It was in the month of March 2021, when we embarked on our journey to Rajasthan, while being posted at ITBP Sector Head Quarter Dehradun. We drove in our Safari Strome from Dehradun, and our first stop was at ITBP officers mess Alwar. The next day we drove to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. We checked in at Jhomarbaudi (RTDC) hotel, situated inside the core forest of zone-1.
The stay at Jhomarbaudi was very comfortable, it’s an old palace converted into RTDC resort. The rooms were huge, with huge bathrooms and a very large sit out, approximately 300 square Feet, looking into the core forest of zone-1. Lots of herbivores used to roam around, in the vicinity of the resort. We stayed there for four nights and five days. The resort was full on the weekend, but hardly two three rooms were occupied in the week days. We were informed, by the manager of the resort, about Palighat Crocodile Sanctuary, situated 45 kms away from our resort, we drove to see the crocodile and the Gharial. The drive was beautiful through thick jungle of Ranthambore and then through the agricultural fields loaded with Tomatoes crop.
Palighat is a small tourist hamlet, situated on the banks of the confluence, of river Parvathi and Chambal. Parvathi flowing from Madhya Pradesh and Chambal from Rajasthan, forming an island at this confluence, which is the breeding ground for the huge Crocodiles and Gharials. This river divides the land into the state of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. From Palighat, Sheopore in Madhya Pradesh is just 30kms.
We went to bank of this confluence to go for water safari. But the boats carrying the tourist were full, which was not our cup of tea. Hence we started driving in our SUV looking for some private boat, and fortunately came across a young boy (Pappu) following us on his motorcycle. He spotted us driving over the bridge towards Madhya Pradesh and identified us as tourist looking for something. Hopefully he might have noticed us near the tourist tents, waiting for the boats for water safari. He stopped us and enquired about our need. He offered us his imported boat with only me and my wife on board. He was generous enough to hand us the boat for self-sailing. The controls of the boat were like our automatic car. We sailed for more than an hour in the deep water of the Parvathi and Chambal river and clicked many pictures of Gharials and Crocodiles, swimming and basking in the sun. If you visit Palighat during the winter months, you will see lots of migratory birds too.
Hence if you visit Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, don’t miss out on Palighat Crocodile Sanctuary.
