[abhikb]

Short Travelogue

Prologue:

Many of you might have been through my earlier published Travelogues, we have been able to bring together a small community of Thar owners in Gujarat, many of whom are either off roading or travel enthusiasts. As of now it has been a customary routine to explore the natural citing, trails and off roading every weekend. From a pack of 2 or 3 Thars at times we have as much as 8-10 Thars for a particular outing.

This year Christmas Day fell on Saturday which gave the flexibility for many of us (having 6 working days) to take a day off and explore some far off lands. About a week back, messages started doing rounds in the group regarding planning something for Christmas weekend. We evaluated a few options and zeroed down to Velavdar National Park which is situated around 150 Kms from Ahmedabad and is a 3 hours drive. We decided to make it a single day trip from morning to night. Few to and fro message exchanges later there were 5 Thar owners ready to join for the trip.

The Team:






As conveyed earlier, total of 5 Thar owners agreed to join hands for this 1 day trip to Velavdar national park. The variety of the vehicles that joined for the trip are listed below:

1) 2019, Aquamarine Thar CRDe 700- Owned by myself.
2) 2020, Rocky beige Thar D MT HT- Owned by Mr. Varun Lavtuka who also runs a YouTube channel named Thar Story.
3) 2021, Rocky beige Thar D MT HT- Owned by bhpian AnishD.
4) 2021, Red Rage Thar D MT CT- Owned by Mr. Vishwajeet Shekhawat.
5) 2021, Galaxy Grey Thar P AT HT- Owned by a young lad Mr. Ritesh Udasi.

About the Location:

Velavdar is a national park located at about 150 Kms from Ahmedabad and 49 Kms from Bhavnagar city.

Established in 1976 in the Bhal region of Saurashtra, the park is located around 42 km from the district headquarters city of Bhavnagar. Hugging the coasts of the Gulf of Khambhat on the south, it is spread over an area of 34.08 km2, which was primarily a "vidi" (grassland) of the maharaja of the princely state of Bhavnagar for hunting the blackbucks with his famous hunting cheetahs. On the northern side, it is surrounded by wastelands and agriculture fields. The national park has been classified as 4B Gujarat-Rajwada biotic province of semi-arid bio-geographical zone.

Flat land, dry grasses and herds of antelope have always attracted visitors to this park which has a grassland ecosystem. Successful conservation programs for the blackbuck, wolf and lesser florican (a bustard) are ongoing. Considered to be an endemic Indian species, the lesser florican, which once lived throughout the country, has become endangered in recent decades. Today, the largest population is in this park. Local wolf numbers are increasing, as are striped hyena, with sightings quite frequent during daylight in winter 2012-2013.

Source: Wikipedia

[abhikb]

The Drive



Our friend and fellow traveler Varun (Thar story guy) has some good contacts in Forest department, we got the information that there are two time slots being provided 1) 6am to 9am and 2) 3pm to 6pm. Choosing the first slot meant we had to start few hours past midnight hence, we chose the second slot i.e. 3pm to 6pm.

The drive one side was to be a 2.5-3 hours one depending upon the traffic conditions, we assembled at Bopal Cross roads on SP Ring road at 11 am, considering we shall make it to check-post as per the schedule. We took the Ahmedabad-Bavla-Bagodara-Dholka route to reach Velavdar. The roads are in good condition upto Bagodara which took us about a hour to cover, there are a few good eateries and we stopped at a honest restaurant to have some tea and snacks. The road post Bagodara till Velavdar is in pretty bad shape with large sized potholes and craters at many places. This stretch took the maximum time to cover, almost a hour and a half to reach Velavdar checkpost.





On both sides of the roads there are huge amount of marshlands all around, I believe it must be a beautiful sight during monsoon. Honest and Gallops are two good food plazas enroute where you get plenty of options for fooding. Considering our schedule we had packed our lunch and had planned to have it once we reached Velavdar. We reached our location around 2:30 PM while driving leisurely with multiple stops enroute.

The Safari



While Couple of us went to the check-post and completed the formalities, made the entries and hired a forest guide, the others started pondering on the lip smacking Bhavnagari food we were carrying for lunch.

