A Visit to Simlipal National Park | Driving along the forest trails and staying in a Nature Camp

“Sir, it will be dark when we reach Chahala. You can not see any animals there”, said chandan.

“I know, but I will go to all the nature camps once. I will take only five minutes, take a couple of snaps and then we will drive out”, I promptly replied.

Well, I was keen on seeing animals too; but, it’s the sound and the smell that I love about a jungle; the sight always comes last.

I was in love with Simlipal forest since I first went inside two days before this journey. The entry was not through the official forest gates but across the tribal villages near Bangriposi.

We were on our way to see Brahman Kund from Bangriposi. Brahman Kund is located at the outskirt of Simlipal Forest.

When we entered the forest, the sun already hid behind the hills. And on the fading light of dusk, the dense rows of tall Sal trees evoke a sense of adventure while we drive through the forest in our own car.

The adventure did not last long, and we came back without reaching Brahman Kund as it would be dark on the way. Because finding our way back would be tough as we didn’t have any local person with us.

But that short-lived feeling of peace and solitude while crossing through the Simlipal Forest in the fading daylight initiates a sense of urgency that we must stay inside Simlipal National Park; a day trip would not please our souls.

So, at that very moment, we decided that we would stay inside a Nature Camp in Simlipal Forest. Although we fixed the exact place a day later after discussing with Mr Wazid Hossain who provided us with the car for the jungle trip.

Our Alto K10 was not allowed to go inside the forest, so we rented a Bolero from Wazid Saab for the entire safari and booked our night stay in Jamuani Eco camp (courtesy: Sk. Wazid Hossain)

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Sk. Wazid Hossain; Hello Tour & Travels; Phone – 09437266828 / 08018868898 ; email – wajidhossain828@gmail.com

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Places to see inside the Simlipal National Park

So, while our booking was in Jamuani Nature Camp for the night, the plan was to reach there after seeing all the jungle’s sightseeing points.

Although visiting all the other nature camps was not part of sightseeing, I was interested in visiting them all out of curiosity.

We already visited Ramtirtha Nature Camp the day before while in Jashipur and were going to stay in Jamuani Camp that night.

So, we planned to visit the usual places inside the forest with the other three nature camps. The list was as follows –

(we went to all the above places in reverse order)

What did we miss to add to the list?

We missed a couple of places more, and those are Lulung and Sitakund waterfall. Both of them are close to Pithabata, which is the other entry gate to Simlipal National Park.

But Pithabata is exactly on the opposite end and approximately 90 kilometres from Jashipur through the jungle, so we skipped it despite our next day destination being Baripada which was closer to Pithabata.

The reason being, we kept our car in Jashipur before entering the jungle, so we had to exit the jungle from the Jashipur side.

Getting The Permit

Getting the permit for Simlipal National Park is not a daunting task. Mr Wazid had arranged it for us by visiting Jashipur Forest Office in the morning.

You can get your permit from the office between 6 am – 9 am the same day with the required documents (Aadhar Card / Voter ID Card). I have mentioned the necessary details and permit charges at the end of this article.

The journey inside Simlipal National Park

So, the journey begins at 8 am….

Once we had our permit from Jashipur Forest Office, we started at 7:30 in the morning from our hotel in Jashipur.

We had our breakfast in Jashipur market and started driving towards Kaliani gate at 8 am. Chandan was the pilot of our car and our guide for the coming 26 hours.

The initial part of the road was on a smooth pitch road until we crossed the entry gate at Kaliani, followed by another gate at Kalikaprasad after three kilometres.

Then the roads become dusty jungle trails all along covered with red soil. We were driving beside the Khairi river for the initial few kilometres, which originates in this forest and flows towards Jashipur.

Our first planned stop was Uski waterfall until I told Chandan that we would go to the orchidarium beside Gurguria nature Camp.

On the way, we saw two huge Sal trees (Shorea robusta), which were more than 300 years old, as mentioned by Forest Department.

“Guruguria Orchidarium and Nature Camp – our first stop”

The Gurguria Orchidarium is located behind the Nature Camp. It has a wide variety of Orchids seen in higher reaches of Simlipal National park.

The nurseryman told us that they collect all these orchids from different parts of the Simlipal Forest and trying to grow them here in the orchidarium. There are nearly 100 different Orchid species in this forest.

Gurguria Nature Camp has a few cottages where guests can stay. But what I really like is the beautiful Pine Forest beside the camp where guests can take a walk and enjoy nature. The Khairi river flows beside the orchidarium.

