(pics to be added)
We arrived at Sasangir early in the evening. The primary purpose of staying here was to see some of the last wild asiatic lions. There are supposed to be around 200 in Gir National Park. Jim tried to arrange permits through their web site but was unable to do so because it would only accept payment from Indians. Fortunately, Chota was able to may the reservation for the 3 of us and he made this a gift. We arrived at the registration center and were checked in but then learned that there is an additional fee for use of a vehicle and another for use of a "professional camera" which totaled almost as much as the entry permit which was 4000 INR for 2 Indians and a foreigner. The vehicle was not old and beat up, so that was good! We drove off on to one of the many rough roads through the park. We sometimes saw people walking and huts with cows and learned that there are tribal people who live in the park areas and very near who farm and raise animals. They say the lions never attack people but do attack cows sometimes.
We drove around awhile and saw many deer- evidently a prime source of food for the lions- and came upon a couple vehicles pulled to one side. They saw a lion lying on the ground among some trees back from the road and we could get glimpses of it but it was far away. We waited and waited. There was a vehicle and some men on the opposite side of the road - about the same distance away. Apparently, they were trackers. After awhile we moved up the road a bit to an area where they had placed a water trough. There were many of these in the park- probably to help keep the lions in the park in the dry seasons. We waited and the various drivers said things to a couple of the men we thought were trackers. After a little while were learned the lion had moved closer to the road so we moved back and got a better view of a sleepy looking lion! Did the trackers prod the lion to move? We did not see them move toward the lion but we were not tracking the trackers so they might have done so. In any case we saw an asiatic lion in the wild and could leave satisified with some pictures!
Back at the registration center we heard others say they saw no lions and others say they saw three.
Jim rested in the afternoon at the hotel.
Late in the afternoon Chota and Jonny asked if I wanted to go see a new lodging that belongs to a former royal cousin or friend of Chota. He accepted and we drove off to see this place. It was fairly easy to see from the road as it is a large hunting lodge on top of a hill. The road in was mostly dirt and it was not obvious where we could park or drive to but we got close and walked. We met the fairly young owner. The place had been his grandfather's and Father's hunting lodge and the family had owned all the land around it for a very long time, but most of the land was taken away in the 1970's by Indira Gandhi. Now they own the bill hill and lodge and road in but mosy of the rest of the land belongs to the Gir Forest. This meant that there were lions roaming around the grounds! He said they see lions fairly often and cow was killed by lions two days earlier and they saw a group walk by below the lodge the day before- near where we parked...
He is trying to convert the lodge in to a hotel/guest house and has built a newer building as a guest house as well. We had tea at the newer place while he spoke and talked to Chota about family matters. It could be quite a special place but will likely take a large investment to get it to to point of attracting big spending guests. We walked to the car in the dark- with a guide with a light- aware that lions might be around us. The owner said he would call us if he learned of lions on the property. On the way back to the Taj hotel we saw a coyote cross the road.
In the morning we drove to Somnath on the coast to see a famous temple and see the shore- it was very pretty but a little boring because Jim did not want to go through to whole process of checking shoes and camera to go in a temple that is very modern. We then drove to a nearby fishing town- Veraval. It was very interesting to see a large fishing fleet unloading their catch. These were nearly all wooden fishing boats of beautiful coloring and we could see where they took the fish and we saw people fixing nets.
Chota remembered that another distant royal cousin is in the fish packing business here so he made a call and we then went to a large packing plant and met a fairly young owner of this large company. He took us on a tour and we saw factory buildings where they processed and froze all sorts of fish and squid. He said they ship about 175 large containers a year to China, Europe and the USA. We saw the fish being put into boxes and loaded in to refrigerated containers. It wa svery interesting to see. He said that they buy fish from the local fisherman, but they also have their own fishing boats which go as far south as Goa. Those boats must have processing and freezing on board as he said they are out for several weeks at a time. The best fish are usually exported. He gave several pounds of fish to Chota and Jonny and offered some to Jim too. Chota and Jonny had some of theirs cooked at their hotel. Indians generally seem to know smaller inexpensive places to stay or they stay with friends or relatives.
Jonny got a call from one of the caretakers of the hunting lodge saying that a cow had been killed by lions and if we came back he would take us to it- and to see the lions for something like 2000INR. Jim said no.
The next morning was Sat. Nov. 18 and we left at 8AM to drive to Palitana. There were cotton fields all over the countryside. We arrived near noon and walked the road to the entrance of the temple complex. There are many fine buildings along the way to the entrance. The guide books say that the temples on top of the mountain are very much worth seeing. However, one has to climb about 3600 steps to get up there! ( Jim learned that there is a back way up with ONLY 800 steps- but it is much steeper!) We climbed the 630 or so steps at Shravanabelgola in the south in 2009 and survived quite nicely but 3600, and 8 years older would be too much, so Jim had decided before the trip not to exhaust his energy or knees attempting this. Another key factor is that photography is not allowed at the temples on top, so this sealed the decision as photography was a main purpose of this trip!
We walked a few streets in the center of town where there are many British era buildings and took pictures.
Jonny said that when he brings other people here who want to climb the mountain he tells them to stay at the Vijay Villas and start around 6AM. He then picks them up at the bottom of the 800 steps on the other side where they go back to the villas and probably collapse. We went to the villas and had lunch. This is another former royal home that is now also a hotel and , of course, Chota knew the family, so the owner sat with us for a bit while they spoke about old times and caught up on family matters.