The charges for the Safari are as follows:

1) Entry with 4 wheeler: Rs. 300 per vehicle
2) Per person entry fee: Rs. 40
3) Guide charges: Rs. 100

Once the formalities were completed we finished our lunch and were ready to enter the jungle. They allowed only 3 vehicles at a time hence we shuffled ourselves into the 3 Thars entering the jungle. The trail is typical kaccha sadak and surround by brown grasslands, this place is a paradise for bird lovers as you can spot many migratory birds during this time. There’s full sight of brown grasslands as far as your eyes can see, once we entered a few meters later we spotted a group of black bucks resting a some 8-10 feet away from us. My personal intent of visiting this place was to spot a Hyena, this was my 4th visit to a jungle in search of a Hyena, the last 3 visits to other locations didn’t yield any results and I was hoping to be 4th time lucky. Well only time would tell if it will be a 4th time luck or another downer.

We spotted lot many groups of black bucks, deers, sambhars and Nilgai. The guide was a young lad who was enthusiastically showing us the sight around. Going deep inside we did spot couple of majestic birds, one being a brown high necked eagle who was soaking in the sunlight on a winter afternoon.

Even though we saw lot many of the herbivores the Hyenas were still not spotted, I asked the guide on this, he said it will be a bit difficult to spot them since the grassland is yet to dry up and the herbivores are scattered everywhere so it’s easier for them hunt and hence it’s unlikely that they will come out in the open. Anyhow, Mr. Hyena decided to ditch us for the 4th time as we made our way out of the jungle after roaming around for couple of hours. Probably during summers it would be easy to spot them.

Once we made our way back to the check-post, the guide took us to another part where there was a wetland section. This time again a group of black buck crossed our paths hopping on, it was pretty sight to see these creatures in the natural habitats. At the wetlands we saw huge groups of white pelicans from mid sized to the large ones. We spent about 30 minutes here trying to catch the sight of those beautiful water birds. As the sun started setting down it was time for us to make our way back to check post and start our return journey.

Since we had a good 3 hours of trail driving, everyone wanted to have a cup of tea before we embarked on our return journey back home. Once we made out of the national park, we stopped by a small dhaba who served us the much needed refreshments. The clock ticked around 7pm by this time as we started our return journey back home. The roads till Bagodara as bad as hell and back breaking took about more than a hour to reach Gallops eatery near Bagodara. We were traveling with 3 Toddlers so decided to complete their dinner at Gallops as there were many options available. Parallely we were searching for some non veg options enroute, due to the freshly imposed curfew in Ahmedabad (11pm-5am) it was nearly impossible to find something to eat at a restaurant after reaching Ahmedabad, few minutes of googling and couple of phone calls later we located a dhabha type arrangement called Ahmedabad Tawa near Changodar which was about 15 Kms before Ahmedabad. It was a mediocre place but they served typical Amdavadi Tawa food which is famous in this region. By 10pm, we all disbursed and drove back to our respective residences.
















Few pointers for Velavdar

1) There are no online Safari booking system, you need to book the Safari once you reach there.
2) You can either avail Forest department’s open top Gypsies for Safari or can take your own car inside with a forest guide.
3) For bird lovers the winters are the best time to visit since you can spot lot many migratory birds here.
4) For someone looking to spot a Hyena or a Fox it’s better to visit in the summers.
5) You are not allowed to take any route once inside rather there are designated routes which the guide will take you through.
6) There are couple of stay options in Velavdar, 1) Forest department rest house and 2) Velavdar black buck lodge. Both places are a nice option to be considered for a stay.
7) Do not litter inside the jungle and respect the habitat.
8) While driving inside the jungle do not over speed as the Deers and Blackbuck groups keep hopping from one side of the road to other very often.
9) Spotting wildlife is pure luck. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t see one. I have seen many people getting angry on the guides if they couldn’t see anything. Please understand it is a natural habitat and not a zoo.
10) Velavdar is a secluded place devoid of any urgent medical facility.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Ankur@VNS]

Nice and precise write up buddy.

Originally Posted by abhikb

9) Spotting wildlife is pure luck. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t see one. I have seen many people getting angry on the guides if they couldn’t see anything. Please understand it is a natural habitat and not a zoo.

I remember my childhood visit to Dudhwa National Park where on first day we were quite disappointed for the same reason. Our tour guide explained the very idea of National Park as in-situ wild life conservation initiatives far cry from zoo.