Kumari Nature Camp at the end of the village road

Kumari Nature Camp is beside a tribal village of the same name, one of the few tribal villages inside the Simlipal National Park buffer area.

This camp has a large compound with 12 cottages and a couple of newly built Machaan for staying.

The camp is surrounded by paddy fields on three sides and bordered by a village road on one side. The hills covered with the forest is at the end of the farming lands.

Uski Waterfall – the first waterfall we saw in Simlipal National Park

The majestic Barehipani Waterfall and the Barehipani Nature Camp

Driving through Nawana Valley and reaching Joranda Waterfall

After Barehipani waterfall, we drove towards Joranda waterfall, which was another 20 kilometres ahead of Barehipani.

We crossed Nawana valley on the way and entered Nawana beat. Joranda waterfall is inside this part of the jungle. Joranda waterfall is also quite high but not as much as Barehipani.

The water stream jumps from a cliff approximately 150 metres in height, and the side view from the viewpoint allows visitors to see a rainbow at the mid-part of this waterfall due to scattered waterdrops.

Driving inside the Core Area of Simlipal National Park

Finally, after watching Joranda Waterfall, we came back and crossed Barehipani Nature Camp on the way and entered the forest’s core area.

The 30 minutes drive through the core area was a beautiful experience. The chirping sound of birds, the occasional call of peacocks, the aroma of the dry fallen leaves with the new yellow leaves in Sal trees signifying the arrival of spring and the sight of dead tree trunks among the dense Sal forest mimicking the shape of a wild animal kept us looking through the layers of the jungle with wide-open eyes.

We anticipated a sudden appearance of an elephant or a tiger somewhere behind those trees, but things did not happen that way.

We could see a couple of spotted deers, a chausingha (four-horned antelope), wild boars, giant squirrels, grey langurs, wild cats and a huge king cobra.

Reached our camp at Jamuani

After crossing Brundaban Gate, we had to drive another 14 kilometres to reach our camp. We reached Jamuani Nature Camp at 4 pm.

The Camp is in a large compound near Jamuani village. There were 14 cottages altogether inside with a volleyball and a badminton court and lots of open spaces. The cottages are pretty large, with decent sized bathrooms.

We read about the wildfire in Simlipal National Park in the newspaper before our visit and saw a fire truck inside our camp as soon as we entered through the gate.

The firefighters who were busy putting off the wildfire in Simlipal for the last few days stayed in Jamuani Nature Camp. We came to know that the fire got under control only two days back, and the team was staying inside to interrupt any more incidence before it becomes catastrophic.

There was no mobile network inside the camp and no television in the cottages. It was a day detached from all our urban connections, a perfect digital detox in the lap of nature.

We quickly checked in our cottage and had our lunch in the restaurant where the kitchen staff served nice homely foods.

Visiting Chahala watchtower at sunset and the night safari thereafter

After lunch, again, we drove towards the Chahala watchtower. It was the same route till Brundaban Gate, and then we had to take a left turn towards Chahala, which was 3 kilometres ahead.

Chandan told us about his experience confronting a group of elephants on this trail. The group of elephants blocked his car while he was coming back from Chahala. He was scared that he turned his Bolero and drove back to the Forest Bungalow in chahala.

In the soft light of sunset, from the Chahala watchtower, we spotted around 10-15 deers near the salt pit. We waited there until the darkness crept in.

And then the best part of our Simlipal jungle safari began.

Remember the story of Chandan about the herd of elephants on the trail between Brundaban gate and Chahala?

We already started imagining ourselves in a similar kind of situation. But we could not apprehend any movement of any wildlife in front of the headlights of your Bolero for the entire stretch.

Chandan was very determined to show us more wildlife. So, he took us to another round of safari inside the core area from Brundaban gate towards the Barehipani for 2 kilometres.

“You know, sir, last month, while taking the guests to Jamuani Camp from Chahala, we saw a tiger lying on the road minutes after we crossed the Brundaban gate. It was right in front of our car, blocking the road and did not bother to move for 5 minutes. I froze the headlight at him until he stood up and walked away lazily.” said Chandan.

“WOW!! Hope he comes back again and blocks our road too!!”, Jayeeta, my wife, replied delightedly.

But this time, I was silent. Although the story sounded extremely adventurous, I prayed it not happen with us.

I was not ready to face this adventure with my wife and my seven years old kid right beside me. I guess any sensible family man would think the same way.

And my prayer was heard by the almighty this time. We did not see any tiger blocking our road.

