Gir Forests – The Wonderland of Lions

When my mother in law died, I was shattered. The constant co-existence of 22 years with her left me in the lurch and I was really at a loss as to how I would live life without her. I had got so used to take care of her that the sudden free time available left me in the lurch. My brother in law realized I needed a break and so decided to take me along with him on his holiday tour with his family. He booked tickets for me without any intimation and one day just told me to pack up and get ready. I looked at him quizzically and he just egged me on and very soon I found myself seated in his car with my kids and his family.

We were headed towards the Santa Cruz Domestic Airport. I just didn’t care where I was headed and just idly watched my kids and my nephews chattering along. My sister in law Sonia was talking to me about the kind of crowd that is seen in the airports these days. The flight took us to Diu and it was a comfortable flight. Karan my brother in law thanked the stars that there was no flight delay. At Diu, there was a car waiting for us with a driver. Normally I like to take the adventurous routes when on a holiday. But this time, since I was a silent party to the arrangement I just let it be. I would otherwise have loved to travel by train. All the same, from Diu we went by car to a hotel nearby. The simple inn relaxed my tired nerves and soon I was joining in the musical charade that the family was having at night. A quiet relaxed dinner and we went off to sleep. I didn’t know where we were and what our plans were.

The next morning, very early, I heard a lot of hustle bustle. Peering through my sleepy eyes, I saw the entire family hustling around and getting dressed.

“Exactly where are we, Karan?” I asked finally trying to get out of my reluctant acceptance of my mother in-law’s death.

“Gir forests, bhabhi,” Karan said hurriedly as he tried to call someone on his cell phone.

“GIR FOREST?” I exclaimed in surprise. “Of all the……” I stopped midway and shook my head in disbelief. Karan and Sonia had brought us to Gir? Wow! My sadness slowly ebbed as I felt a great surge of excitement within. I had heard about Gir forests so much and my son Shiv had gone there from school on a holiday excursion. I hugged Karan and thanked him and got ready quickly to start our holiday tour. Wildlife has always fascinated me and a visit to Gir Forest was a cherry on my adventure pie for me.

“Mamma, do you know, this forest is the only natural habitat of the Asiatic Lions >?” Shiv, my son queried. I knew Shiv was excited as he was the only one amongst us apart from Karan who had visited Gir before.

“Yes, sonny, I know, this is the only place where one can see the king of the jungle. The place is Sasan Gir, I know, I have read about it.”

Seeing my son’s crestfallen face, I added, “But my sonny is so intelligent right? He knows so much!” A little content with that praise, Shiv ambled across to the cab that had been hired for us.

As I went out, I looked up at the lodge. It was the Jungle Lodge at Gir. It was very near the forest area.

Karan came back with a lot of information. He said that we had to make two visits. One to the Gir Interpretation Zone and the other to the entire forest.

We first took a mini bus to the Gir Interpretation Zone. We went to the counter and got the tickets. The counter was at the entrance. This zone was mainly created so that tourists like us could at least have a chance of going back after spotting the tiger. As we went in the bus, the morning unfolded and I saw the terrain here. Kavya my daughter had her digital camera ready and was clicking away. Her head scarf in place she looked at the sandy land outside.

Jai my nephew tugged at my sleeve and asked, “Badi Ma, why are the trees so barren>” Badi Ma meaning Aunty. I told him that was because this area is a desert region.

“Look!” Shardul my other nephew shrieked in excitement. We all looked at the deer that were spotted in the distance.

“Mamma, look,” Shiv yelled. We saw where he pointed and saw two lovely black bucks, which are the most endangered species these days. I was just wondering if I would sight a Nilgai and sure enough after a distance I chanced upon that too.

Karan was busy with his SLR and my daughter was taking videos. “Badi Ma, what is a Nilgai?” asked Jai. Sonia told him that it was a kind of antelope but it is bigger and looks like an ox. I added ‘The male Nilgais are normally blue in color and they are also known as the blue bulls.”

Now all of us were geared to see the lions. We had come to the interpretation zone especially for that. Shiv went on asking me when the lion would appear. All of us were getting anxious and bored. Anxious because we didn’t want to go back without seeing the lion and bored because we dint want to wait for long. As we were driving along, Pyarelal, the driver stopped the car and spoke to a forest official (we felt). Later it turned out to be a local who he had spoken to. The gleam in his eyes as he turned to speak to us, told us all.

“The lion?” all of us asked together. He nodded his head in slow approval.

