Exploring Dudhwa

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The Dudhwa National Park is a national park in the terai of Uttar Pradesh India and covers an area of 490.3 km (189.3 sq mi), with a buffer zone of 190 km2 (73 sq mi). It is part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. It is located on the Indo Nepal border in the Lakhimpur Kheri District and has buffer of reserved forest areas on the northern and southern sides. It represents one of the few remaining examples of a highly diverse and productive Terai ecosystem, supporting a large number of endangered species obligate species of tall wet grasslands and species of restricted distribution.


Entry Point for Jeep Safari
Route For Jeep Safari

Recently I get a chance to visit Dudhwa National Park it was very much amazing as I expected, every thing is according to the details as mentioned in their official website, I drive to Dudhwa from Bareilly in my own four wheeler, the route was excellent, I drive to Sahajahanpur – Powayan – Khutar – Mailani – Paliya Kalan and then Dudhwa. Dudhwa is nearly 200 km from Bareilly but in Website of Dudhwa it is mentioned that it is 107 km from Bareilly so keep in mind that you have to drive nearly 200 km from your own vehicle. Due to road conditions it takes nearly 5 hrs to reach Dudhwa. As I have booked the accommodation online (Forest Cottage), you can check the details and book online from this link https://upecotourism.in/DudhwaTariff.html and to check the availability of rooms you can check at this link https://upecotourism.in/DudhwaNationalPark.html as after booking I don’t have to face any problem. After reaching at the gate of Dudhwa you have to show your ID proof and a little paper formality is done by Dudhwa officials. The rooms are neat and clean with hot water facility, but remember they don’t provide you quilt there are only blankets in the rooms. The electricity is less available but they have the supply of Solar Power also that depends on the weather conditions, during my stay the light trips many times in day and night, so don’t forget to take your flash lights and torches. The solar batteries are charged only if there is plenty of sunlight as this whole facility is surrounded with dens forest.



Food

The food provided by Dudhwa canteen is tasty and hygienic, remember one thing if you have booked online kindly call them and confirm about the charges of food, because we have booked 2 accommodations and they have provided us welcome drink and one meal (Dinner) for 4 adults and 2 children, if you order any thing else you have to pay for it. In dinner they have some delicious preparation of Indian food. There is only one canteen and noting else for food in this premises. Alcohol and smoking is prohibited in premises. The dinner is based on buffet system, you have to serve yourself. But overall the cleanliness, the food and the service of their canteen is excellent.


Dudhwa Canteen


Inside View of Canteen

Jeep Safari

The safari in Dudhwa is exciting they  take 1900 Rupees INR for 3 hrs jeep safari (6 Persons in one jeep), but many jeeps are in bad conditions and are very noisy the drivers are expert but the guides are not, in jeep safari you can see loots of animals and birds, if you are lucky you can also have tiger sighting, I was lucky to see the tiger nearly from 300mtrs but as i set my camera to shoot him he ran away as the jeep engine is making horrible noise  and it enough to make any animal flew away. There you can see Wild Cock, Black Head Stork, Sloth Bear, Rhino, Bengal Florican, Spoted Deer, Sambhar, and many others.


Fleet of Jeeps For Safari
Elephant Safari

The elephant safari is only for Rhino sighting you have to go to sonaripur the elephant safari charges 150 for one person and only 4 persons are allowed to ride elephant. The distance of Rhino sight is nearly 1 to 2 km from where you ride for elephant safari. And after watching Rhino they take you back to the base where they started. Our mahawat told us that nearly 4 to 6 Rhino are imported from Nepal in exchange of 13 elephants for Dudhwa as there are no Rhino in Dudhwa earlier.


Making Elephant Ready for Safari 


Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/5.6 | 1/125 s | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II

This photo was taken while i was on jeep safari and i saw this jungle fowl eating something from the dried leafs i take some shots of this fowl as it is very colorful and looking very beautiful, there are many Red Fowls in Dudhwa as i have seen many of them in different locations while doing jeep safari.


Chital (Axis axis)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/5.6 | 1/40 s | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II

This shot was taken near the gate of Dudhwa forest range where the jeep safari begins. These chitals found in plenty in Dudhwa as many of them come inside the premises as many of them are familiar with humans, feeding them is strictly prohibited you can easily find these animals wondering inside the forest range and take good shots while doing safari.


Chital (Axis axis)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/5.6 | 1/60 s | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II


Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/5.6 | 1/125 s  | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II

As i have mentioned above that there is a particular location of Rhino sighting in Dudhwa they often found in the same location and you don`t have to wait for the sighting, this shot was taken while i was doing elephant safari. There are nearly 4 to 6 Rhino in Dudhwa Park, i asked to the elephant mahawat that is there any incident when rhino has charged on elephant, he told me that once this happened but its been a very long time ago. They don`t charge until they are threatened by us.


Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/4.5 | 1/60 s | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II


Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/5.6 | 1/200 s | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II

The wild boar is also known as wild pig this animal is bulky, massively build suid with short and relatively thin legs. the trunk is short and the neck is short and thick. The structure of the head is well suited for digging, the powerful neck muscles allow the animal to upturn considerable amount of soil. The wild boar are social animals. This photo is taken while i was returning from jeep safari and suddenly i saw this animal with two others digging the soil.   


Black Necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus)
EXIF:-   
NIKON D3300 | f/4.5 | 1/400 s | AF-S NIKKOR 55-200mm f/5.6E ED VR II
This is a tall long-necked wading bird in stork family. It is a large bird and mostly found near water bodies, this shot was taken near the vast pond inside the Dudhwa forest range while doing jeep safari there are many storks in the water but we don`t have the permission to get off the jeep to shoot them as per the security measures. 


These are the pugmark of the tiger that i have seen from a very long distance, as it was not possible with 200 mm lens to capture the good shot of tiger. These pugmark were not there when i started our safari, i was told by my guide that these pugmark are fresh and the tiger is here nearby, so we waited there nearly for an hour and finally we saw the tiger, i was very excited because this was the very first time i was seeing the tiger in its natural habitat. But it was so far that my camera cant make it. And i missed the shot. But this dose not make me sad because i hope that some day i will get a good shot of tiger it will be either in Dudhwa or in any other National Park.  

For any query or details feel free to contact me at vin6107@gmail.com




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