And the 15 kilometres drive from Brundavan gate to Jamuani nature camp at night was the most memorable part of the safari for me inside Simlipal National Park.

A morning in Simlipal National Park

The next day morning, I went to Chahala watchtower again to explore the jungle in the morning.

The animal sighting was the same, with more deers spotted in different parts of the forest.

But the best experience was the chat I had with the forest officer of the Chahala Forest Bungalow, who told me about Maghasani, which is one of the highest peaks in Simlipal National Park.

Located in the Simlipal south division, Meghasani has the most concentrated wildlife inside Simlipal National Park.

The chances of an animal sighting are much more there, but tourists’ entry is not allowed on that route.

Rightly so, the fewer men will enter these places, and the more safe these animals will be.

He told me the story of a tiger who came to the Chahala salt pit during the last monsoon and wounded a bison and carried it inside the jungle.

He also shared his experiences about his first posting in Meghasani for 2 years, where he confronted tigers and other wild animals from a distance of 10 feet.

It was a great conversation over the morning tea, which I would love to continue. Still, as we had to check out Jamuani on that day,

I ended the conversation with my apologies and adieu him goodbye.

Finally, the end of our trip to Simlipal Forest

After breakfast, we checked out in Jamuani Nature Camp. The distance from Jamuani Nature Camp to Tulasibani Gate is approximately 15 kilometres.

Tulasibani Gate is only used to exit from Simlipal National Park. The road after Tulasibani merges with NH6 from where Jashipur is another 10 kilometres.

The road looks more beautiful with the memories of the day we spent in Simlipal National Park.

While we were driving towards Jashipur, the Simlipal forest was on our left and Badampahar Hill Range on our right.

Finally, we reached Jashipur after another 15 minutes drive. We collected our car in Jashipur and said goodbye to Chandan.

Then we started our journey towards Baripada with a promise that we will come back again.

How to reach Simlipal National Park

You can enter Simlipal National Park from two sides – Baripada and Jashipur, both in the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.

The gate near Baripada is Pithabata and the gate near Jasipur is Kaliani. You can enter through any of the gates and come out through the other.

Pithabata is 30 minutes drive from Baripada, whereas Kaliani is 20 minutes drive from Jashipur.

Jashipur comes on NH6 that runs from Kolkata to Mumbai. Baripada is in between NH6 and NH5 and almost equidistant from each of them.

The distance from Baripada to Kolkata and Bhubaneswar are 220 and 250 kilometres, respectively, whereas Jashipur is 270 and 230 kilometres away from Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.

Bhubaneswar is the only airport in Odisha which is well connected to both Baripada and Jashipur. Baripada is also connected by trains from Balasore that comes on the main south-eastern railway network.

When to visit Simlipal National Park

Simlipal National Park is open to visitors from November to mid-June. The best time to visit is between November to February, when the temperature is pleasant (between 13^oC-25^oC), and the chances of animal sightings are more.

During the summer months of March to May, Odisha experiences extreme temperatures (ranges between 22^oC-40^oC).

The animals avoid coming out to wide-open places in the daytime when they can be seen clearly.

From June onwards, the monsoon relieves the summer heat, but the jungle gets closed till November.

Where to stay

You can visit Simlipal National Park on a full-day trip staying in Jashipur, Baripada or Bangriposi.

If you plan to go for a day trip, then Baripada would be a better place to stay as it has more options for accommodation.

Jashipur has only a few budget guesthouses, and food options are also limited. There are only a few roadside dhabas where you can have lunch or dinner.

But if you want to stay in the nature camps inside Simlipal National Park, as we did, then you should go via Jashipur.

The nature camps are closer to Jashipur. Odisha Eco-Tourism Department runs five nature camps inside the Simlipal Forest. They are – Ramtirtha, Gurguria, kumari, Jamuani and Beharapani Nature Camp.

Ramtirtha is almost at Jashipur town while the others are inside the buffer area of Simlipal forest. You can book your nature camp online.

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On the Baripada side, there is only one private facility at the periphery of Simlipal National Park, which is known as Lulung Aranya Nivas. You can book this property from their website.

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Few important pieces of information regarding the visit to Simlipal National Park

• Same day permits are issued from Pithabata and Jashipur Forest Office.
• Permit time: 6 am – 9 am.
• Only LMVs with good ground clearance is allowed inside the forest.
• Entry fee: Adult – ₹100/person, Student – ₹30/person, Children below 3 years / Physically handicapped – no fee, Car entry – ₹100/day, Still camera charge – ₹100/first 3 days
• Required documents: Aadhar card (preferably) / Voter ID card

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