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Saranda –
Forest across 700 Hills
April 05-08, 2017
Saranda (Barbil, Odisha) had been on my itinerary for quite some time. From
whatever little I knew about the topography, I was sure it would be a place to
my liking. I was more attracted by the
descriptions shared by Sahir M Latif. In 2016, I had planned to drive down to
Saranda, but changed my mind, fearing my car might not be able to get through
the rocky terrain of the forest. Thus, after many reminders and pokes from
Sahir, I finally could visit the place along with my extended family.
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| Saranda Heights (Pal Hutings) |
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| Saranda Heights (Pal Hutings) |
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Sahir has a vast knowledge and experience about adventure
tourism, wildlife tourism and nature trails. Saranda aptly fits right across
the spectrum, and I am thankful to him for making it happen.
We arrived on train from Howrah in early April 2017. The
timing was a bit late in the season, primarily because we had not tuned
ourselves for the summer. We were under the impression the hills would be
cooler than our city. On landing at Barbil station, realised that summer had
set in with full vengeance. Nevertheless,
for a wildlife explorer the lure of the forest takes away all the turmoil. We
stayed at Pal Guest House at Pal Hutings (Saranda heights package).
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| Sunset in the forest adjoining Saranda Heights (Pal Hutings) |
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| SAL Forest adjoining Saranda Heights (Pal Hutings) |
Pal Guest House is a typical old bungalow by the side of a
hillock within Barbil town. The entire area 'Pal Hutings' is named after RN Pal
the owner, a hunter (shikari), at one time. Mr Pal has this mansion where he
and his family live and extra rooms are rented out to tourists. Pal Guest House
is essentially 'a no frills' base camp from where you venture out each day to
explore nature and the jungle.It is sandwiched between the township on one side and the vast forest on its backyard.
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| Endless waves of hills as seen from Kiriburu |
The name Saranda means land of 700 hills. You are thus
surrounded by waves of endless hills any which way you look around. Saranda
also has the distinction of having the largest 'SAL' forest (Sal - Shorea
Robusta) in Asia. The forest also has a good presence of Mahua trees (Mahua -
Madhuca Latifolia). This time around Mahua was in full bloom, and its aroma is
simply captivating. Many a poetry and prose has been written about Mahua and
its hypnotic sweetness.
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| Saranda - Asia's Largest SAL Forest |
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| Asia's largest SAL (& MAHUA) Forest |
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| And silently flows - River Karo |
Saranda is not like any other reserve forest. Simply stated
there is no forest infrastructure. It is wild wilderness. Here the forest is dense around the path
river Karo flows. There are many tributaries of Karo which flow down the hill
and thus criss-cross across the forest. The significance of Saranda is that it
is on the border of three Indian states - Odisha, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and
was primarily a tribal (adivasi) dominated area. Importantly, the Saranda
region (Gua, Bolani, Kiriburu, Meghatburu) is a very active iron ore mining
region. Thus there is a constant conflict between the locals, wildlife and
business. This conflict has many manifestations such as human - animal conflicts,
depleting forest, polluting environment, rampant poaching, local v/s government
conflict, etc. In spite of all these conflicts, the beauty of Saranda is simply
outstanding.
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| Karo River making its way through the forest |
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| Pachri Water Falls |
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| Wherever there is Mahua their are admirers aplenty |
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| Jhakri Water Falls .... we got a momentary glimpse of a Royal Bengal Tiger while relaxing under the waterfall. |
Considering that it is a neglected area, infrastructure is
lacking. Due to the intensity of mining the urban area is polluted with iron
ore dust. However when you get to the core forest area there is peace,
tranquility and calm. You are simply transported to another world altogether.
Due to the conflicts, no one really has thought of creating an organized
infrastructure for tourists to visit Saranda. The 'Latifs' are the only one who
have come forward and created Saranda Heights - an exploratory package.
Within Saranda, there are many jungle camping areas, where
one could setup a camp and explore the forest. Big cats have been recently
sighted, who have crossed across the neighboring Simlipal range. There are
evidences of Leopard, Bears, Bison, Sambhar and birds. But to do some serious
exploration one must set camp within the Forest.
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| Jungle Night Safari at Pondul (Saranda) |
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| Gleaming Eyes of a Bison during Night Safari |
The months of November thru March should be a good time to
visit the forest. But if you are a keen wildlife enthusiast, onset of summer
has perhaps the best chance of spotting animals. We intend to be back in
Saranda with a Wilderness Camp on jungle survival soon. Stay tuned.
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