Jim Corbett: A dream destination with plentiful adventure

Travelogue

Text and Photos by Isha Parvatiyar*

Exploring the jungle at Jim Corbett National Park

Jim Corbett National Park has been my dream destination for as long as I can remember. Finally, this August, Lohagarh Corbett Resort brought my dream to life.  Here’s how it went.

Road trips have always been my family’s favourite for as long as I can remember. We’ve covered short to long distances in our trusty Maruti Suzuki cars and this trip to Lohagarh Corbett Resort at Jim Corbett was no different. Actually what I discovered to my absolute delight was that the resort was away from the highway unlike many others at Jim Corbett, and actually, it was located at the edge of the jungle with real pristine surroundings. It was not surprising that why Lohagarh was named so. The owners had connections with the famous Lohagarh fort of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. 

We started our journey from our Ghaziabad home early in the morning at around 7 A.M. on the 28^th of August 2021 after the second phase of Covid-19 went down and it was safe to travel again after taking the required dose of vaccine.

We decided to take our kitten, Jazzy along with us because we were informed that the resort was pet-friendly and they even had three other cats and a dog. Taking Jazzy was a hard decision because we had never travelled with a kitten, let alone any animal for such a long distance but taking her was the best as it was a change for her too. It was a five-hour-long journey, very less compared to the distances we’ve covered before, but nonetheless, it was extremely exciting as I’ve always wanted to go to Jim Corbett.

I had done my research about the place beforehand which included the history behind the name Jim Corbett, the total number of tigers that made this place in Uttarakhand their home and even about the movies shot there.

We reached a little later than we expected because we had to make a few stops because of Jazzy, who hated staying in the car. She was nervous and had severe motion sickness but we still arrived safely and Jazzy was healthy.

Once we arrived, we were greeted by the absolutely gorgeous Lohagarh Corbett Resort that was sporting a jungle village theme. The resort had 14 hut style suites and deluxe rooms as well.

The general manager of the resort, Neha Chauhan, who was from Himachal and was managing the show here in the jungle, was so nice, and so was her colleague, Food and Beverage in-charge, Digvijay.

Neha always had a smile on her face throughout our stay, and I loved that. 

There were many sports to engage onto like archery, badminton, Ludo, chess, etc. There was even a DJ booth that my mom loved.

My parents shared a room while I and Jazzy shared another. Our rooms were adjacent to one another and were absolutely stunning with a huge bathroom attached. Even our kitten loved it!

My parent’s room had a back door that opened to a serene view of the farms – a part of the resort – and nature at its finest. My mom could not resist going for a stroll on the moor.

The rest of our day was spent resting and exploring the grounds of the resort. It had a huge open dining area which served a buffet for breakfast and a la carte for the rest of the meals.

That evening we treated ourselves to a plate of chicken 65 along with chilly paneer that was accompanied by lime juice. The dinner not long after that was butter roti with dal makhani, one of my personal favourites. The food was delicious and satisfied us after a long journey. It was the perfect way to wrap up our first night at the resort.

Even Jazzy enjoyed the ambience.

I had an amazing sleep that night in the comfortable bed that was in my room with my kitten cuddling me all night. I was woken up by my mother for breakfast. Needless to say, the breakfast was absolutely delicious.

I had idli with chutney, a sandwich and a boiled egg. There were also other options such as cereal with milk and poha which my parents ate and found delicious.

Our day started with a trip to the Barati Row falls which wasn’t that far from the resort. We were accompanied by Ram Singh, a village elder, as our guide who also worked as a gardener at the resort. We had to park our car about a kilometre before and then we started our trek. Since we went during the monsoon season, it was extremely bushy. It was dangerous too. The name itself had a history – that a Barat (marriage procession) was swept away in the flash flood there, and that no one could be saved! But what I was soon to realise was that a real adventure was still to unfold before our eyes.

On the way, it started raining as well but because of the shed of the trees, we didn’t get drenched. While on our way we witnessed a wild boar cross the path in front of us and many monkeys.

The excitement came when around midway our guide stopped us to show us a fresh pugmark of a tiger that resided in the jungle we were trekking through.

We didn’t have any spear or stick so it was scary but also very interesting. We continued our trek and saw another pugmark along with tiger poop which stank more than my cat’s.

We also met some local fishermen on the way who were catching small prawns from the stream. They also had an adorable dog, Pintu, who was accompanying them.

Finally, we reached the falls we had come for. It was absolutely gorgeous. We witnessed another pugmark there which signed that the tiger probably drank water before going his way. We made full plans of taking a dip in the water but since the flow was so strong, we decided against it. My parents still dipped their feet in the water, which they said was cold.

