[sumitgovil2311]

Hey, great travelogue I must say, aided with superb photography skills and prompt descriptions. Learnt a lot from this. I myself have tried to plan a trip to Corbett on a couple of occasions, but seems like tiger land wants me to wait.

I would like to know the details of the booking agent who arranged the trip for you. Staying at Dhikala must have been damn adventurous in itself.

After reading this travelogue, I am sure hitting Corbett sometime this year, maybe around Oct-Nov

[gd1418]

This is not a Neelgai. It is a Sambar deer.

Originally Posted by Samba

Day 3

Nilgai inside the forest.

Attachment 1245512

Attachment 1245513

[gd1418]

Nilgais are found dime a dozen in Sariska, Ranthambore, Gir, Kanha etc. They are rare in the South. Almost non-existent in Kabini & Bandipur

Originally Posted by niranjanprabhu

The Nilgai's are found mostly in the South of India in Tamil Nadu

[Samba]

Originally Posted by sumitgovil2311

Hey, great travelogue I must say, aided with superb photography skills and prompt descriptions. Learnt a lot from this. I myself have tried to plan a trip to Corbett on a couple of occasions, but seems like tiger land wants me to wait.

I would like to know the details of the booking agent who arranged the trip for you. Staying at Dhikala must have been damn adventurous in itself.

After reading this travelogue, I am sure hitting Corbett sometime this year, maybe around Oct-Nov

Thanks a lot.

Corbett will again open on 15th November. The park is closed during monsoons approximately from 8th June to 15th November. And yes staying at Dhikala do has its own thrill.

Sue let me share his name and number. Once you call him you can give my reference.

Name- Nabi ( Ask him to send his son Arif with the gypsy, the 19 years old guy himself is a jungle lover and a nice guy.)

Number- 08859046894, 09756308977

Originally Posted by gd1418

This is not a Neelgai. It is a Sambar deer.

Thanks for rectifying my mistake.

After seeing your travelogue am really tempted on Ranthambore now. I will definitely get in touch with you before i plan for Ranthambore.


Moderators- Please correct the mistake in my post as pointed out by gd1418.

[1100D]

Super Travelogue, although did not involve driving, but some very nice photography. This had come up when I was away on our Ladakh trip, so must have skipped my radar then.

Will probably seek some tips with a few post processing tricks on photographs, especially the landscape ones.

But before all that, this makes one want to go to Corbett tomorrow!

[Kandisa]

Excellent photos, particularly the corbett pictures around Dhikala. Also i must appreciate that your wife spotted the tiger in the bush rather than the driver/guide. Usually it is the other way round as those people are supposed to be more expert in locating the big cats.
Also though Dhikala is the most famous zone, seeing the tiger is absolutely matter of luck and there are frequent sightings in the other areas as well. Sometimes in areas where you would least expect.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

...Corbett is the only sanctuary where you can take your own car inside as well as stay in the centre of the sanctuary at night (Dhikala and Gairal are the 2 places I know of) - the only regulations being that the vehicle must be owned by the person booking the accommodation, must be Euro-III or above, and most importantly, must be a 4wd vehicle.

Also, you can only use the central road to access Gairal and Dhikala, but cannot go on other safari routes without being accompanied by a guide. Such guides are available for a fee, and must be in your car during all times...

Actually this has been stopped since late 2010/ 2011. From the Ramnagar side, no one is allowed to take their vehicle inside from any of the four gates. You have to park your vehicle before the entry gate and take one of those gypsies for even travelling to the FRHs when you have the night stay permits. Before this complete ban, they used to allow to take own vehicles provided the owner was confident his vehicle wouldn't get stuck and the people at Ramnagar office were convinced about the same. I took my 1986 model jeep on regular safari route in those era.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Super Travelogue, although did not involve driving, but some very nice photography.

Thanks a lot.
Actually this year i have not planned for any proper road trips apart from those 400-500 kms drives from Kolkata. This year i have done Andaman, Corbett , Agra till now and now planning to do Kashmir by August and Jaisalmer by December. So it can be Sea, forest, history, mountains and dessert in the same year. I know it sounds crazy but lets see how much i can manage! And road trips are due from 2015 again.

Originally Posted by 1100D

This had come up when I was away on our Ladakh trip, so must have skipped my radar then.

Yes when i wrote this travelogue and it got published you were at Ladakh. The day you came to Delhi via Yamuna Exspressway the next day we went to Agra by Yamuna Express way. I very well remember the pic of Anoushka and Marengo at Yamuna Expressway which you shared in Facebook.

Originally Posted by 1100D

Will probably seek some tips with a few post processing tricks on photographs, especially the landscape ones.

The way you processed your pics in your Ladakh travelogue are really brilliant.

Originally Posted by 1100D

But before all that, this makes one want to go to Corbett tomorrow!

Am sure you being a landscape lover will love Corbett. Corbett has much more to offer than just wild life. May be Marengo wants to visit Munsiyari via Corbett!

