Desert Safari Kutch Gujarat

chillibreeze writer — Uma Kogekar

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A couple of hours drive from Ahmedabad, in Dasada, lies a charming family-owned resort called ‘Rann Riders’. We left for a weekend getaway without too many expectations on what we would do or find there. On arrival we were guided to a pretty little cottage decorated with mirror work and embroidered panels. Designed to re-create the ambience of a village in Kutch, the resort was also equipped with modern amenities.

Next morning, on the recommendation of our host, we left in an open jeep for a cross-desert safari to the ‘Little Rann of Kutch’. The lakes and marshes round the Rann are famous for the numerous birds that flock there. The ‘Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary’ lies forty-four kms. from the Rann. While the greenery en-route was fairly limited, ever so often, to our amazement and delight, our guide would slow down the vehicle and point to a kingfisher perched atop an electric pole, “A baaz from Akbar’s palace”, he told us! Larks and warblers nestled among trees and hopped on the ground, hidden in the dry grass. When we asked him how he knew the names of all the species and had learnt to spot them, he replied with a smile – ‘Saab, I have been following my father on these trails since I was ten and foreigners who come here for bird-watching helped me all along with their knowledge’. We slowed down to let a turtle cross as my daughter clapped happily. Shortly, we stopped at some distance from a small lake. Making our way through the dry land we clambered over a rock. There, through the binoculars provided by our host, we saw Flamingoes, Spoonbills, the Sarus cranes and a variety of ducks. For us city-bred folks this was a veritable treat! We approached the ‘Little Rann’ with small children chasing our jeep. As we made our way through ‘salt’ dunes, vast dry plains with broken earth patterns greeted us as far as the eye could see. As we absorbed the stark beauty of the land, our jeep bounced for what seemed like an eternity along rocky lands and thorny bushes, with the sun shining down relentlessly. All of a sudden our guide accelerated and we came within a thousand feet of a herd of wild asses, known as the ‘Gudkhur’, near a small water body. Sensing our presence, they ran and we chased them again trying to get closer. A friend who was with us remarked jokingly that, ‘He felt like an ass chasing asses!’ While we got to understand that there are other animals such as the blackbuck and ‘nilgai’ too, we were able to sight only the Asiatic wild asses. We returned late evening, tired, but incredibly happy with our desert odyssey.

More information on the resort is available at their website www.rannriders.com

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Does wildlife excite you?

• Visit the Bannerghatta National Park near Bangalore
• Watch the Bengal tigers at Bandhavgarh National Park and Ranthambore
• Take a trip to Kabini, a veritable natural paradise
• Explore the exotic wildlife around Coorg
• Do not miss the mangroves at Sunderban in West Bengal
• Take in the spectacular views at Masinagudi
• Catch a glimpse of the one horned rhino at Kaziranga
• Visit Ranikhet near Corbett National Park
• Do not miss Coorg and its wonderous natural beauty

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—About our writer: Uma writes for chillibreeze.

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