Unplanned Trip

GIR Forest

F*** !!! What the hell is this? What was the need to do that… was in the mind of Neil. Sir, I am from Delhi, Rahul uttered… which was of no help. Keep quite else we will complicate the misunderstanding… was in the mind of Nihit.

A trip unplanned till 2200 Hrs, a mind game till 2300 Hrs, modified… cancelled….at 2315Hrs…. and finally 90% confirmed till 2300 Hrs. Please do come, No… yes… ok… what if… no… yes.. not possible.. finally from initially 4 people, 3 were in place to which landed with only 2 confirming for the unscheduled trip to GIR Forest in Junagadh District of Gujarat.

I think Rahul will come, Neil responded. Then why don’t you call him.. Nihit said. He is obedient guy who will not leave the classes however he loves bike ride and might join the trip if motivated. Lets do it, Nihit said to Neil. Finally at 0130 Hrs in early morning after motivating Rahul and solving his unsolved query, making him dream the wild royal safari on lion, giving him the feel of jungle… hope he did felt in the same way :D and few misrepresentation of KM, Rahul finally agreed.

After long discussion, sleepless night need to wake up early morning, the trip which was in corner of mind till evening 1900 Hrs, Nihit felt it’s going to be true few hours down the line. Finally Rahul arrived at 0330 Hrs and after sleeping for 1 hour, trio geared up to hit the road.

0533 Hrs & the headlight flashed on the road, bike meter showing at 13679KM hit the road. 3 hours of drive and we reached Limbdi where thanks to google map we took inside road to GIR. Bad road patches in between were more of bumpers to bump than shock absorber to control it. 1300 Hrs reaching at Dhari with almost empty food tank, it was a turn to refill the same after refilling fuel tank at Gadhda few hrs and few KM back.

75 KM and we will reach the only abode of Asiatic Lion was the only ray of hope left after having a long drive while having the Gujarati thali. Food during long drive is truly tasty, may be because you are much hungry and taste doesn’t matter much or may be the dhaba owner knows the taste better than the urban hoteliers.

The adventure was waiting for us which we found only after leaving Dhari. Roads… better say path holes were more disastrous to the bump so you can think what it would have been to back and the body. My lovely bike, how much pain it would have been to her on such an ill managed road was the only tears in my eyes.

30 KM and we hit the best road towards our destination. Straight road, smooth surface and surrounded by trees gave the feeling of forest and wild hope to see Lion walking in front of us, which only happens in movies. 18KM were left and we were shocked to see the wild jungle in front of us with no real roads left ahead. Call to Forest Officials and ask about the route… Nihit told to Neil. After confirming from Forest Officials, Neil told that we are on the right way and need to move from here for another 18 KM to reach the Forest Office.

Rahul was clueless to all this, thinking what am I doing with this 2 wild creatures until he reached the Forest Road. Woow this is truly amazing. We were doing adventure in Forest of the bike where only we can see Gipsy in most of the forest. Humpty dumpty ride of 18 Km filled with excitement, watching deer’s, peacock, Nandi Cow, etc on side, hoping to get a glimpse of Lion, Leopards we drove for another few KM finally reaching the forest office.

Sir! Please allow us to go into the forest.. Nihit & Neil pleaded. The last Gypsy time was till 1530 Hrs and we reached at around 1600 Hrs. Finally after requesting him and telling him about our trip from Gandhinagar, he agreed at one condition that we need to get out by 1800Hrs. Doesn’t matter.. All shouted as we were about to enter the forest on an adventure ride.

Our Guide were very enthusiastic and helpful who told us about 1400 Sq. KM Gir Forest, habitat, lion, forest, migrated rubber tree, mating season of lion, nature of lion, when to go near lion and when not to go, etc etc etc.

Woow, look that… Neil and Rahul shouted. Nihit looking here and there couldn’t figure out the King & the Queen even with 2 huge glasses. And finally we moved little near and found this splendid moment when Lion and Lioness was sitting together. It was marvelous!!! An experience which cannot be put in words. You all are lucky, our guide said. People visit no. of times even to see lion but you are lucky enough to see the couple which is a rare sight.

What a feeling it was, with thoughts flowing in mind that our trip was successful. To this we moved ahead after clicking few snaps. Which all animals are there in the forest, we asked. There are leopards, Jackle, deer, etc. Can we see Leopard, one of us asked enthusiastically. Leopards are rarely seen was the answer from our guide. Even in my life time I had seen them only 5 to 10 times. Sadness flowing on our face, we left the place chit chatting about jungle, happenings in and around jungle. He shared his experiences and tourist inflow in GIR.

Hey see that, Neil said. Whats that Nihit asked. That’s Jackle… Rahul said. As usual it is bit difficult for Nihit to identify animals easily, all of us haulted for a few minutes. Clicked few snaps, again looked at jackle which was in pair. Guide was very happy and was saying again and again that we are lucky to see jackle too.

Kash, hum Leopard bhi dekh le… Nihit said. It will be like cherry on the cake. A van standing ahead of us was trying to peep somewhere. we haulted behind them and asked curiously what’s there? There’s the leopard… again Neil spotted. Woow… there is no words now. It was the most amazing moment of the trip. Lion in couple, Jackle in pair and now leopard.. What more can we ask for.

With this clock ticked at 1745 Hrs and we scheduled to leave the jungle. Sharing our experience with each other, we left the jungle at 1800 hrs. After having a tired day, we booked a hotel, had dinner and were on bed. Few hours of chit chat, sharing experiences, ghost stories (which normally is topic of sharing other than girl, love story, movie topic, etc) we called it a day.

Seeing a road sign of 45Km Somnath, while entering the jungle we made our plan to leave for somnath early morning while we were in the Gypsy. Knowing about our Somnath schedule early morning and with no sleep during earlier night, even nocturnal Rahul thought to sleep and atleast give rest to his bump along with the eyes. :)