We left and stopped in a smaller city- where we drove up a very narrow road to an old fort. Here again, through the efforts of Jonny and Chota, we got inside. The caretaker took us around. There is an old building still in reasonable shape with lots of old carved teak. There is some evidence of painting outside but the caretaker said that the Indian Archeological Institute painted over these because they did not want possible vandals to think there might be valuable things elsewhere in the building. The inside is quite amazing with wall paintings in several rooms that we were allowed to see and photograph. In one room Chota spent a lot of time- he explained that the story being illustrated -about a royal family from this area sending troops to help support a neighboring family in the 1700's is about his wif'e's ancestor! Very interesting to learn these connections.
We drove on to Bhavnagar where Jim stayed the night at the Nilambagh Palace- another one that is now a hotel. We arrived early evening and checked in. This one also has huge rooms but not a lot of charm. The next morning we walked around a bit in the old town and took pictures of the people and colonial era architecture before heading north.
We drove into the Blackbuck sanctuary - for the somewhat scarce Blackbuck deer- and saw a very nice pond full of a variety of birds and also saw a lot of deer- mostly from a sizable distance. We had seen some of these deer near Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2010 as well. We drove on to Ahmedabad.
We arrived at Sasangir early in the evening. The primary purpose of staying here was to see some of the last wild asiatic lions. There are supposed to be around 200 in Gir National Park. Jim tried to arrange permits through their web site but was unable to do so because it would only accept payment from Indians. Fortunately, Chota was able to may the reservation for the 3 of us and he made this a gift. We arrived at the registration center and were checked in but then learned that there is an additional fee for use of a vehicle and another for use of a "professional camera" which totaled almost as much as the entry permit which was 4000 INR for 2 Indians and a foreigner. The vehicle was not old and beat up, so that was good! We drove off on to one of the many rough roads through the park. We sometimes saw people walking and huts with cows and learned that there are tribal people who live in the park areas and very near who farm and raise animals. They say the lions never attack people but do attack cows sometimes.
Back at the registration center we heard others say they saw no lions and others say they saw three.
Jim rested in the afternoon at the hotel.
Late in the afternoon Chota and Jonny asked if I wanted to go see a new lodging that belongs to a former royal cousin or friend of Chota. He accepted and we drove off to see this place. It was fairly easy to see from the road as it is a large hunting lodge on top of a hill. The road in was mostly dirt and it was not obvious where we could park or drive to but we got close and walked. We met the fairly young owner. The place had been his grandfather's and Father's hunting lodge and the family had owned all the land around it for a very long time, but most of the land was taken away in the 1970's by Indira Gandhi. Now they own the bill hill and lodge and road in but mosy of the rest of the land belongs to the Gir Forest. This meant that there were lions roaming around the grounds! He said they see lions fairly often and cow was killed by lions two days earlier and they saw a group walk by below the lodge the day before- near where we parked...
He is trying to convert the lodge in to a hotel/guest house and has built a newer building as a guest house as well. We had tea at the newer place while he spoke and talked to Chota about family matters. It could be quite a special place but will likely take a large investment to get it to to point of attracting big spending guests. We walked to the car in the dark- with a guide with a light- aware that lions might be around us. The owner said he would call us if he learned of lions on the property. On the way back to the Taj hotel we saw a coyote cross the road.
In the morning we drove to Somnath on the coast to see a famous temple and see the shore- it was very pretty but a little boring because Jim did not want to go through to whole process of checking shoes and camera to go in a temple that is very modern. We then drove to a nearby fishing town- Veraval. It was very interesting to see a large fishing fleet unloading their catch. These were nearly all wooden fishing boats of beautiful coloring and we could see where they took the fish and we saw people fixing nets.
Jonny got a call from one of the caretakers of the hunting lodge saying that a cow had been killed by lions and if we came back he would take us to it- and to see the lions for something like 2000INR. Jim said no.
The next morning was Sat. Nov. 18 and we left at 8AM to drive to Palitana. There were cotton fields all over the countryside. We arrived near noon and walked the road to the entrance of the temple complex. There are many fine buildings along the way to the entrance. The guide books say that the temples on top of the mountain are very much worth seeing. However, one has to climb about 3600 steps to get up there! ( Jim learned that there is a back way up with ONLY 800 steps- but it is much steeper!) We climbed the 630 or so steps at Shravanabelgola in the south in 2009 and survived quite nicely but 3600, and 8 years older would be too much, so Jim had decided before the trip not to exhaust his energy or knees attempting this. Another key factor is that photography is not allowed at the temples on top, so this sealed the decision as photography was a main purpose of this trip!
We walked a few streets in the center of town where there are many British era buildings and took pictures.
Jonny said that when he brings other people here who want to climb the mountain he tells them to stay at the Vijay Villas and start around 6AM. He then picks them up at the bottom of the 800 steps on the other side where they go back to the villas and probably collapse. We went to the villas and had lunch. This is another former royal home that is now also a hotel and , of course, Chota knew the family, so the owner sat with us for a bit while they spoke about old times and caught up on family matters.
We left and stopped in a smaller city- where we drove up a very narrow road to an old fort. Here again, through the efforts of Jonny and Chota, we got inside. The caretaker took us around. There is an old building still in reasonable shape with lots of old carved teak. There is some evidence of painting outside but the caretaker said that the Indian Archeological Institute painted over these because they did not want possible vandals to think there might be valuable things elsewhere in the building. The inside is quite amazing with wall paintings in several rooms that we were allowed to see and photograph. In one room Chota spent a lot of time- he explained that the story being illustrated -about a royal family from this area sending troops to help support a neighboring family in the 1700's is about his wif'e's ancestor! Very interesting to learn these connections.
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