Aul & Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha

Bhitarkanika Mangrove Forest

 I had thought my vacation quota for 2016 were exhausted, but apparently not.The last one happened out of the blue. It was unlike my previous vacations, as it was with family ( I hardly have any holidays with cousins), it was in their heritage property, plus for the 1st time I was visiting a crocodile sanctuary. I gave a part of myself away to Dhenkanal, Aul & Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary in the last few days of 2016. I will write about Dhenkanal in another article as that was totally a different experience altogether. In case, many are wondering where these places are, all three are in Odisha, The soul of Incredible India.

View from one of the terrace at Killa Aul Palaca

Aul in Kendrapara district is approx 135 kms from Bhubaneshwar. However, my drive was a detour. My journey started from Dhenkanal via Jajpur (Approx 160 kms). We started around 10:00 hours on a cold wintry foggy morning. Our 1st pit stop was the Biraja Temple in Jajpur, after a very fulfilling darshan and a scrumptious lunch in a locals house, we realized we had spent a good 4 hours in Jajpur. The remaining of the journey was just 45 kms. The directions we got from the locals was - The roads are excellent and its just a straight road, Either we misunderstood their direction or our definition of good straight roads are different from theirs because from Jajpur to Aul the only roads we got were winding, not so good roads. We reached by 18:00 hours, it was already dark. We were welcomed by the Aul Royal family in their 16th century property "Killa Aul Palace" in the warmest manner possible and the evening fun started with a large bonfire and super sized prawn barbecue made right in front of us, followed by a hearty big delicious dinner, we were served three different dishes of prawns. The family loves to feed the yummiest food to all.The stay is a bliss for sea food lovers.

Meenakari Fresco work  on the walls of Killa Aul Palace

Our morning started at 3:30 hours, It was a festival of Brahajew- The local deity, We had decided  to visit the 500 year old Lakshmi Brahajew temple, which was approx 1 km from our place of stay. We were very lucky to witness the Aarti (lighted lamps offered to god/goddess ). We got back around 06:30 hours. After yummy cups of tea and a quick but heavy breakfast we set out for Bhitarkanika, Crocodile sanctuary and the second largest mangrove forest in India. The jetty point is approx 25 kms from Aul.

Walk inside the sanctuary

We alongwith the guide sat on the roof of the boat to get a better view of the wild animals and enjoy the beauty of the mangrove forest. I have never seen such different sizes of crocodiles, from 1 month old babies to the biggest one of Approx 24 feet. We came across more than 50 of the Saltwater crocodiles. we also saw herds of  spotted deer, wild boar, water monitor lizards, crabs, rhesus monkeys, fish (saltwater & river fish) and alot of migratory birds. The guide took us for a 3 km walk on one of the many island in the sanctuary. Many people are skeptical about going for it. I would recommend it to all, as its a very fascinating experience, with the mangrove forest on either side and the only sound are the birds chirping. It does make one feel  eerie at times though. We reached a watch tower from where we could spot animals, we were lucky to spot 3 Wild boars from there, further down  we came across a few ruins and ancient temples and a lovely lily pond. After crossing the pond, the youngest niece aged 9 shouted with excitement that she saw a crocodile, we all thought she was upto her pranks as usual. However, it actually turned out to be a crocodile approx  16 feet in length basking in the sun just besides our path.This can be described as my scariest experience in a forest. But as it goes for most wild animals, they attack only if hungry or they feel threatened. So we took pictures of this magnificent beast and moved on.

Saltwater Crocodile just besides our path

On our way back in the river it was low tide so we saw many many more crocodiles and other animals mentioned earlier. I specifically mentioned low tide as during high tide its difficult to spot crocodiles as they are mostly underwater. We were getting late, hence we didn't stop at Dangmal- Its the research and breeding center, ( Its inside the sanctuary).  I've heard its worth a visit though.

Children with their kayaks

The day followed by kayaking just behind the heritage property. The kayaks were just bought and it was the 1st day of putting them to use. Hence the atmosphere had alot of excitement (Credit goes to the younger lot though).

The next day we had an refreshing early morning guided tour around the property, we walked  among the ruins ( Every ruin has an interesting mysterious story behind it) and the numerous herbal and fruit bearing trees. Any one interested in History or Botany will love this part of the stay.

This was a short stay of 1 day and 2 nights. However the memories I collected from here are numerous. These 2 places are a delight for nature lovers

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Walk among the ruins in Killa Aul Palace