After taking a few pictures there, we started our trek back to the car. Now, this is where we experienced an adventure of a lifetime. While walking back, our guide stopped and turned around to tell us that there was a really strong odour coming from nearby which meant that the tiger was somewhere really close by. We continued our trek back since we didn’t want to stand there for long. We were almost near the exit when I saw this really gorgeous stone that I stopped to pick. That’s when we heard a loud roar from a distance. At first, I thought only I heard it but then my parents said that they heard it too. Our guide told us “khatra” which means danger and we started walking back really fast. A few more tourists – perhaps all belonging to just one group –  were about to enter the grounds so we stopped to tell them that it was dangerous to venture out there. That’s when we heard a low growl from right behind the bush next to us. We realized that moment that even though we couldn’t see the mighty beast, it probably saw us and was undoubtedly following us. We left and got into our car when our guide said that because we were four people together that it didn’t attack us but if it was just one or two then it might’ve. The experience was the most adventurous I’ve witnessed in the 20 years of my life and is none to forget.

We reached back to our resort and were greeted by my father’s friends. We had a delicious lunch together while talking about tiger spotting and experiences.

I spent some time with Jazzy, who stayed at the resort while we went to the falls. Now 30 minutes later, we had to leave again and this time we were going to the tiger safari.

A Maruti Gypsy was organized for us and my dad’s friends joined us. The weather was pleasant and the open SUV made it better. It took about thirty minutes for us to reach the forest grounds. There were a few more SUVs but the place was not as crowded as I had imagined it to be. Our driver, Amar, who belonged to the forest department,  also acted as our guide and was giving us all the information about the Jim Corbett Forest Reserve.

Amar told us that there are four types of cat families that reside in the National Park, namely Royal Bengal Tiger, Leopard, Leopard Cat and Jungle Cat. There are also four kinds of deer, Spotted deer, Barking deer, Sambar and Indian hog deer. Along with these, there are also elephants, jackals, porcupines and two species of bears that reside in the Park. Including all small and big species of animals, there are around 55 species of animals in Jim Corbett. There are about 580 species of birds that are found in the Forest Reserve. Not only that but there are also around 120 different kinds of flora encompassing the National Park. With all this, there is no surprise that the Jim Corbett National Park has taken the first spot in bio-diversity and the second spot for birds after the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

While on the safari, we saw a tree that was fully taken over by a parasite, a Yellow-Throated Marten, a lot of monkeys, an eagle sitting royally on the top of a tree and a deer. I and my dad did see a four-legged animal near the bank of a river but no one else did and we are not sure if it was a tiger or a leopard or maybe even a jungle cat.

Once we reached the end of the one-way trip, we had tea and pakoras at the tea spot. Not the best tea but still very satisfying for the weather and the mood of the jungle. The pakoras on the other hand were hot, spicy and very tasty.

We then got back in the SUV for our way out of the jungle and to our resort. On the way back, we stopped at the bank of the Kosi River where we saw a bull cross the river despite the high current. The view was so calming and beautiful that we had to take some pictures. We also collected some pretty stones and then continued our way back.

It didn’t take long from there to reach the resort. Once we reached, I immediately went to my room to hang out with Jazzy and take some rest after a long, yet fun day.

After staying in for some time, we went to get dinner where we were greeted by a mother cat and her two tiny kittens who kept meowing for food. Obviously, we gave them some French fries since that was what we were snacking on. The staff of the resort were so nice and helped us throughout our stay. We then had dinner of chicken, sabji, dal, rice and roti which were again, undoubtedly delicious. The food was so good that we had to personally compliment the chef, Vikrant, also from Himachal, who was pretty young too.

We took a few rounds around the campus before finally heading to bed to wrap up our day.

The next morning, I was again woken up by my mother to get breakfast. This morning I had some idli, vada with chutney, sandwiches and a cup of hot tea. So nice. There were more things in the buffet that my parents had but I didn’t since my appetite in the morning is really less.

This was the last day of our stay and before leaving, I and my mom along with my dad’s friend went to explore the farms on the backside of the resort. There were many mango and litchi trees out there and I only wished I was there before the monsoon when the trees were laden with ripe mangoes and litchis.

Yet, we were lucky to be there during the monsoon and still visit the jungle because usually safaris are not allowed during the rainy season. This year was exceptional because of the plummeting tourism there due to the Corona pandemic that they allowed tourists even during Monsoon.

As we walked in the farm, we came across a so beautiful kaccha home of a farmer that was so nicely made. It even had a small dressing table in there. We also plucked some fresh guavas straight from the tree and got some curry leaves. We even climbed a half-constructed treehouse.

We reached back to our rooms, packed everything and went to have lunch. After that, it was time to leave. We put everything in our car and sprayed some de-stressing spray for Jazzy before saying our last goodbyes to the staff and friends before leaving.

Jazzy was way calmer on the way back than before so it was a pretty quick way back home. We had some ice cream and local chicken biryani during a brief stopover at Moradabad. That was really delicious and was different from the Hyderabadi and Lucknowi biryani. Finally, we reached home at night. It was my grandmother’s birthday the same day so we got her a pizza cake and celebrated before heading to bed.

In short, my dream of going to Jim Corbett came true in the most adventurous yet comfortable way because of how the Lohagarh Corbett Resort made us feel like home. All the experiences I had from the resort to the Barati Row Falls to the safari are going to stay etched in me till the end of time.

*The writer is a final year student of journalism, English literature and political science at Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru