Day One.
Our journey started late from Saiha on account of heavy rains and lightning during the night. As the taxi manoeuvred the descending curves to Zero its speed was slow on account of mud and stones that had come on to the road. At one point we missed hitting the roof of a toilet that had today been forced to cover a small portion of the tar road. Red-vented bulbuls (Pcynonotus cafer) seemed particularly excited that morning. One of them raced with our taxi with its wings moving furiously while the other was frolicking in a puddle formed on the road. We had sauchiar at Zero with Chana and Eggs and recalled how it had been explained to me as Mizo version of the Gujarati khichdi! We reached Lawngtlai driving at varying speeds assisted by pushing the car at intervals as the battery was adamant on enjoying a holiday. At the forest campus we got to know of our proposed visit and stay at Bungtlang as a part of the planned exercise and discussed it with help of maps and forms; this over tea and supari. Bungtlang is one of the beat offices of the Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary situated in south Mizoram. Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary is 1 of the 2 Protected Areas in Lawngtlai, Blue Mountain National Park being the other. Both also merit recognition as Important Bird Areas (IBA).
We left at around 2.00 pm and stopped midway at the Ngengpui forest campus but not before coming across Coucals twice and we discussed how the field guides don’t do justice to their spectacular appearance. The campus is beautiful. I saw a big nursery on banks of Ngengpui river was surprised to know that a private company taking up palm oil plantations. Interactions with Christy on oil plantations replacing tropical forests I remembered, this was during his visit to Baghmara! A handsome audio player shared table space with tea cups. It was a square box about the size of my fist with one of the sides having a speaker. Another side had inlets; one for charging and another for inserting a memory card. Our reactions were a rainbow mix ranging from avid surprise to simple smile.
The gypsy carrying us now moved happily and we enjoyed the air coming to greet us from the open sides. We reached the view point of the Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary and it reminded me of the lush green carpet of a view that we soaked in from the gorge at Balpakram National Park. Absolutely stunning. Just before reaching the view point we saw a Brown Hornbill (Anorrhinus tickelli) perched on a tree overlooking the road. The trip had begun great. We also noticed a board saying “Elephant Crossing Area” and recalled of it being one of the few elephant bearing areas in Mizoram. Moving on we reached Bungtlang where we moved on to the Guest House of the Lai Autonomous District Council but not before having a sumptuous meal at a restaurant. The Guest House espoused a warm feel to it and we freezed our plans for the coming day in the candle light.
Day Two.
Next day we were ready by six in the morning when the pick-up came to pick us up! We stopped for a while at each of the two clusters of shops that Bungtlang houses. At the first we had nice cups of tea while at the second our supplies came on board. As the pick- up moved ahead I realized that this was an amazing landscape for life in the wild for sheer absence of orchards or other monocultures. Jhum fields of varying ages touched the road at one end and the Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary on the other. We stopped on the way to make our way across a tree that had decided to lie across the road from the hill as opposed to standing tall over the road. As we removed the debris and cleared the way I realized that all of us were doing it cheerfully; living in lands where we espouse hardships does make us tolerant!
We got off the pick-up and walked down to our base camp; a small hut bang on the boundary of the protected area and near a stream. This stream which was almost non-existent when we reached had registered its presence and was halted in its merry run by a dead tree trunk on the second morning and by the next morning we could hear it gush by. We began by cooking our food; rice, dal, banana flowers and potatoes. Spoons and glasses were carved out of bamboos and people from the only hut in sight came to help in the preparation. As the food got ready I shared of field guides and binoculars with trip-partners and in return they shared of the species they came across in Ngengpui. We also noticed Greater Racquet-tailed (Dicrurus paradiseus) and Black (Dicrurus macrocecus) drongos enjoying themselves in the serene ambience.
