Having read about the salty marshlands of Rann of Kutch only in geography books, I had hardly imagined that my first independent trip would be to Gujarat's Little Rann of Kutch. The plan was made only because we had some work in Ahmedabad, but by the end of the trip, we were glad that we made this choice instead of the usual tourist places.
Our original plan involved attending the Rann Utsav - a three day festival organized during the full moon every December which offers an unique experience to stay in desert camps and walk across the white deserts on a full moon night! However, we were forced to miss it due to some other commitments. In any case, our trip began on the 12th of December (2011), when we boarded the flight to Ahmedabad from Kolkata. The weather is quite pleasant at that time of the year, and the city was vibrant as ever!
A night stay in the city was all we did - before we embarked upon our destination - a small, little-known village called Dhrangadhra, where we would be put up in a completely secluded place with hut-like housing units called Kooba, with no other settlement in the vicinity! Our tour was managed by Mr. Devjibhai Dharmecha - who operates the "Eco-tour Camp" and owns the website littlerann.com.
DAY 1
The first day started a bit late as we boarded a bus running from Ahmedabad to Bhuj at 11 30 AM. As per our arrangement with Devjibhai, we were to get down on the highway near Dhrangadhra, from where he would have us picked up and take us to his camp. At around 3 PM, we got down at the highway where Devjibhai's son, Ajaybhai was waiting for us with his Mahindra jeep. After a quick lunch at a road side dhaba, we continued our journey to the koobas. The ride was quite a bumpy one, but we had just began entering the interiors and the rusty ambiance of the Indian villages were just settling in!
So, around 05 30 PM, we reached Jogad - the village where we were to spend the next couple of days. We were informed that the place was on the border of the Asiatic wild ass sanctuary, and we would start our safari from the next day. We had an hour until the sunset and thus, we took a lazy walk towards the Sumera lake, which was quite nearby before we called it a day!
The koobas deserve a special mention here because it is an integral part of the whole trip. From outside, it looks like mud huts, but is provided with most of the essential amenities - which is why setting down was never a challenge! There wasn't much to do once the sun was set, so we just sat outside for a round of tea and gossips. It was quite cold outside, but the thrill to be sitting in middle of a sanctuary was too good to resist.
We decided to go for an early dinner, since our safari next day was scheduled to begin at 06:00 AM the next day. The food was also arranged by Devjibhai, as it was impossible for visitors to find something on their own. However, we loved the traditional Gujarati thali that we were treated to. For 2,000 INR per day for each kooba including three meals a day was quite a deal, given the ambiance it had to offer!
DAY 2
We started off early in the morning. The first impressive thing we experienced was the solar heating arrangement that provided us with hot bath water. Since water was scarce in the remote area, we took extra care to ensure that none of it was wasted. After a simple breakfast, we took off in the Mahindra jeep that brought us here. Our plan was to go deep inside the sanctuary where we were to find Asiatic wild asses, nilgai and several migratory birds!
The sky was so clear that the moon was visible for the next couple of hours. While it was quite cold when we started, we knew it would get warmer as the day progressed. While driving towards the sanctuary, our driver-cum-guide Ajaybhai helped us locate different types of birds sitting on electric wires, or drinking water from a lake. We went past several cotton fields, quite a few villages and were held up for more than 15 minutes every time we came across a drove of bullocks coming from the opposite direction - that was how narrow the roads were!
Then, all of sudden, the view in front of us drastically broadened into a place that had no end in sight. We were out there in the marshland, and to me it was hauntingly beautiful. It was completely barren with no trace of an end anywhere. In fact after driving for 15 minutes into this place, I could not even locate where we came from! Ajaybhai told us that during the monsoon, the seawater encroaches most of these barren land, and when the sea water retreats, it leaves the salt behind.
The heat scale was on the upside, and thus came off the sweatshirts and the jackets! There was a point where Ajaybhai just stopped the jeep, and wanted us to come out and experience the place just by taking a walk. Honestly, there wasn't much to see in a barren land, but when there is something so huge and unending surrounding you, it becomes a moment to savor - and so we did.
