Intro
Jim Corbett National Park is in the state of Uttarakhand which happens to be my home state and it is around 250 kms from Delhi. Ramnagar is the closest town from Jim Corbett Park. There are many gates to enter the park but Dhangari gate leading to Dhikala guest house is one of the best in terms of tiger sightings. Tourists have to make sure they do advance booking of the guest house in Dhikala due to huge rush in peak seasons and limited accommodation.
For booking and accommodation info - http://www.dhikalaforestlodge.in/query.html
Also an open jeep or jypsy should be booked for the safaris in forest, private vehicles are allowed with some fees but there's always more fun in an open vehicle.
The Main wildlife animals found in Corbett National Park include tiger,elephant,chital,sambar,nilgai,
alligator and varieties of birds.
How to reach
Delhi to Ramnagar (250 kms) - via bus from ISBT Delhi , via Train (Train No 15013 Departure - Old Delhi,10.40 pm Arrival - Ramnagar,4.55am)
Ramnagar to Corbett Gates (10 - 30 kms) - hire open jeep or gypsy
Places to visit in Corbett Park
Thandi Sadak
Grasslands
Dhikala Forest Rest House
Crocodile Point
Places to visit near Ramnagar
Corbett Fall (On the way from Ramnagar to Nainital)
Kalagarh Dam
My Diary
Straight after our 7th semester we headed for our Kumaon Trip, Manipal->Delhi->Ramnagar as Jim Corbett National Park was our first destination. 2500 kms 2.5 days in train yet we were as fresh as ever when we landed at Ramnagar Railway Station at 5 in the morning. We had made prior bookings for our overnight stay at Dhikala (Rest House) and we hired an open jypsy for safari.
We entered the Corbett Park through Dhangari gate around 11, which is a 45 mins ride from Ramnagar. There started our Kaal adventure and this sign board was the first warning from Kali :) . Tourists are not allowed to enter after 2.30 in afternoon from this gate.
Dhangari to Dhikala is another 1.5 hr ride. It was a forest road so obviously it was a rough ride but for us it was a warm-up to get ready for the upcoming safaris. Dhikala is the most famous forest zone in Corbett Park, the other forest zones being bijrani, jhirna,sonanadi and domunda.
Excitement started building up as we started moving deep into the forests. Though we were only able to spot some deer species and ant hills on this ride but we were thrilled by the thought that a tiger sighting opportunity could fall upon anytime.
There we were at Dhikala forest rest house, the name sounds really catchy right Dhikala. It is located at the edge of broad Patli Dun Valley through which Ramganga river flows. The old rest house at Dhikala (below) which was built over a hundred years ago is quite a historical marvel.
Probably great hunters like Jim Corbett and other English lords would have stayed here on their visits.
Anyways we were not fortunate enough to get to stay in that English time historical rest house and this on the right was our humble 12 bed dormitory with some monkeys and their descendants jumping around.
There are two restaurants inside and we finished up our lunch in one of them and headed towards the river side of rest house. This (below) is an expansive view of the vast Ramganga river from Dhikala resthouse.
There is an electric fencing and trenches on all the sides to prevent wild animals from crossing over.
My friend who thought he spotted a crocodile in the river is trying to help others see it and the other one (bottom) keen on spotting it with binoculars.
Ramganga river is famous for crocodiles and there is a spot called crocodile point where during noon time good number of crocodiles get tanned under the sun.
At around 3 we left for our evening safari with a guide whom we hired for 1.5 days. I don't remember exactly how much he charged but off we were on the tiger trail.
We got a fresh tiger pug mark (bottom) and twice the crossing tourist vehicles told us that they had spotted the tiger crossing the forest road.
Though we were unlucky in terms of tiger sighting for that day, we managed to see an elephant and few deer species like chital and sambar. This was our first day at Jim Corbett and we were back to our dorms with our driver and guide whom we invited in to hear some forest stories and incidents. The two were quite a character.
