Silent Valley (Wilderness) Tours

Introduction

Castaway from the rigmarole of urban monotony, Bhitarkanika National Park lies calmly nestled between the Baitarani & Brahamini on one side, the Patsala River on another and the combined estuary of these rivers at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal to its east. To isolate Bhitarkanika National Park from its barrier to the Bay of Bengal would be unfair to mention. The Gahirmatha Sanctuary – world’s largest mass nesting site of the Olive Ridlley Turtles that for ages and ages hence have made the virgin beaches of the Lonely Coast- Gahirmatha & Wheeler islands the rookery of their ever-returning journeys.

Bhitarkanika National Park is one such perfect example of mangrove eco-systems that boasts of extreme diversity in flora, fauna and avifauna that is ‘see to believe it’! Timeless backwaters lap the verdant lush green mangroves, sailing through it is no less an experience than that of Untamed Amazonia! The king of the jungle is the salt-water estuarine crocodile here; some of them measure more than 22ft. The snaking creeks leading up to the Dangmal Delta which is home to more than 280 species of birds in & around it. The Kingfisher numbers eight in species here.

Out of 672 sq kms area of Mangroves and Wetlands that comprise the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary (declared in 22.04.1975); about 145 sq. kms have been notified as Bhitarkanika National Park since 16.9.1998; exactly a year after it’s winning “The Most Promising Destination Award” in Travel & Tourism Fair, Kolkata in 1997; being promoted by SILENT VALLEY (WILDERNESS) TOURS- the 1st Eco-tourism promoter of Bhitarkanika

FAUNA:

Spotted Deer, Sambar, Indian Wild Boar, Asiatic Jackal, Fishing Cat (Biggest photographed on 19/03/07 by Atin Dutta-Wildlife Photographer. About 4 ½ ft long and 2 ½ ft tall at the shoulder-click here for the picture), Leopard Cat, Stripped Hyena, Common Mongoose, Smooth Coated Indian Otter, Small Indian Civet, Common Palm Civet, Rhesus Macaque, Three striped palm squirrel, Indian Porcupine, Bandicoot Rat, Shortnosed Fruit Bat, Indian Pipistrelle, Chemenia, Gangetic / Humpback & Irrawadv Dolphins, Little Indian Porpoise.

REPTILES:

(Click here for the list of reptiles-give a link) LIZARDS: Indian Garden, Fan-Throated Lizard, Spotted Indian House Gecko, Snake-Skink, Indian /Yellow & Water Monitor Lizards. SNAKES: Indian Python, Common Green whip snake, Golden tree snake, Indian rat snake, Common Cat snake, Dog faced Water Snake, Buff-striped Keel back, Worm snake, Indian & Banded Krait, King Cobra, Hook-nosed Sea Snake, Russell's & Bamboo pit Viper. TURTLES: Leatherback / Green Turtle/ Olive Ridley / Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Hadua Nadi Kainchha, South & North Indian Roofed Turtles, Indian Flap-shell Turtle, Ganges short shelled Turtle & Asian Giant soft shelled Turtle, Batagur Turtles & Peacock Eye Turtle.

FISH:

