Memories from Dalma — A Reunion in the Wild [part-2]

                       Memories from Dalma — A Reunion in the Wild


After a bellyful lunch and a few photographs by Souti & Jaga, we reluctantly set out for  our final destination — Dalma Resort, 18 km ahead.  A quick video is here - https://youtu.be/YmvTs4zZQt4


After about 2 km, the road branched off from the main highway and turned into a narrow uphill path. At the top stood a large hoarding boldly announcing the entrance to the Dalma Forest Range. Along the roadside, numerous display boards proudly declared that we were entering a region inhabited by elephants, bears, giant squirrels, deer, and several species of birds including the great Indian hornbill.



After travelling several kilometres and spotting no animals other than domestic hens and cows, Jaga aptly remarked that there were indeed plenty of these wild creatures here — but only on the signboards!



At every tourist spot, visitors are the easiest prey. Of course, they don’t mind spending money for the right kind of services, but the authorities always seem more eager to squeeze as much money as legitimately possible, forgetting the very service for which they are charging in the first place.


At the forest entrance gate, they charged us INR 10 per visitor and INR 600 per vehicle as a “forest road maintenance fee.” But even a lunar crater would be ashamed of the condition of that so-called road — the uphill stretch winding towards the peak about 400 meters above seemed less a road and more a cracked paddy field forgotten by both farmers and forest officials. 


Fortunately, our resort was just about 500 meters from the gate, set within a sprawling campus of only five cottages and a wide green lawn — charmingly inhabited by a few friendly baby deer, monkeys and a lone rabbit that seemed unusually comfortable around humans!


moon rise

sun rise 

At check-in, we were again charged INR 150 per room per day as “maintenance fees” — something I had completely missed on the website and was nowhere mentioned on the booking confirmation! Such little white lies, always sprung as surprises and leave a lasting impression on tourists. However, the ambience of the resort was exquisite & the food in the restaurant was good & reasonably priced which helped us to wipe off all bad things!  


The setting sun began to drape the slopes of the Dalma Hills in golden light. We sat idly on the benches of the lawn while Souti wandered about with his phone-camera. Ours were the only footsteps on this sprawling campus that evening. As the sun sank, a huge golden moon rose over the western sky — later we realized it was a full-moon night! Through the forest canopy, the moon looked so grand that the lamp on the light post seemed utterly insignificant.



friendly deer

          
fearless!


[Dalma wild life sanctuary is a Jharkhand Government operated tourist resort. It has a variety of guest houses - AC cottage, Bamboo Hut AC cottage, Mud house and old rest house, while all are situated near the entry gate the old rest house is situated uphill about 10 km from the entry gate. The road condition is extremely bad and not suitable for Sedan car besides the ambience of the old rest house is not upto the mark. People mostly avoid it ]

 


[To be continued to Part-III, concluding]






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kashmir trip - April'2025

Image
  🌸 A Memorable Trip to Kashmir - April 2025 Nupur (also known as Kuntal) and I have been friends since our school days. We studied together at Shibpur Dinobundhu Institution up to Class X, after which life took us along different paths. He chose the commerce stream, while I pursued science and engineering. [Hotel Whitehouse on the bank of Lidder river] After graduation, Nupur joined his family business, while I started my career at NTPC, treating the whole of India as my home. Over the next 37 years, I moved from one state to another — from Delhi to Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and finally retired from a plant in Jharkhand. Throughout these years, we stayed connected over phone calls. Our spouses became familiar too, and whenever I visited Howrah, we made it a point to meet. We had once planned a family trip to Himachal Pradesh way back in 2010, but unfortunately, Nupur fell sick at the last moment, and the trip was called off. This time, however, there w...
Read more
Image
 Choti choti batyen of Friends Changes are not easy from the knowns: I am from West Bengal, and I love Bengal. After retirement, I chose to settle here because of my deep affection for my hometown. But… something has happened recently that left me disheartened for being here in the first! While returning from Howrah to Rajarhat, I realized I didn’t have smaller denominations to pay my Toto fare. Hoping for some help, I approached a vegetable seller from whom I have purchased vegetables many times. However, he told me he didn’t have change for my ₹500 note. Next, I went to a nearby grocery shop where my wife and I have been regular customers, having bought several items in the past. But the shopkeeper, despite knowing me well, profusely expressed his inability to provide change. Still hopeful, I tried my luck at a sweet shop near the Chatterjeehat crossing, where my wife and I are also frequent customers. In fact, just the previous day, I had purchased goods worth a few hundred rupe...
Read more

Memories from Dalma — A Reunion in the Wild [part-1]

Image
                                      Memories from Dalma — A Reunion in the Wild   The Dalma plan was as simple as it could get — pack light, assemble the buddies, drive together, talk endlessly, and let nature do the rest. Of course, when a bunch of Jalu guys (that’s us!) sit together to plan something, simplicity rarely survives for long.   The “destination discussion” turned into a full-blown geography class. Within half an hour, we had “finalized” — and I quote — Sea Beach, Taki River Front, Raichak, Gopalpur, and a few others that popped up like popcorn in a hot pan. The enthusiasm was high, logic was low, and the coffee had gone cold.   At that point, sensing that this debate could go on until retirement plus pension years, I decided enough was enough. I took the reins and declared, “my dear Kamina friends, the car leaves 5th morning. Pack whatever fits and don’t ask wher...
Read more