Published: byRuchira Roy Chowdhury Chatterjee,17 Apr, 2017
Places I explored :
My first thought on meeting LRK ( Little Raan of kutch) - By all evidence we are in this part of the world to do nothing ¦..We encountered Nothingness the moment we stepped into the Raan ¦It felt so silent ¦.It was kind of scary !
Welcome to The LITTLE RANN OF KUTCH the word ˜little ™ is a misnomer as this (Raan) desert is not at all little ! LRK is a marsh land in Gujarat ¦It is famous for its Gaddhe or Wild ASS( Khur). It is the only place in the world,where this handsome animal is found galloping around in glory ¦..
The area is plain dry, vegetation is sparse..Flora is almost zero,but the place is rich in Fauna..Specially during winters our (videshi feathered mehmaan) migratory birds troupe the place ¦waterbirds like cranes, ducks, pelicans, flamingos and land birds like sandgrouse, francolins and the Indian bustards. It is also home to various unique mammals apart from wild ass such as the Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), desert fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla) and nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) ¦.
I shall share the details of how and what to see at Little Rann of Kutch ¦We started our new venture early as the distance between Ahmadabad and Little Rann of Kutch is around 180 kms. We were on road at around 5:00 Am and reached our destination enjoying a lazy drive at around 11:00 AM.Our first destination was a motel named Rann Ridders@Dasada we hired an open jeep from them by paying a sum of 4500/-P.S ( make advance booking with Raan Riders for safari and buffet https://www.rannriders.com/)
Second destination zaniabad village...Before entering the desert, One has to take permission from a govt check post located in this village. After doing all the formalities and paying a sum of 500/- we entered the ˜ not so little Raan ™ ¦.
Long sheets of Cracked parched land was all that we could see ¦Occasionally we could spot a few cactus species sprouting ..That is the main source of food for Nilgais and Wild Ass..
Little Raan of kutch has a light brown , to be precise sandy shade unlike Great Raan of Kutch..that is completely white ! This part of land has its own beauty ¦.You will feel ˜Nothing ™ in front of the huge empty before your eyes . It is indeed an unique occurrence..
No car honks, No planes, No pollution, No human over-explosion, No buildings, No cars, No roads,No vegetation ¦The feeling of nothingness is what we experienced at this Rann ¦The feeling to be alone and be content with your past ,present and future ¦and while all this was brewing inside us and we were trying to quite my overexcited daughter so as, not to spoil the tranquil outside ¦.She was the first one to spot it ..She referred to it as HORSE !!!( That is the only word,till date that she uses to call any animal).
source:https://bit.ly/2pbYEr0
Satisfied and content we were back home on the same day.....
