Chambal

The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in Central and Northern India, and thus forms part of the drainage system of the Ganges. The Hindu epic Mahabharata refers to the Chambal River as originating from the blood of thousands of animals sacrificed by the King Rantideva. These days it is a safer place for animals. Established in 1982 as the National Chambal Sanctuary it has become important for the preservation of gharial, red-crowned roof turtle and Ganges River dolphin. We turned off the main road and were soon bouncing down a dirt track. Here we spotted a jackal. There were also cows.

Our guide explained that it was one of the cleanest rivers in India because people were not allowed to live along its banks. Further down the dirt track near a bridge we found a couple of tourist boats moored up. The set up appeared to consist of a small group of men living in a tent and taking tourists on the river. We clambered into the boat along with a guide, two helpers and the skipper. For the next couple of hours, we pottered along the river. Heading upstream at a snail’s pace, was all very gentle and peaceful. The river does not flow especially fast here and often had a glassy smooth surface.

The sanctuary has become a significant bird sanctuary. Many migrating birds stop of here on their way from Siberia and other places. I spotted a Black Winged Stilt, recognisable by its ludicrously long, thin red legs. A Greater Coucal and two types of kingfisher. As we made our way to the far side of the river, we started to see the crocodiles. A couple of muggers and a gharial. They like to sun themselves in the morning. We saw several gharials during the trip and some of them had their mouths open. I am not really sure why. They looked almost comical, showing off their teeth.

We disturbed a flock of bar-headed geese. This was a bit clumsy but hard to avoid. Managed to get some nice pictures of them flying. These birds are renowned for their incredible migratory journeys. The geese breed in Central Asia near mountain lakes and typically winter in South Asia. They fly over the Himalayan Mountains at up to 7,000m. To do this they have specialised haemoglobin to efficiently use the thin, freezing air at Himalayan altitudes.

More marsh (mugger) crocodiles and more gharials. These are quite shy. More nervous than you might expect from such an impressive mouthful of teeth. Often, as we got close to them, they would just quietly slip away. Disappearing into the river without a ripple. Male gharials develop a hollow bulbous nasal protuberance at the tip of the snout. This protuberance resembles an earthen pot known locally as “ghara”. It enables the males to emit a hissing sound that can be heard 75 m away, to attract females.

There were cows and rubbish. This is India. Cows and rubbish everywhere. To be fair, there was not an enormous amount of rubbish. The muggers like to lurk in the river with just their eyes and snout showing. To me, this looks wonderfully evil. Apparently, it is safe to swim with these crocodiles. They are not like the big salt-water crocs that will go for you. These are more likely to just move away if you get too close. I would need more convincing to actually test this theory.

On the way back, we spotted turtles. They had come out onto the mud to catch the sun. The larger ones, the first we saw, were Indian narrow headed softshell turtles. They have big, webbed feet and a funny nose. Looks like a little pipe on the front of their head. Next to these were a few red-crowned roof turtles. They had bright yellow and red markings. Possibly because they were male and it is the breeding season. Also known as the Bengal roof turtle, they are the most threatened turtle in India. Populations have now been drastically reduced due to poaching for their meat and shells, accidental drowning in fishing gear, water pollution, hydroelectric infrastructure projects and habitat destruction by sand mining. At the moment, the Chambal sanctuary is the only place they are protected.

On the last leg back to the bridge, one of the helpers on board produced a cold beer. This struck me as being an excellent way to finish the morning. I gave up trying to photograph twitchy birds and sat back to enjoy the beer. In the afternoon we were going deer hunting.