The overcast skies and rains helped us neither in our planned efforts nor in sighting wildlife. Planned efforts consisted of walking the Transact and Search Line (in accordance with guidelines) that had been demarked few days ago. This was as a part of the exercise to estimate numbers of tigers and their prey. Scores of butterflies however, greeted us as we began walking. Some of them as large as my palm when fully open. I wondered which these were and looked at them with a combination of joy and surprise. As we walked on the stream we came across a mud-puddling (that had more than 50 butterflies at a conservative estimate) and all of us stopped chatting and chewing betel nut in awe of the spectacle. While identifying the small birds was all the more difficult in the overcast skies we saw both the Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) and the Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis). On return I checked up Pawar and Birand’s seminal work on ornithology in this part of the world and found that they had reported Wreathed Hornbill (Aceros undulates) too besides Great Hornbill and Oriental Pied Hornbill from the Wildlife Sanctuary. Going along the search line we saw what we understood was the pug mark of a Common Leopard (Panthera pardus) as also scats of a Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) and a Civet.
We cut short our work amidst what Jack calls “Drums of God” and rushed back to our camp. Here I lay on my stomach and saw the rain drops coming down to drench the mud against the backdrop of a dense rainforest canopy.
Day Three.
Last night as we were calling it a day one of us had suggested that we would leave with our food and vessels such that we could cook on way. This would enable us to work in a focussed manner. However, the storm that had us wake up and sit in silence during the middle of night left no doubts when we woke up. We had food and began packing. We remembered to pack the 2 spoons that had been affectionately carved out from bamboo the other day. Packing was not very difficult as most things had embraced dampness whole heartedly. Some utensils were returned to the neighbouring hut before we left.
As we left we realized the road was blocked and the solitary bus functioning on the route would not be making the effort today. This meant we would have to walk till Bungtlang. Numerous bird and squirrel calls greeted us as we walked in the stunning locale. We then came across the fallen tree, the road blocker, and much bigger that one we had encountered couple of days ago. We moved slowly till dark clouds arrived and hastened our pace. We walked along the road primarily and took a couple of short cuts but it was very long in the incessant rains. Beyond a point I stopped bothering whether equipments were getting wet. I was amidst crazy rains and forces ways beyond my comprehension leave alone control were at work. I was better off respecting and enjoying the moment. We reached the very room at the Guest House for the night.
Day Four.
This was to be our day to leave for Lawngtlai and then Saiha. Waking up in time to our speaking alarm I rushed around to pack our stuff lying all around; most of it still damp. Woke Jack up, paid the aunty who maintains the Guest House really well and awaited the Sumo. Realising that we were to go in the daily plying public sumo we went to check why it had not yet picked us up. Meeting them a short walk later realized that the driver was not exactly fond of the path to the Guest House in the condition it currently was. After initial confusions we got on moving towards Lawngtlai. Another face of the storm was brought forth on the road; trees of varying sizes that once stood high had been brought down with their lively bodies caressing the black back of the lifeless road.
We stopped at Ngengpui for food before moving on to Lawngtlai. During the 80 km journey we saw 3 Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus). All males in stunning red and allied colours. 6 cumulative years at Baghmara and Saiha and finally this bird was no more a mystery! I had felt frustrated many times, particularly during the survey previous year, at my inability to spot them.
The driver was fun to chat with after the initial apprehensions. He shared of his life being tough during the initial kilometres and as the sumo settled to its pace he moved on to talking of his fishing mis-adventures as also hardships faced by him when he went out of his state and was unfamiliar with language and customs. The later brought my initial days in Baghmara to my eyes. He dropped us at the Forest Department office.
Divisional Forest Office (DFO) greeted us at the campus. We chatted with him over tea and photographs and one of the first discussions was when we could undertake the exercise again, the location that would be suitable for the purpose and impact storm would have on the next attempt. We shared our experience and photographs over tea and water.
Phone lines and electricity were down still and we left for Saiha in a taxi. We reached after a halt for changing punctured tyre and at Kawlchaw for steaming tea and puris. Raptors looked down on us at intervals and I was happy to feel them being somewhere above and over me sans an urge to either identify or photograph them. The wet and tired me wanted to be home then.
Acknowledgements.
Thanking Forest Department personnel at Lawngtlai for making this stormy trip enjoyable and for making that extra effort on account of our presence and Mr. Tlana DFO for enabling us to visit an amazing forest.
Links.
Ngengpui Wildlife Sanctuary.
Blue Mountain National Park.
Balpakram National Park.
Pawar and Birand’s report.
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1 comment:
Nice blog... Lovely pics.. mouthwatering food pics sir...
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