory for visitors to secure a safari permit from the forest department before entering the zone. The permit requires the name, age and driving licence number of each visitor in a group and it is chargeable. The resorts in the Jim Corbett National Park can procure these permits for their patrons. Therefore, it is advisable to apply before the visit.
A reasonable safari package offered by the resorts costs about Rs 3,500-4,000, which includes the permit fees, a specially modified vehicle with driver and a guide and the duration is three hours.
Binoculars are available on rent at the entrance gate of the zones.
Gajraula serves as the midpoint of the journey when travelling from New Delhi and there are many fast food joints along the highway in this region.
Recommendations: The Tiger Trail Resort at village Dhela, near the Jhirna zone. The resort has been developed in an area of five acres and has 14 cottages, 17 rooms and one tree-top shack on offer.
Facilities: Conference hall, billiards and table-tennis rooms, swimming pool and Ayurvedic spa.
(Website: www.ashokastigertrail.com, Telephone: 011-2568 3523)
Story: Piyush Sonsale
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
