August 2007 Edition
Vidya Viswanathan
Pangot (Uttarakhand)
THERE are many destinations to escape to from Delhi, but few as cool, homely and full of beautiful surprises as Pangot, a village in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region which attracts bird-watchers from all over the world. Pangot is 15 km from Nainital. After passing thistouristy hill station we went on a spectacular 25-minute drive through oak and rhododendron forests in the Cheena Peak range efore arriving at Pangot. On our right there was a turquoise blue and maroon building which housed a post-office. The road now reached a dead end. A wooden signboard with Jungle Lore stencilled on it pointed to a pebbly path leading to a cottage.We warmed up to the place at first glance. The entrance was covered with a creeper. Built with pine wood, the cottage we stayed in had steep wooden stairs leading to an attic. Our room opened into a large verandah. And the view was breathtaking. You could see mountains and two rivers, the Garappu and Dabka, twisting along the plains of Kotabagh. Fluffy clouds drifted in the sky inspiring Lakshmi, our two-year-old to spout poetry from her Eric Carle book, The Little Cloud.
The dining room in Jungle Lore was a kitchen which had barstools, a large dining table, a well stocked library and a bright orange sofa. We went on a moonlight walk listening to the rustling of silver oak trees and loud crickets. We spent our first evening at the campfire. We could hear birds from our verandah. The Black Headed Jays were the noisiest flitting from tree to tree and scurrying on the ground. We saw the Oriental Turtle Dove, Spotted Dove and a Russet Sparrow in the garden. It was bright and sunny at 5am when we awoke. Even as we were having tea, Lokesh, our guide, appeared. He sported a wide smile, a pair of binoculars and a bird book. We were to go on a road up a slope and then into a mountain trail. Since it was summer mostly resident birds would be seen. It had been raining for a week and everything was green and moist. Standing among the ferns and grass were light green cobra-hooded plants that had sprouted after the rain. They ate insects just like the pitcher plant. We walked through towering oak trees. There were three species – Baanj, Tilonj and Kharsu. We could see rhododendrons and deodar trees. Lokesh is a self-taught ornithologist from Bharatpur. He had learnt to mimic bird calls of all the local birds (there are at least 300). He could locate each bird by its warble. He could even make return calls. His amazing ability to communicate with birds roused Lakshmi’s heartfelt admiration. While Lokesh spotted birds with the naked eye, we had trouble focussing with our binoculars.
We were used to seeing birds in Delhi’s flat marshes. Here in the dense green jungle thick with foliage it was not so easy. But we saw suite a few: the Himalayan Bulbul, Bush Chat, Stone Chat, Spot Winged Tit and the Green-backed Tit. We also saw a flock of Scaly- reasted Munias. Lunch at Jungle Lore was a light meal of dal and vegetables cooked nicely with little oil and spices. Clearly Lokesh,who doubled up as the cook, was a man of many talents. We sat in the garden and sketched with crayons. Dungar, the gardener had planted a lot of local flora. The creeper at the entrance had exotic white flowers with purple centres. The creeper was called Ghadi or Clock because the centre of the flower had three hands. There were large bunches of mauve Hydrangeas in the garden too. At 4:30 Lokesh the cook put on his guide’s hat and took us downhill to a village called Bhaggar. We saw many more resident birds including the White Throated Laughing Thrush, the Verditer Flycatcher, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Black- throated Tit, White-tailed Nut Hatch and Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush. We also saw the Grey-winged Black Bird. We were lucky to spot Maroon Orioles and the Eurasian Jay which is also found in Europe. The tail of the Oriole was bright red. As we walked down the mountain wecould hear Great Barbets calling each other noisily. We then explored the village. Jungle Lore was the first lodge to open here. Locals spoke well of it in Pangot and Bhaggar. The villagers, who could have ended up as staff in a Nainital hotel, now stay back andgrow barley, peas, potatoes, garlic and ginger on terrace farms. The houses with sloping roofs of grey slate blend into the landscape.
The younger generation of villagers are renovating their houses to take in guests. From our lodge we could see a building that lookedlike a square pagoda with a tin roof. We were told that it was Kafal House, a guest house converted from a cowshed by Raju, a local lad, and his uncle, Durga. Mohit wants to introduce villagers to rain water harvesting, non-conventional energy, and garbage disposal and create a wildflower nursery. We wandered around the farms, had chai at a newly opened shop, warmed our hands on a cooking fire at a building site and trudged back uphill. We saw potato farms and marijuana plants. The evening before dinner was anidyllic fireside affair. The staff brought a wooden tiger, a cub and colourful blocks for Lakshmi to play with while we read. We decidedto sleep late next day. Then we went to look for a mountain stream at 7:00 am. We posted a letter from the local post box andwalked about three kilometres to a 20-foot-high waterfall. We were warned there were leeches in the water. But the stream was too tempting. We then came to a bridge to see birds. On one rock there was a startling geometric black and white Feathered Spotted Forktail. A Yellow- throated Martin darted by. There were a lot of monkeys on the oak trees and we were told that leopards inhabited thearea. At the bridge we were greeted by a group of four women on their way to cut grass for cattle. They were knitting as they walked.They chatted and joked with us. We watched them cut grass rapidly, tie it into bales and chuck the bundles down. Much as wewanted to visit the women, we left. On our way back we saw a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, a Striated Laughing Thrush and a Red- illed Blue Magpie. Just as we neared the lodge we saw a brilliant Blue-capped Rock Thrush. We spent our last evening with two newly arrived guests – Aparna and Atul Jain -- also members of Delhibird and avid naturalists. We exchanged wildlife stories. Lokesh regaled us with stories of eccentric visitors who came from all over the world in winter to see rare migrant birds. He played somerecorded bird calls meant for these visitors. We discovered that he also sketched brilliantly. As a parting gift he drew us a Rufous-bellied Woodpecker with Lakshmi’s crayons.
Want to give feedback on this article |
Disclaimer
The views expressed here are strictly personal and civilsocietyonline.com does not necessarily subscribe to them. We shall endeavour to upload/publish as many of the comments that are submitted as possible within a reasonable span of time, but we do not guarantee that all comments that are submitted will be uploaded/published. Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene, unlawful, defamatory, libellous, hateful, or otherwise objectionable content; or have spam, commercial or advertising content or links are liable to be removed by the editors. We also reserve the right to edit the comments that do get published. Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly.
Your Feedback on this story...
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
About Us | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | ©2007 Civil Society
.
........................................Webmaster Vishwanathan ( vishu4@rediffmail.com )