Ilisha, Khainga, Bhekti, Kanna, Kokill or Anchovy, Rice Fish, Panchax, Puffer & Acher Fish, Climbing Perch, Dwarf Gourami, Eleotrid, Glass & Pipe Fish, Mud skipper. BIRDS: (Click here for the list of birds-give a link) Little Grebe, Grey or Spot-billed Pelican, Darter, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Black Crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, Cinnamon Bittern, Black Bittern, Lesser Adjutant, Painted Stork, White & Black Necked Storks, Asian Open-Bill, Black Headed White Ibis, Spoonbill, Lesser Flamingo, Bar Headed Goose, Lesser Whistling Teal, Brahminy Duck, Comb Duck, Common Teal, Pintail, Shoveller, Gadwall, Garganey, Wigeon, Common Pochard, Common Kestrel, Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Shikra, Osprey, Lesser Spotted Eagle, White Bellied Sea Eagle, Crested Serpent, Short Toed Snake Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, White Rumpled Vulture, Long Billed Vulture, Pied Harrier, Palled Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Red Jungle Fowl, White Breasted Water hen, Water Cock, Purple Swamp hen, Common Moorhen, Salty Breasted Rail, Bronze Winged Jacana, Red Wattled / Grey Headed & Yellow Lapwing, Black Bellied / Pacific Golden / Large Sand / Little Ringed / Kentish / Lesser Sand Plover, Black Winged Stilt, Eurasian Thick-Knee, Eurasian Curlew, Brown Headed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Hegelian’s Gull, Pallas Gull, Whiskered Tern, Gull Billed Tern, River Tern, Little Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Common Tern, Black Bellied Tern, Indian Skimmer, Rock Pigeon, Orange Breasted Green Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Oriental Turtle Dove, Little Brown Dove, Emerald Dove, Large Indian Parakeet, Rose Ringed Parakeet, Blossom Headed Parakeet, Asian Koel, Green Billed Malkhona, Greater Coucal, Spotted Owlet, Grey / Large Tailed & Common Indian Night Jars, Palm Swift, Common / Pied / Brown Winged / White Breasted / Collared & Black Capped, Stork Billed / King Fishers, Chestnut Headed Bee-Eater, Stork-Billed King Fisher, Blue Tailed Bee Eater, Green Bee Eater, Collared Scoops Owl, Pied Cuckoo, Chestnut Winged Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Roller, Common Hoopoe, Indian Grey Hornbill, Large Green Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, Fulvous Breasted Wood Pecker, Rufous Wood Pecker, Grey Headed Wood Pecker, Black Rumpled Flame-back, Greater Flame back, Ashy Crowned Sparrow Lark, Oriental Sky Lark, Barn Swallow, Red Rumpled Swallow, Golden Oriole, Black Hooded Oriole, Black Drongo, White Belled Drongo, Chestnut Tailed Starling, Asian Pied Starling, Common Myna, Jungle Myna, Rufous Tree pie, House Crow, Large Billed Crow, Small Minivet, Scarlet Minivet, Black-Winged Cuckoo shrike, Black Headed Cuckoo Shrike, Common Iora, Red Whiskered Bulbul, Red Vented Bulbul, Olive Backed Pipit, Paddy Field Pipit, Citrine Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Forest Wagtail, Purple Rumpled Sun Bird, Purple Sun Bird, Oriental White-Eye, Pintail Snipe, Black Tailed Godwit, Bar Tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Common Red Shank, Common Green Shank, Green Sand Piper, Wood Sand Piper, Terek Sand Piper, Common Sand Piper, Ruddy Turnstone, Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, Dunlin, Ruff, Great Thick Knee, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Pied Avocet, Oriental Pratincole, Indian Pitta, Brown Shrike, White Throated Fantail, Black Naped Monarch, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Red Throated Flycatcher, Verditer Flycatcher, Blue Throated Flycatcher, Orange Headed Thrush, Oriental Magpie Robin, Black Redstart, Great Tit, Common Tailor Bird, Common Chief Chaff, Chestnut Capped Babbler, Common Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Striped Tit Babbler, Black Headed Munia, Baya Weaver, Mangrove Whistler, Tick ell’s Thrush, Indian Silver bill, Goliath Heron.

Access:

• Airport: • Bhubaneswar-130kms from Rajnagar/ 150kms from Chandbali.

Railway:

• Bhadrakh-50kms followed by a boat ride of 2-3 hours to Dangmal/4-5 hours to Ekkakula/Habalikhati. Road: Dangmal / Gupti are the two main entry points that can be reached by road followed by boat rides for excursions in to the National Park area. Both Dangmal and Gupti are accessible via Rajnagar or Chandbali that connects the NH-5 via Bhadrakh or Cuttack.

Entry Points:

• Chandbali: For tourists from Kolkata. • Gupti: via Rajnagar for visitors from Cuttack or Bhubaneswar. • Dhamara Port: Road leading from NH-5.

Dangmal: There is also a direct road connection from Chandbali / Cuttack.

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