3 Days Package for Sasan Gir at Gir Birding Lodge

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3 Days Package for Sasan Gir at Gir Birding Lodge

Detailed Description

The Gir Birding Lodge is located in a large mango orchard at the entrance to the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary. The lodge has two standard rooms in the main building, four standard cottages and six deluxe cottages, all with attached toilets, featuring western toilet fittings, hot and cold showers. Comfortably furnished, the rooms and cottages are surrounded by groves of the famous Kesar Mango of the Gir hills and other vegetation ensuring that a good number of birds come into the property itself.

Appointed in Gujarati-style with low settees, mattresses and bolsters, and decorated with wildlife photographs and regional handicrafts, the dining and drawing areas on the first floor of the lodge are airy and have large windows and verandas that are ideal to enjoy the view of the forests and watch birds in the orchard and nearby sanctuary.

North Indian and western set-menu meals are served in these rooms that have a superb view of the deciduous forests from large windows, doors and verandahs. We also entertain special requests for meals like traditional Gujarati/Kathiawadi regional dishes, North-West Indian street-food specialties, Kumaoni-style Chinese and of course the famous seafood from Veraval (a major fishing pier for lobster, crab, prawn and seafish like pomfret and kingfish) one hour away.

Geared-up for birders and other nature lovers, the lodge has knowledgeable resident naturalists to take guests for birding walks and excursions, a natural history library and arrangements for game-watching drives in the sanctuary.

Gir National Park & Wildlife Sanctuary is a 1412 sq km hilly tract of dry deciduous forests, acacia scrub, evergreen and semi-evergreen flora and grasslands, fed by rivers and streams. Among the many water-bodies in the reserve is the Kamleshwar Dam, known for its large crocodile population.

Originally protected by the Nawab of Junagadh, after British viceroys brought to his attention the plight of the lion in Asia, the sanctuary is the jewel of Gujarat's ecological resources.

FAUNA OF GIR

According to official census figures, Gir has about 300 lions and 300 leopards, making it one of the major big-cat concentrations in India. Sambar and spotted deer (chital), blue bull (nilgai), chousingha (the world's only four-horned antelope), chinkara (Indian gazelle) and wild boar thrive in Gir. Jackal, striped hyena, jungle cat, rusty-spotted cat, langur, porcupine, black-naped Indian hare are among the other mammals of Gir.

Gir has a large population of marsh crocodile or mugger, which is among the 40 species of reptiles and amphibians recorded in the sanctuary.

The park checklist has 250 birds and about 50 other species (including the endangered lesser florican and the saras crane) are recorded in the grasslands along the perifery of the sanctuary. Many species like the painted sandgrouse, grey francolin, quails, Asian paradise flycatcher, black-naped monarch, white-browed fantail, Asian brown flycatcher, grey-headed flycatcher, verditer flycatcher, tickell's blue flycatcher, greenish warbler, white-eye, coppersmith barbet, common and marshal's iora, rufous treepie, yellow-footed green pigeon have been spotted by our guests around the lodge itself. Long-billed vulture, Indian white-backed vulture, red-headed (king) vulture, Eurasian griffon vulture, changeable hawk-eagle, crested serpent eagle, bonneli's eagle, greater spotted eagle, lesser spotted eagle, tawny eagle, steppe eagle, imperial eagle, Pallas's fish eagle, grey-headed fish eagle, osprey, peregrine falcon, laggar falcon, red-headed falcon, oriental honey-buzzard, white-eyed buzzard and other raptors have been seen in the sanctuary. Gir also has brown fish owl, Eurasian eagle owl, spotted owlet. In the evening, nightjars can be seen near the lodge gate.

The lodge can also be used as the base to visit the coastal areas from Veraval to Diu Bird Sanctuary for shore birds.

Gir also has about 2000 species of invertebrate and the trails around the lodge can be good for butterfly-spotting.

PEOPLE OF GIR

Gir is the home of the Maldharis, a term used for the many Hindu and Muslim pastoral groups of the area. The Maldhars live in traditional settlements called nesses and tend Jafrabadi buffalos, Gir cows and other livestock. Some of them also have camels, sheep and goats. Among the best-known pastoral groups of Gir is the Sorathi Rabari.

Siddis are a community with African origins. Believed to have come from African countries as mercenaries, slaves and labour, the Siddis grew to become powerful generals, some of them even became rulers. In Gir, there are villages of the Siddis, who are well known for their dances and other performances, and Nagarshi Pir at Jhambur nearby is a major shrine for the Siddi community.