Next morning 5'o clock we were packed in our gypsy and off to grasslands (below) which is around 15 mins ride from the Dhikala rest house. 7 feet tall grass, morning mist and low visibility of around 10 m added to the thrill of a chilling morning safari. This path leads to the river and Patli Dun valley from where we could capture one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen.
The grasslands, the same location where the Kaal team (John, Vivek and all were surrounded by the tigers) in one of the movie scenes.
Tiger spotting is very high in the grasslands but it is also a difficult location to predict the vicinity of the predator due to the poor visibility through the high grass.
Stepping down from vehicle was banned in Corbett Park a few years back due to a tiger attack on a tourist. Anyways after 4 hours of safari we were desperate to step down and we chose this spot near a small stream.
On our way back to Dhikala, spotted a single male elephant crossing the road, and we could immediately make out the panic on our driver's face. He reversed the vehicle slowly signalling the cars behind to move back.
Elephants in a herd are normally very calm and do not attack unless they feel threatened, but a single elephant is an outcast from the herd which normally has an aggressive nature and attacks on the first opportunity.
We almost covered the same spots which we did in morning diverting here and there to take some different roads.
Afternoon 3'o clock and still no signs or news
of tiger sightings. Everybody had the same thought, will we be going back without a single tiger spotting.
And there came the spot (right) where we spent our next 1.5 hrs in spotting the tigress.We were the first one's to hear the groans and stop by to spot the tigress but then as time passed news spread and there were around 20 vehicles lined up just to have a glimpse.
Luckily we had a watch tower nearby, we lost no time in climbing up for better spotting. Some of us who could manage a slight glimpse of tigress were also not sure if that was it, though I wasn't the one.
Waiting on watch tower and the car for the next hour though didn't let us have a clear spotting but we were lucky enough to be so close to the predator, getting periodic jitters with her groans at the same time getting thrilled by anticipating a road cross or a beastly leap.
This was the end of our 2-day tryst with the wildlife and we headed back to Ramnagar for the rest of our Kumaon Trip.
View Larger Map
Jim Corbett National Park is in the state of Uttarakhand which happens to be my home state and it is around 250 kms from Delhi. Ramnagar is the closest town from Jim Corbett Park. There are many gates to enter the park but Dhangari gate leading to Dhikala guest house is one of the best in terms of tiger sightings. Tourists have to make sure they do advance booking of the guest house in Dhikala due to huge rush in peak seasons and limited accommodation.
For booking and accommodation info - http://www.dhikalaforestlodge.in/query.html
Also an open jeep or jypsy should be booked for the safaris in forest, private vehicles are allowed with some fees but there's always more fun in an open vehicle.
The Main wildlife animals found in Corbett National Park include tiger,elephant,chital,sambar,nilgai,
alligator and varieties of birds.
Delhi to Ramnagar (250 kms) - via bus from ISBT Delhi , via Train (Train No 15013 Departure - Old Delhi,10.40 pm Arrival - Ramnagar,4.55am)
Ramnagar to Corbett Gates (10 - 30 kms) - hire open jeep or gypsy
Places to visit in Corbett Park
Thandi Sadak
Grasslands
Dhikala Forest Rest House
Crocodile Point
Places to visit near Ramnagar
Corbett Fall (On the way from Ramnagar to Nainital)
Kalagarh Dam
My Diary
We entered the Corbett Park through Dhangari gate around 11, which is a 45 mins ride from Ramnagar. There started our Kaal adventure and this sign board was the first warning from Kali :) . Tourists are not allowed to enter after 2.30 in afternoon from this gate.
Dhangari to Dhikala is another 1.5 hr ride. It was a forest road so obviously it was a rough ride but for us it was a warm-up to get ready for the upcoming safaris. Dhikala is the most famous forest zone in Corbett Park, the other forest zones being bijrani, jhirna,sonanadi and domunda.Excitement started building up as we started moving deep into the forests. Though we were only able to spot some deer species and ant hills on this ride but we were thrilled by the thought that a tiger sighting opportunity could fall upon anytime.
