We arrived bright and early at the Rajkot railway station on 29th January where we had rented a tempo traveller from.
Our first stop was in Girnar. We took the Asia's longest ropeway to take us to Ambaji temple on Mount Girnar within minutes.
And there we are enjoying the scenic views of Junagadh.
Manuj and I went to the temple of Tirthankar Neminathji by climbing down 1000 steps and back. We reached Neminathji temple just in time for the aarti at 4 pm, which was the best I have ever seen. Others went up to Guru Dattatreya temple in the other direction.
It was just 1000 steps but I had to stop in between as I was short of breath. Need to work on my stamina!
This photo shows the view of Neminathji temple while climbing back for the ropeway.
We were quite a satisfied bunch with a flying start to our vacation but we wished we had spent more time here as was the case in every place that we went to later.
We reached Sasan Gir in the evening and our stay was in Heeran Re-treat Resort. After a good night's sleep, we went for the Gir Lion Safari early in the morning at 6:30 am, which we were waiting for with bated breath. It was a bit chilly but Manuj and Shruti were ready to have a rendezvous with the king of the jungle in their Gir hats.
We did come across the Lion's paws for starters.
We did spot deers later and could barely see a Lion sleeping at a distance but didn't get to watch it up close. We did enjoy the jeep ride through the jungle though. We were told that we could go to Devaliya Safari Park in the evening, which is smaller and less dense and we would surely be able to spot Lions and leopards, among other wild animals.
We spent the rest of the morning lazying around on the charpai in the sun and swimming at Heeran re-treat resort before heading to Devaliya.
And finally in the evening, after some wait, we were able to observe the Asiatic Lions in a playful mood, really up close for the first time in our life in a safari. We were told that this safari park has one Lion and 7 Lionesses as of now.
The Asiatic Lioness taking a stroll.
We have been around cats and we could observe some of the traits of Lions similar to the domestic cats. You can also see some foxes not very far away from the Lions. Why are the foxes not scared of the Lions?
Next, we got to observe 8 female leopards who were put in the open cage as they were found to be maneaters earlier. Leopards passing through the crows who are not afraid and seems to be business as usual.
We were also able to spot black buck, Nilgais, deers, owl during our safari ride.
During dinner at The Fern, we had the good fortune of watching the Siddi tribe of Africa (who had migrated to Gujarat long time ago and speak fluent Gujarati) performing.
In the morning, after having some Kathiawadi breakfast at Heeran Resort, we said goodbye to Sasan Gir. Then we had darshan in Somnath temple which has a beautiful location by the sea. We reached Dwarka in the evening and stayed in sea-view rooms in Dwarkadhish Lords Eco Inn by the Dwarka beach. Guess what is the first thing that we do in the morning? Go to the beach. No wonder, we are so overjoyed being in the sea, coming from the desert part of the country, you know :).
We went to the Meera Mandir, which was walking distance from our hotel. We went to Shivrajpur beach having blue flag certification in the evening, followed by shayan aarti at the Dwarkadhish Temple.
Next day morning was dedicated to unforgettable beachfun.
The beach was quite clean and the waves were not too rough. The water temperature was just right. We had one of the best times of our life.
After some good fun at the beach, we went to the sunset point, walking distance from our hotel, before going to bed early for the scuba diving adventure coming the next day.
Our camp started with instructions from Shanti Bamaniya Sir for snorkelling.
We first practiced snorkelling on the beach itself. Learning the breathing through the mouth in snorkelling would help us with scuba diving. Once we were confident, we did snorkel in the sea.
Joy is so joyous in this picture.
Scuba diving preparation video
The next video is the most adventurous part of the trip - scuba diving! We were told that we went about 25 feet under water. As we went down, the pressure on the ears was higher and so it did hurt a bit in the beginning but the excitement took over. But we had excellent instructors from Arthur Scuba Diving, who were with us all the time under water. As soon as we wanted to come up, within 4-5 seconds or less, we were brought to the top so it was and seemed pretty safe. We would never forget this experience and would want to do it again at the next available opportunity! Who knows, we may get to see the remains of the sunken city of Dwarka underwater at some point in our lifetimes :)
We have stitched individual videos together and you would see scuba dives of:
1. Rajat from 0:00 minutes
2. Jay from 00:52 minutes
3. Madhumita from 2:54 minutes
4. Manuj from 6:44 minutes
5. Dr Raj from 7:48 minutes
Papa suggested to go for darshan at Dwarkadhish temple before we left Dwarka next morning.
Next day, early in the morning, we set out for Narara Marine National Park - a find of Rajat. We were supposed to reach here around 10 am in the morning which was the low tide time when the sea water recedes and we are able to observe sea-life. We were literally walking on the sea-bed, but not under water this time like yesterday :) You can see the mangroves around us.
In the video, you can see:
1) Coral Crab at 1:00 minute
2) Octopus handled by us at 2:45 minute
3) Octopus changing colors at 4:30 minute
4) Box Crab at 6:15 minute
5) Puffer Fish at 6:30 minute
6) Neptune Crab holding a stone at 7:45 minute
A big thank you to our guide, Firoz bhai, for explaining everything from his heart (dil se). Please call him at 9913906445 to schedule a visit.
We thanked ever smiling Zakir bhai for his very comfy tempo traveller and took the train from Jamnagar to Ahmedabad.