Once done with the interpretation zone, you can explore the entire forest by taking jeep safaris. Only designated jeeps and drivers are allowed to enter the forest. Your hotel personnel should be able to assist you with a booking for the safari and would arrange for you to be picked up and dropped at the hotel. They are the best means for arranging the safari. I suggest at least two jeep safaris, one in the early morning and one in the evening, for both have their own charm and is once in a life-time experience. He hushed us and we drove a little further down. Suddenly Shiv screamed “Mamma! Look! Lions!” all of us looked spell bound, with our mouths wide open. There right in front of us, lions – three of them. Not knowing what to do, I just clicked away grabbing the camera from Kavya. Karan was calm; he had already seen many before. I still can treasure that quarter of an hour we spent looking at the lions. All my sadness and depression suddenly vanished as I let out my cry “Whoopee!”” Everyone looked at each other and smiled as they knew I had come back to form.

“Mamma! “ Kavya cried and Shiv clung to Sonia. One lion came very near our car. But the windows were up and I stopped taking pictures lest the lion got distracted. It went back swishing its tail and I was astounded by the sheer royalty of the great beast.

We all came back and returned to our lodge. We had a late lunch and settled down playing scrabble. We had a short siesta and then went for the safari in Gir. One needn’t go to Gir to have bumpy rides; the roads of Mumbai were enough. But the bumpy ride in Gir was enjoyable and not frustrating like the bumpy roads in Mumbai. There is a difference in the Gir Bumpy ride as it is a natural one. The roads were full of sand and the environment was entirely like we were in the Jungle Book. More Nilgais and this time the new entrants were the monkeys. A security official told us that lions were spotted ahead so we got ready again with our cameras. There right in front of us we saw four lions under a huge tree. The brown color of the terrain and the color of the body of the lions got us confused and by the time we actually spotted them, I realized that we were very near them. The lions were perhaps used to visitors like us gloating over them. They seemed to be least interested in us.

We proceeded further and saw a variety of birds and other animals like the deer. The vultures flew overhead and the local people here were so used to them. It seemed like they were doing a tango with the animals around. They seemed least bothered about the lions, or the vultures or the Nilgais hovering around. A fruitful safari and we returned home. We had a small campfire in the lodge and I had taken my guitar along. We sang songs and enjoyed a lot till night and then went to sleep and slept dreaming of riding on the lion’s back!

The next morning we got up early and had a lovely feel of the early morning ambience. As we rode on our next safari we saw the deer grazing and the peacocks in full glory. There were groups of peacocks. I had always seen peacocks in the zoo and this sight took me by surprise to see them out in the open. Sonia loves birds and was mesmerized and excited beyond words to see them.

The kids were all asleep in the car as they were too tired to see anything early in the morning. But as I let out my “Whoopee!” again, all of them woke up.

“What happened mamma?” asked Kavya wringing here eyes with her hands and stopped in the middle of the sentence as she saw the lion near the lake.

“Shiv, Jai, Rahul, get up see lion bathing.” She cried. All the kids got up and were jumping with glee in the car seeing the lion early morning having a bath in the lake .The lake was muddy and we weren’t sure if the lion was making it muddy or the lake was making the lion muddy.

All in all, our second safari was worthwhile. Not only did we see the peacocks dancing but also the lions bathing.

We returned back, had breakfast and got ready to get back to Mumbai. Karan had to join work, and I couldn’t leave Ram, my husband alone for long. As we made our way back to Porbandar I saw the rich variety of fauna that was seen here. The antelopes, the porcupines, the chinkara all were there for us to see. No wonder, I thought that this was the land of more than 23000 species of fauna. The birds here were also a wonderful sight. Karan showed us the hawk eagle, the bush quail, the fish owl etc.

Gir National Park is the home of endangered species of Asiatic lions; in fact it is the only habitat left for this carnivore animal. These majestic beasts can be seen in morning and evening. The authorities have arranged shows where one can see these ferocious animals in their full fury. Tourists can also opt for guided tours that are really helpful in exploring large parts of the forests with numerable opportunities of watching wild life.

The Sal, teak and other trees found here gave the forest its beautiful cover and I was happy to be in that part of the world where the most endangered species the Asiatic Lions are found. I was also happy that we had unconsciously come at the right time – the winter time when the forest wasn’t so hot. Lack of rain causes a lot of heat in the forest so the winters make the climate a little pleasant.

On the way back we went to the Kankai mata temple. This is a temple of the locals and we also saw the group called the Madharis. These locals rear buffaloes and live a very conservative lifestyle.

As we took the train back to Mumbai, I thanked Karan for having brought me here, out of my low moods and into the land of the lions.