We spent two days at Gir National Park in Gujarat – and had three lion sightings on the first day and none on the second day. I wonder if it was plain chance or it had something to do with the park being much more crowded on the second day (being a Saturday) with lots of jeep safaris everywhere (including some noisy ones who looked like they were on a picnic, rather than a jungle safari).
The sightings on the first day were worth all the effort to get to Gir and brave the heat and the sun into the park. We drove from Mumbai to Gir (Mumbai – Surat – Vadodara – Rajkot – Junagadh – Gir) on 30th of April – a drive of almost 800 kms. Thanks to voting starting at 7am, we were on our way by 8am and reached Gir close to midnight. Next morning we left our hotel at 630am into the park and were soon clicking two male lions.
While one of the males (recognizable by their mane) was asleep, the second one moved a bit to go into the shade and then slept as well. With no more movement here, our guide suggested we move on for the lookout of some others who were seen in that area the previous day. Soon we were able to locate this group of two lionesses with with two cubs not too far from the earlier sighting.
The two lionesses and one cub sat there and stared at us, while the second cub moved around as we clicked pictures.
Asiatic lion survives today only in the Gir National Park and as per last census there were 359 lions in 2005, spread over 1412 sq. kms area of the national park. Next census is planned in 2010. Gir is also home to leopards (which we did not get to see on this trip), sambar, cheetal, nilgai (blue bull antelope) and wild boar. We spotted a nilgai on our way back from the park.
I thought the bird sightings at Gir were really good as well. In between our lion searches we got to see many birds including a common kingfisher, a plum headed parakeet (male on the higher branch and female on the lower branch in second picture below) amongst others.
We also got to see a few different kinds of owls/owlets. I cant remember the exact names of the different types, but this one looked more interesting than the others.
Peacocks are common in national parks but to spot one with its fan like plumage (trying to wow potential mates) is quite a sight !
We were all enthu for the afternoon safari as the guide took us to a different part of the park, in search of two different adult male lions. Our guide stopped on the way at a water body, and sighted the lion far away drinking water. The lion was at quite a distance so we decided to find a convenient spot ahead. Our guide told us the lion would drink water for at-least 15 minutes, so we had a good chance of seeing him again. We did see him from a little ahead while he drank water and in between looked at us and then got back to drinking water.
After quenching his thirst, the lion started to move on the road and we followed quietly behind. Soon it found a nice shade and sat down to rest. We stood nearby watching.
A few minutes later another male lion (our guide had told us these two brothers ‘hang out’ together) came to the same spot and the two hugged. Lions are social animals (unlike tigers which are solitary) and usually hang around in groups called prides.
Both the lions rested for a while and we stood nearby and waited for any movement. We did get some movement after a while. One of the lions got up and moved towards what seemed like a kill it had made earlier. It moved towards the kill, picked it up and took it back with him to where they were resting.
Satisfied with having spent enough time with the lions (wouldn’t mind spending some more but then we have to adhere to park timings), we went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the next day.
Next morning our guide took us to yet another part of the park to look out for another pride. The guides in the park keep checking with the tribals who live in the park (called maldharis) about the exact location and where they saw the lions last. While we waited close to a water body where the lions were likely to come to drink water, our guide helped us spot a few birds including a yellow footed green pigeon and a cormorant.
On our way back out of the park, my friend saw a leopard cross the road ahead of us but was too fast for us to track it down. The maldharis around confirmed that one had just crossed the road. We stopped at a couple of places clicking a few more birds – like the red wattled lapwing close to a water pond.
Later in the afternoon safari we also spotted a yellow wattled lapwing near another pond, along with another red wattled lapwing.
The afternoon safari on second day was more deers, jungle dogs, sambar, nilgai and many more birds. Some of them repeated by choice – e.g. we went again to the tree we had spotted parakeets the previous day to get some more pictures of these colourful birds.
We also spotted some other interesting birds with long tails – the Asian paradise flycatcher and the Asian brown flycatcher but they moved too fast for me to get a good click. I did get a few snaps of a Eurasian thick-knee.
Next morning was our drive back to Mumbai. Ideally i would have liked to make a few more visits to the park – hopefully another time.
