I recently did a weekend trip from Delhi with a couple of friends to the Jhalana Leopard Safari Park in Jaipur. While I may have ordinarily not written about such a short trip, the main reason to do so is that not many people seem to know about Jhalana – unlike say, Bera (another leopard reserve in Rajasthan) or the more famous tiger reserves like Ranthambore and Sariska. So if this post can help to spread the word about Jhalana, even if just to a few people, that would make me very happy!
In terms of logistics:
1. Safaris
- There are 2 safaris every day, the timings of which change per season. When we went in mid-March, the morning safari was from 6:00-8:30 am and the afternoon safari was from 4:00-6:30 pm.
- Compared to many other parks, Jhalana is small, around only 25 sq km. While this is great for sightings, what it also means that limited – apparently only 10 – gypsys/jeeps are allowed inside the park for every safari (Note: Jhalana doesn’t have canters). This, in turn, means that safaris get booked soon. You can book safaris on the Rajasthan government’s official forest department website.
- Jhalana doesn’t have a zone system so when you book a safari, you have access to the entire park. Each safari costs INR 6,200 per jeep (you can also book per individual), with each jeep accommodating 6 tourists + the driver (who typically also acts as the guide). Having said this, my friends and I made arrangements with a private driver cum guide who booked the safaris for us (at a slightly higher price) and arranged our permits.
- The morning safari will be cold so dress accordingly. Conversely, the afternoon safari can be warm, especially as you go deeper into summer, although it is still fairly bearable (at least when we went) given the late start.
2. Accomodation
Unlike most wildlife reserves, Jhalana is located within Jaipur city limits. It is just about 6 km from the Jaipur International Airport and around 9-10 km from the city centre. Assuming the main purpose of your trip is to do the safaris, then I would suggest staying at a hotel close to the park. This is especially helpful for the morning safari, for which you need to wake up early. My friends and I stayed at the Hyatt Place, which was less than a 5 mins drive from the park, and was comfortable, clean and had good food (including free breakfast!).
3. How to get to Jhalana
Jaipur is easily accessible by road from Delhi – in around 2.5 hours now – and you can make a fun road trip out of it. My friends and I, however, chose to go by flight. We went on a Saturday morning, did the afternoon safari on Saturday and both safaris on Sunday, and returned to Delhi on Sunday night.
4. Essentials to carry
- ID
- Sun screen
- Cap / wide brimmed hat
- Sunglasses
- Mosquito / insect repellant (to be safe)
- Good camera
- Binoculars (this is particularly helpful to spot birds if you are interested in that)
Jhalana is said to have around 30-35 leopards. We had beautiful sightings of ‘Rana’ – the pride of the park – in both our afternoon safaris. It was riveting and magical to see his different moods and moves. In our safari on Saturday, we were with him for a good 40 minutes, observing him laze, amble, strut around a small pool of water, almost intentionally modelling for all the shutterbugs, play a bit of hide and seek with us and just, really, walk about everywhere, finally making his ascent to a high peak and disappearing from our sight.
On Sunday, we were in another part of the park when our guide got a call that Rana had been spotted elsewhere (Note: given Jhalana is within city limits, there is good mobile signal almost everywhere in the park, which allows the guides/drivers to remain in touch and tip each other off). What followed was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in a safari – a literal roller coaster ride with our driver zooming at high speed, and my friends and I holding on for our lives, but also absolutely enjoying the wind blowing in our air and the thrill. We made it to see Rana in time, who was lazing by a pool and once again, modelling for the shutter bugs. As he walked deeper into the trees, from afar, we saw him dragging and then devouring a kill – which he presumably killed at some point earlier in the day or even the previous day.
Apart from Rana, we also spotted ‘Sharmili’ in our afternoon safari on Sunday. This, again, was a special and memorable sighting. Several jeeps had gathered in one spot pursuant to hearing calls, indicative that a leopard is in the vicinity. However, after waiting for quite long and not sighting anything, all jeeps began to drive away. We did too, except that while we were driving away, our driver, somehow (and astoundingly), spotted Sharmili literally draped on a branch of a tree in the middle of dense vegetation. We could not fathom how he managed to spot her and thanks to him, we had a direct view of her, although it was still hindered given the dense vegetation. It was, nevertheless, still amazing, especially when she suddenly jumped down (what an elegant leap) and disappeared somewhere.
So, if at least those living in Delhi and neighbouring areas are looking for something interesting and different to do on a weekend, I would definitely recommend visiting Jhalana. Equally, anyone planning a trip to Jaipur should definitely consider keeping some time for this!
FORUM HOPPING 