Dooars Diary - An expedition to explore Jaldapara , Lankapara Forest, Khairbari and Torsa Riverbed
- Sutapa Karmakar (March 2013)
- Feb 20, 2017
- 4 min read
If you are a nature enthusiast or have a thirst of spending a few days in the serenity of Doars jungle, with the birds greeting you, a moment in the green lush tea estates watching the local villagers working, bird watching in Kharibari and Torsa riverbed and just strolling around the places to enjoy the beauty of nature, then Jaldapara can be option for you, an overnight journey from Kolkata. Jaldapara is a National Park situated at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in northern West Bengal and on the banks of the Torsa River. The national park houses many wildlife species, the endangered one-horned rhino being one of them. It is a good place to stay in the vicinity of nature outside Kolkata, and it could be covered in three - five days.
Jaldapara is a National Park situated at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in northern West Bengal and on the banks of the Torsa River. The national park houses many wildlife species, the endangered one-horned rhino being one of them. There are many options of staying near the national park, Hollong Forest Lodge being the best in the midst of the national park. The wild animals come for the salt pit in front of the Hollong lodge in the early morning, evening or at night which is a wonderful experience to watch, however it’s really hard to get a booking there. Other good options are Jaldapara Forest Lodge or Jaldapara Jungle camp. We stayed at Jaldapara Jungle camp. We reached Hasimara station in the morning after an overnight journey from Kolkata and eventually reached the Jaldapara Jungle camp in about half an hour. which was in Madarihat. It’s on a highway but the backside of the camp is part of the jungle. After freshening up and a cup of hot tea, I was strolling in the balcony when I was greeted by a black-hooded oriole in a tree adjacent to our room.
That day we had a chance to talk to the owner of the camp and he was an amiable, nice person and told us about the conservation going in that area for wild elephant. After chatting with him we came to know that the nearby forest area falls on the corridor for wild elephants and once a while a loner do come in that area and it takes a lot of effort to send them back to jungle safely. After a nice chat and lunch, we decided to just walk around the place on our own. It was a small town with serenity all around, we returned to the lodge in the evening, made plan for the trips ahead and called it a day.
The next day morning we spent by visiting the famous Doars tea estate watching the locals work in the lush green tea gardens, we even had our packed breakfast of Aloo Paratha and hot tea nearby a tea estate. We returned in the afternoon to the lodge and after a hearty lunch and some rest went to the evening safari to the Jaldapara forest. The jungle safari can be done in either an open forest Jeep or Elephant safari which starts from the Forest Lodge, and this has to be booked in advance. In our case it was arranged by our Jungle Camp owner. Needless to say the moment the sun was setting across the horizon in the jungle I looked at the view and instantly I knew I will be carving to see many more of these in future. We were lucky to spot One-horned Rhino an animal threatened with extinction just at a distance from the jeep, Indian Gaur, Deer, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Green Imperial Pigeon, Peafowl and Peahen in the park apart from some common sights like egrets, moorhens, Yellow-footed green pigeon. Mesmerized with my first safari we returned to the lodge, had dinner and went early to bed.
The next morning was a day spent in birding trails in Khairbari. I got many lifers like Jerdon's Baza, Asian Barred Owlet, Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo, Red-breasted parakeet, Alexdrine parakeet, along with Indian Roller, Little egret, and many other commoners.
In the afternoon we went to the riverbed of Torsa near the Lankapara forest, We had our lunch of Fried Rice and Chilly Chicken on the riverbed with distant view of the hills and watched some birds in nearby area which covered Ruddy Shelduck, White Wagtail, Citrine wagtail, Yellow-wattled Lapwing and Red-wattled Lapwing. We then visited Totopara and we watched a beautiful sunset over the village with the sound of peafowl at the distance in the jungle .This village is home to the unique Toto tribe that is one of a kind in the world. It is bounded by the foothills of Bhutan to the north, Torsa River to the east and Titi river & the Titi reserve forest on the south-west separated by the Hauri river. As the sun went down and we were returning we watched an awesome phenomenon, numerous peafowls came on the riverbed which was dry at the time and showed a display of feathers- an act to attract the female, all at the same time. It was indeed a breathtaking phenomenon to watch. It was a more than satisfying day for me. In the evening we were invited to dinner at the home of the Jungle Camp owner on the occasion of his son’s birthday and I must admit he made our stay hospitable, we felt being at home.
The next day after breakfast, we visited the nearby villages, trekked to a waterfall nearby explored by the local people where we came across some fresh elephant dung on the way and local people informed that a herd of elephants had just crossed the area in the early morning. We had packed lunch of chicken and Rice in the jungle area which was an awesome experience. After the lunch we also visited the part of Bhutan which was near the area. Completely exhausted by afternoon yet heartily satisfied, we went to Madarihat station in the afternoon to board the train to Kolkata in the evening waving adieu to our first experience in the jungle.
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