Probably great hunters like Jim Corbett and other English lords would have stayed here on their visits.
Anyways we were not fortunate enough to get to stay in that English time historical rest house and this on the right was our humble 12 bed dormitory with some monkeys and their descendants jumping around.
There are two restaurants inside and we finished up our lunch in one of them and headed towards the river side of rest house. This (below) is an expansive view of the vast Ramganga river from Dhikala resthouse.
There is an electric fencing and trenches on all the sides to prevent wild animals from crossing over.
Ramganga river is famous for crocodiles and there is a spot called crocodile point where during noon time good number of crocodiles get tanned under the sun.At around 3 we left for our evening safari with a guide whom we hired for 1.5 days. I don't remember exactly how much he charged but off we were on the tiger trail.
We got a fresh tiger pug mark (bottom) and twice the crossing tourist vehicles told us that they had spotted the tiger crossing the forest road.
Though we were unlucky in terms of tiger sighting for that day, we managed to see an elephant and few deer species like chital and sambar. This was our first day at Jim Corbett and we were back to our dorms with our driver and guide whom we invited in to hear some forest stories and incidents. The two were quite a character.
Next morning 5'o clock we were packed in our gypsy and off to grasslands (below) which is around 15 mins ride from the Dhikala rest house. 7 feet tall grass, morning mist and low visibility of around 10 m added to the thrill of a chilling morning safari. This path leads to the river and Patli Dun valley from where we could capture one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen.
The grasslands, the same location where the Kaal team (John, Vivek and all were surrounded by the tigers) in one of the movie scenes.
Tiger spotting is very high in the grasslands but it is also a difficult location to predict the vicinity of the predator due to the poor visibility through the high grass.
The beautiful sunrise mystified us so much that we forgot about the tiger for sometime.and after wandering around the grasslands took the turn towards Thandi Sadak (below), the other famous road for tiger spotting. There were spottings of a tigress with three cubs in this area and some of the vehicles were even chased by her. The tigress with small cubs can be aggressive if she feels an external threat.
Stepping down from vehicle was banned in Corbett Park a few years back due to a tiger attack on a tourist. Anyways after 4 hours of safari we were desperate to step down and we chose this spot near a small stream. 
Elephants in a herd are normally very calm and do not attack unless they feel threatened, but a single elephant is an outcast from the herd which normally has an aggressive nature and attacks on the first opportunity.
We had our brunch in a different rest house called Sardpulli. We (right) by the stream behind the rest house.
The chilled temperatures, the warm sun and the calm & clear stream were the perfect breakfast spot for the gang.
 |
| Grasslands in afternoon |
Post brunch started the afternoon safari which was also our last safari in the reserve.
We almost covered the same spots which we did in morning diverting here and there to take some different roads.
Afternoon 3'o clock and still no signs or news
of tiger sightings. Everybody had the same thought, will we be going back without a single tiger spotting.
And there came the spot (right) where we spent our next 1.5 hrs in spotting the tigress.We were the first one's to hear the groans and stop by to spot the tigress but then as time passed news spread and there were around 20 vehicles lined up just to have a glimpse.
Luckily we had a watch tower nearby, we lost no time in climbing up for better spotting. Some of us who could manage a slight glimpse of tigress were also not sure if that was it, though I wasn't the one.Waiting on watch tower and the car for the next hour though didn't let us have a clear spotting but we were lucky enough to be so close to the predator, getting periodic jitters with her groans at the same time getting thrilled by anticipating a road cross or a beastly leap.
 |
| View from Thandi Sadak watch tower showing Forest, Grasslands and River |
This was the end of our 2-day tryst with the wildlife and we headed back to Ramnagar for the rest of our Kumaon Trip.
View Larger Map
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