After a while, we ventured deeper inside the place, and we sighted a few boats tied to trees. Ajaybhai explained that they belonged to fishermen who go fishing during the monsoons. In the other seasons, they are just laborers at nearby salt factories. After driving down for around 30 minutes, we came finally came across a water-body, which was actually a low-level land where the water stagnated even when the sea water retreated. We were told that there would be a lot of flamingos around, and so we drove further into the sanctuary in quest for birds!
However, before we came across flamingos, the main attraction of this place showed themselves up - the Asiatic wild asses. Our jeep stopped at a place which was on a higher altitude, and from there, the whole place (actually to the limitation of the human eye) could be viewed. We identified a huge lake where there were numerous flamingos, and we instructed Ajaybhai to take us there immediately. But before we could reach the lake, we came across a herd of wild asses. Apparently, they were quite alarmed by our jeep, and the whole herd started running, which again was quite a sight.
As we were watching the show put up by the herd of asses, we could see a large group of birds on the lake. On approaching the lake, we witnessed a sight to behold. A large group of flamingos, pelicans and ducks were drinking from the lake, and by a large group, I mean there had to be more than a hundred of them there. And each of those birds were bigger than I had ever seen anywhere. It is impossible to come across such a sight while living in a city, which is why it was all the more special to us.
Ajaybhai drove us a way through the bushes which would take us closer to the birds. A funny thing happened here. We parked a few kilometers away from where another group of flamingos were taking rest. We were hoping to take pictures when Ajaybhai, out of excitement went a tad too close for the comfort of the birds, and they all flew before we could take our shots. Eventually, the shot that we got was probably better and more than we could have asked for!
We did not realize but it was already 12 by the time we were done admiring the beauty of the place where we were in. It was time to head back to the koobas and honestly, we were quite hungry! However, on our way back we took a different route - I was amazed by how Ajaybhai could even locate "routes" out of that vast place! We came across another interesting thing - unprocessed salts structured in the form of sand dunes. On my insistence, we stopped as I wanted a closer look and although it was nothing extraordinary, it was nevertheless a new thing we witnessed. No matter, how much we grow up, it is always equally thrilling to come across something new and amazing!
Our original plan involved attending the Rann Utsav - a three day festival organized during the full moon every December which offers an unique experience to stay in desert camps and walk across the white deserts on a full moon night! However, we were forced to miss it due to some other commitments. In any case, our trip began on the 12th of December (2011), when we boarded the flight to Ahmedabad from Kolkata. The weather is quite pleasant at that time of the year, and the city was vibrant as ever!
A night stay in the city was all we did - before we embarked upon our destination - a small, little-known village called Dhrangadhra, where we would be put up in a completely secluded place with hut-like housing units called Kooba, with no other settlement in the vicinity! Our tour was managed by Mr. Devjibhai Dharmecha - who operates the "Eco-tour Camp" and owns the website littlerann.com.
DAY 1
The first day started a bit late as we boarded a bus running from Ahmedabad to Bhuj at 11 30 AM. As per our arrangement with Devjibhai, we were to get down on the highway near Dhrangadhra, from where he would have us picked up and take us to his camp. At around 3 PM, we got down at the highway where Devjibhai's son, Ajaybhai was waiting for us with his Mahindra jeep. After a quick lunch at a road side dhaba, we continued our journey to the koobas. The ride was quite a bumpy one, but we had just began entering the interiors and the rusty ambiance of the Indian villages were just settling in!