Originally Posted by Kandisa

Excellent photos, particularly the corbett pictures around Dhikala. Also i must appreciate that your wife spotted the tiger in the bush rather than the driver/guide. Usually it is the other way round as those people are supposed to be more expert in locating the big cats.

Thanks a lot.
Yes spotting the tiger inside the bushes was really a good observation by my wife.

Originally Posted by Kandisa

Also though Dhikala is the most famous zone, seeing the tiger is absolutely matter of luck and there are frequent sightings in the other areas as well. Sometimes in areas where you would least expect.

Spotting a tiger at Dhikala is like an added bonus. I absolutely love the brilliant landscape of Dhikala. This jungle is so huge that its really difficult to spot these big cats in comparison to few other jungle's were spotting tigers are easier. Apart from Dhikala i would love to visit Birjani zone next time as i have already stayed at Dhikala twice.

[Subrat Seet]

Absolutely beautiful photographs. At Corbett, you have got some rare birds. Elephant mud bath pictures are just awesome. Coming to the non-wildlife pictures, you have superb creative eye. Pictures of Taj and qutab minar are excellent.

[meetbadri]

Superb photos. I liked the panoramic view and the photos of the rare birds which can only be noticed in Corbett. I think there are also tree houses available (correct me if I am wrong) for stay inside Corbett.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Subrat Seet

Absolutely beautiful photographs. At Corbett, you have got some rare birds. Elephant mud bath pictures are just awesome. Coming to the non-wildlife pictures, you have superb creative eye. Pictures of Taj and qutab minar are excellent.

Thanks a lot. I was going through your travelogue's and was really awestruck by your photographic skills. So it was a great feeling to get appreciation from an ace photographer like you.

Originally Posted by meetbadri

Superb photos. I liked the panoramic view and the photos of the rare birds which can only be noticed in Corbett. I think there are also tree houses available (correct me if I am wrong) for stay inside Corbett.

Thank you.

As far as i know in the Dhikala region there were no tree houses. But there are many other regions in Corbett. So if a tree house is present on the other regions am not sure on that. But as a note of caution Corbett is infested with wild animals and poisonous snakes. So am not sure 'If' a tree house is present, how safe will it be. The FRHs in Corbett are always protected by proper gate and fencing for the safety of the tourists. They have the option of electric fencing too.

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by meetbadri

...I think there are also tree houses available (correct me if I am wrong) for stay inside Corbett.

Originally Posted by Samba

..As far as i know in the Dhikala region there were no tree houses. But there are many other regions in Corbett. So if a tree house is present on the other regions am not sure on that...

Inside Corbett, you only have the Forest rest houses and no tree house as such. And this is applicable for all the other zones as well apart from Dhikala. The nearest place where you can have a tree-house kind of accommodation is at GMVN, Lansdowne which is not very far off from the entry to Corbett zone from the Garhwal area, coming from Kotdwar side.

[mpksuhas]

Great set of pics Samba, especially the ones of Corbett reserve. We were not lucky as you during our trip to Corbett few years back, only wildlife we spotted was spotted deer and monkeys.
I liked the color composition of your pics, do you shoot in RAW or JPEG?

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Kandisa

Inside Corbett, you only have the Forest rest houses and no tree house as such. And this is applicable for all the other zones as well apart from Dhikala.

Thanks for confirming.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Great set of pics Samba, especially the ones of Corbett reserve. We were not lucky as you during our trip to Corbett few years back, only wildlife we spotted was spotted deer and monkeys.
I liked the color composition of your pics, do you shoot in RAW or JPEG?

Thanks a lot.

Regarding wild life spotting it depends a lot on which part you are staying inside Corbett. Around Dhikala and Birjani you can spot decent number of wild life. Spotting depends on the time of the year too. Our guide told us March to May is a good time for spotting.

I shoot in RAW.

[nilanjanray]

Very nice travelogue. I have been thinking of visiting Corbett this winter, and your writings and photos have reinforced the urge :-)

Btw, the 'barking deer' photo in the first page - that is a Sambar. Barking deers are small - the size of goats.

Good to know that one can take a 4WD inside. Will try for that if/when I go.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Samba

Our next destination was Dayalbagh. It was 43 C out side. The Etios Ac did its job well and kept us cool. We followed google maps to reach Dayal Bagh but it misguided us to some dead end. Another couple in a Audi A4 did the same and landed at the same place we did. All of us had a good laugh and asked the locals for the direction's and we reached DayalBagh. Work is in progress in this temple from the last 40 years. But i must admit its coming out really well.

Quite frankly Samba, people who visit Agra rarely visit this place. And I have not seen anyone mention this place at all. The place is supposed to be perennially under construction.

And the NH2 that runs in parallel across the city has some seen major change in the last decade. From being empty at peak hours, now I see its impossible to even cross it.

Brought back some real old memories. Thanks for sharing.