[ruzbehxyz]

This is a nice travelogue to a rather unknown wildlife place. I always saw Velvadhar on the map, but never knew much about it. Thanks for sharing. Will try a visit once.

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by Ankur@VNS

Nice and precise write up buddy.



I remember my childhood visit to Dudhwa National Park where on first day we were quite disappointed for the same reason. Our tour guide explained the very idea of National Park as in-situ wild life conservation initiatives far cry from zoo.

Thanks buddy, people creating hues and cries over not being able to spot something in the wild is saddening sight, best thing I can think of is a proper briefing session before a Safari starts or atleast people like us who have experienced wildlife can explain the first timers on this aspect.

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

This is a nice travelogue to a rather unknown wildlife place. I always saw Velvadhar on the map, but never knew much about it. Thanks for sharing. Will try a visit once.

Velavdar is generally not visited much, Sasangir snatches all the limelight here in Gujarat, however, apart from the carnivores there are lot many herbivores and birds which can be spotted at such locations.

[Tgo]

Nice outing Abhik. Brings back memories from my visit back in December 2015.

[jungleroars]

Originally Posted by abhikb

The Drive


We spotted lot many groups of black bucks, deers, sambhars and Nilgai.
.

There are no deers or sambhars residing at blackbuck NP. You can only see blackbuck and Nilgai at Velavadar. What you have seen is only Nilgai and Blackbuck (in both cases Male and Female look completely different hence you might have misunderstood them as deer or sambhar)

[OmV]

Originally Posted by abhikb

The Drive

Attachment 2252016

Awesome travelogue! This picture reminded me of my ride through velavedar on my way to Gir earlier this year. I had no idea such a sanctuary existed and we were lucky to spot a big group of black bucks crossing the road. Thanks for the memory refresh!

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by jungleroars

There are no deers or sambhars residing at blackbuck NP. You can only see blackbuck and Nilgai at Velavadar. What you have seen is only Nilgai and Blackbuck (in both cases Male and Female look completely different hence you might have misunderstood them as deer or sambhar)

Thanks for the inputs, I am still an amateur when it comes to bifurcation of wildlife.

I see you are from Ahmedabad, DM me your contact details, will add you in a GJ WhatsApp group for Teambhp members.

Originally Posted by OmV

Awesome travelogue! This picture reminded me of my ride through velavedar on my way to Gir earlier this year. I had no idea such a sanctuary existed and we were lucky to spot a big group of black bucks crossing the road. Thanks for the memory refresh!

At times the good things happen in the most unexpected ways.

Originally Posted by Tgo

Nice outing Abhik. Brings back memories from my visit back in December 2015.
]

Glad to hear that 👍🏻

[Sa!lor]

Hi this is a very good travelogue and comes at a perfect time for me as I am visiting Velavadar blackbuck national park in first week of January and even I am a Thar owner from Gujarat.
Your travelogue has good information which will help me during my visit as well.
As you mentioned in your travelogue there is a forest rest house stay option and I am considering the same for my stay.
Have to go through the procedure required to book the forest rest house.

[jkrishnakj]

Oh wow!

It’s such a beautiful place. Reminded me of my stay at this place back in 2015. We probably saw like 1000’s of black bucks moving together. We did the safari at 6 am in the December cold and it’s a memory that we cherish.

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by Sa!lor

Hi this is a very good travelogue and comes at a perfect time for me as I am visiting Velavadar blackbuck national park in first week of January and even I am a Thar owner from Gujarat.
Your travelogue has good information which will help me during my visit as well.
As you mentioned in your travelogue there is a forest rest house stay option and I am considering the same for my stay.
Have to go through the procedure required to book the forest rest house.

We found the forest department to be very cooperative there and I am sure they will provide you the accommodation if it’s available. Worth a try. Drop me your contact details on abhikabanerjee@gmail.com, will get you added in the couple of WhatsApp groups that we have made 1 is for GJ Bhpians and 1 for GJ Thar owners.

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Oh wow!

It’s such a beautiful place. Reminded me of my stay at this place back in 2015. We probably saw like 1000’s of black bucks moving together. We did the safari at 6 am in the December cold and it’s a memory that we cherish.

Jungles in the morning are indeed a sight to watch, it’s like getting yourself into the vibes of the natural surroundings.