So, around 05 30 PM, we reached Jogad - the village where we were to spend the next couple of days. We were informed that the place was on the border of the Asiatic wild ass sanctuary, and we would start our safari from the next day. We had an hour until the sunset and thus, we took a lazy walk towards the Sumera lake, which was quite nearby before we called it a day!
 |
| The Sumeru Lake |
The koobas deserve a special mention here because it is an integral part of the whole trip. From outside, it looks like mud huts, but is provided with most of the essential amenities - which is why setting down was never a challenge! There wasn't much to do once the sun was set, so we just sat outside for a round of tea and gossips. It was quite cold outside, but the thrill to be sitting in middle of a sanctuary was too good to resist.
 |
| The Kooba |
 |
| The traditional Gujarati food |
DAY 2
We started off early in the morning. The first impressive thing we experienced was the solar heating arrangement that provided us with hot bath water. Since water was scarce in the remote area, we took extra care to ensure that none of it was wasted. After a simple breakfast, we took off in the Mahindra jeep that brought us here. Our plan was to go deep inside the sanctuary where we were to find Asiatic wild asses, nilgai and several migratory birds!
The sky was so clear that the moon was visible for the next couple of hours. While it was quite cold when we started, we knew it would get warmer as the day progressed. While driving towards the sanctuary, our driver-cum-guide Ajaybhai helped us locate different types of birds sitting on electric wires, or drinking water from a lake. We went past several cotton fields, quite a few villages and were held up for more than 15 minutes every time we came across a drove of bullocks coming from the opposite direction - that was how narrow the roads were!
Then, all of sudden, the view in front of us drastically broadened into a place that had no end in sight. We were out there in the marshland, and to me it was hauntingly beautiful. It was completely barren with no trace of an end anywhere. In fact after driving for 15 minutes into this place, I could not even locate where we came from! Ajaybhai told us that during the monsoon, the seawater encroaches most of these barren land, and when the sea water retreats, it leaves the salt behind.
The heat scale was on the upside, and thus came off the sweatshirts and the jackets! There was a point where Ajaybhai just stopped the jeep, and wanted us to come out and experience the place just by taking a walk. Honestly, there wasn't much to see in a barren land, but when there is something so huge and unending surrounding you, it becomes a moment to savor - and so we did.
 |
| Our jeep in midst of the vastness around |
After a while, we ventured deeper inside the place, and we sighted a few boats tied to trees. Ajaybhai explained that they belonged to fishermen who go fishing during the monsoons. In the other seasons, they are just laborers at nearby salt factories. After driving down for around 30 minutes, we came finally came across a water-body, which was actually a low-level land where the water stagnated even when the sea water retreated. We were told that there would be a lot of flamingos around, and so we drove further into the sanctuary in quest for birds!
However, before we came across flamingos, the main attraction of this place showed themselves up - the Asiatic wild asses. Our jeep stopped at a place which was on a higher altitude, and from there, the whole place (actually to the limitation of the human eye) could be viewed. We identified a huge lake where there were numerous flamingos, and we instructed Ajaybhai to take us there immediately. But before we could reach the lake, we came across a herd of wild asses. Apparently, they were quite alarmed by our jeep, and the whole herd started running, which again was quite a sight.
 |
| The wild asses |
As we were watching the show put up by the herd of asses, we could see a large group of birds on the lake. On approaching the lake, we witnessed a sight to behold. A large group of flamingos, pelicans and ducks were drinking from the lake, and by a large group, I mean there had to be more than a hundred of them there. And each of those birds were bigger than I had ever seen anywhere. It is impossible to come across such a sight while living in a city, which is why it was all the more special to us.
Ajaybhai drove us a way through the bushes which would take us closer to the birds. A funny thing happened here. We parked a few kilometers away from where another group of flamingos were taking rest. We were hoping to take pictures when Ajaybhai, out of excitement went a tad too close for the comfort of the birds, and they all flew before we could take our shots. Eventually, the shot that we got was probably better and more than we could have asked for!
 |
| The shot of the trip |
 |
| The salt dunes! |
We were told that we would see a lot more of salt-processing when we go out in the afternoon to the other side of the sanctuary. The last part of the morning safari was a quiet one as we headed towards our camp. And oh! we did get glimpses of quite a lot of peacocks when we were returning back!
More on the afternoon safari later...
