chambal wildlife sanctuary

Last year, my wife and I decided to visit the Chambal River Sanctuary for birdwatching. We’re both somewhat avid birdwatchers (not as amateur as some, but at the same time not the hardcore birders who travel for months on end). Living in Delhi, we had both done Bharatpur multiple times, but had somehow never added Chambal to our itinerary (much to the chagrin of our birding friends).

 After much planning, and a little delaying, we finally visited Chambal last February. We decided to save some time by skipping Bharatpur, since it was not a new place to us, and going directly to Chambal, more specifically Dholpur.

So after breakfast on the first day of our trip, we left Delhi for the National Chambal Sanctuary. This wildlife sanctuary lies along the Chambal River, and is home to some amazing wetland wildlife. We reached our lodge in Chambal just in time for lunch. Since we didn’t have any boat safaris or other activities planned for the day, we decided to go for a short afternoon nature trail near our lodge, where we saw Indian Scops Owl, Spotted Owlet, Brown-headed Barbet, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Indian Thick-knee, and Indian Silverbill. We returned to our lodge by evening.

After an amazing dinner, we were still a little restless (and full from the food) so we decided to take a little night time walk to clear our heads and stomachs, and, at the same time, see if we could spot any nocturnal wildlife. While we didn’t get to see any owls or nightjards, I would still count our luck as fantastic as we managed to spot an Indian Palm Civet, which is normally very shy and reclusive.

The following morning, we had our boat safari in Chambal. On our way to the river, we did some light birdwatching, spotting birds like White-eyed Buzzard, Indian Silverbill, Long-tailed Shrike, and Greater Coucal. We then got to our designated boat and proceeded along the river. The boat safaris can be booked online, but we decided to save ourselves the trouble and got the lodge to do it for us.

Boating along the amazing River Chambal, one of the cleanest rivers I’ve ever seen, we got some amazing bird sightings, including Indian Skimmer, Black-bellied Tern, Bar-headed Goose, Pallas’s Gull, Long-legged Buzzard, Kentish and Little Ringed Plovers, Sand Lark, and Wire-tailed Swallow. We also saw plenty of Marsh Crocodiles (Mugger), as well as Gharials (also known as Fish-eating Crocodile), which Chambal is famous for, as well as an Indian Tent Turtle and Softshell Turtle. But the most amazing sighting was a Gangetic Dolphin that leaped out of the water very close to our boat. Despite everyone getting clear views of it, its movement was so fast that neither managed to get a photo.

After returning to our lodge and having lunch, we chatted with the staff as to what other activities could be done. After a few suggestions, we decided to to visit the nearby Bateshwar Temple. We’re not very religious but the temple, and the surrounding patch is very beautiful, and also peaceful and calming. After visiting the temple, we visited a nearby village known as Holipura. This small, neat and tidy village has many old houses, all of which belong to the same family. In fact, the entire village is occupied by the same extended multi-generation family. We then returned to our lodge.

Finally, it was our last morning in Chambal. After a hearty breakfast, and a small nature trail around our lodge, we started our drive back to Delhi.

For all those visiting Bharatpur, I strongly suggest adding a day to do a full-day excursion to Chambal. Not only will this save you a lot of time in planning a separate trip, but you will also be marvelled at how amazing a region once infamous for its bandits, is now a prime 

wildlife and birdwatching hotspot.

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