Chilka Lake

Chilka Lake is what's called a 'brackish water lagoon', the largest coastal lagoon in the country covering an area of over a thousand square kilometers, spread across three districts of Orissa. It is the second largest such lagoon in the world.

For those who aren't familiar (I too wasn't until I researched to write this :), a lagoon is a relatively shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by barrier islands or coral reefs. Chilka is a coastal lagoon as it is separated by a reef from the Bay of Bengal. They have neither a fresh water inflow, nor a tidal inflow.

It's a longish boat ride that we took, over four hours. This was our cup of tea before embarking on our little voyage, fully equipped with hats (which are rented out there for Rs.20), and munchies, and lots and lots of water. The humidity is so high, you're pouring sweat continuously (atleast I am :)

This was our little boat, being drawn ashore, with Mahesh our boatman

And we were off, full of excitement and anticipation (the brochure said sighting of red crab, dolphins and migratory birds)

Chilka is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the Indian sub continent, and though it wasn't yet season, we were told there would be some birds, though not many ( only much later did we realize that the 'some to many' contrast could be 3 to tens of thousands :)

'The chilka lagoon hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migratory season. 

Birds from as far as the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea and other remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Mongolia, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas come here. These birds travel great distances; migratory birds probably follow much longer routes than the straight lines, possibly up to 12,000 km, to reach Chilika Lake.' (this is info straight from wikipedia :)

As we started we saw extensive prawn farming happening along the coast

After a whole hour of being just us and our little boat on this wide expanse of water, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by many other boats....they'd all got together at a known  dolphin spotting site. I lucked out as I saw one dolphin, and after that there were none. In fact it's a surprise I saw even that one, what with all the boat motors roaring away creating a deafening buzz. After a fifteen minute wait, we all went our own ways.

Some fishing we saw along the way. And we also saw ferries. There are 132 fishing villages alongside the lake and several boats do regular passenger ferrying village to village, it's like a regular bus service.

Surekha enjoying the ride at the helm of ship

A lone falcon. When you're looking for birds and you see none, the single falcon devouring his catch was sight enough for a shot

These were birds we enjoyed. It was so very cute how it was one single crow that dropped by, and as we shared our chips and chudwa, more and more crows just kept flying in from god knows where (as you can see the shore was really distant)

 Our lunch halt on an island

Despite all my resolutions not to get fish this time round after a previous experience at Bhubaneshwar, I again did. And all over again we got the fish served whole, eyes and tail intact. (it was so very yummm though, once you get over those eyes staring at you) The only menu there......dal rice , raw onion and a green chilly, (which in itself was also yummm...just that rustic feel to it) with either prawn or crab or fish, all freshly caught.

This doggy was so cute as he was trying hard to break through the shell to reach the tender coconut within, and he went coconut by coconut. Very saatvik taste for sure.

This, at a distance were the only migratory birds we saw...three big cranes...the white dots you'll see if you strain your eye, just as we did. And that's all the bird sighting there was. Lesson learnt. Want to see migratory birds, don't fall for 'thode rahenge' (some are there).....go in season o.n.l.y.

After the initial disappointment at no dolphins and no birds, we decided to enjoy just the lake, though we had to admit, four hours was bit much for that. A big plus though...the boat was so flat and open that we could turn aside and sit with our feet in the choppy waters, and that was so much fun. It's only later that I learnt that there are innumerable species of snakes and crocodiles that inhabit the lake. Ignorance is bliss is not for nothing :)

It was an Au Revoir to Chilka, as I definitely want to go see the migratory birds, especially the flamingoes, so inshallah, whenever next