Gorumara National Park and Lataguri
The Dooars tourism offers the tourists to visit the beautiful and flourishing town of Lataguri and allows one to let the hiker in them be revealed. Being a village once, Lataguri is now a flourishing town with open fields and uncultivated farms. Lataguri allows one to visit various national parks like the Gorumara National park, the Chapramari Nation Park and the famous Buxa forest and fort. The permits to enter these National Parks are given from Lataguri. Another attraction in the village itself is the “Nature Interpretation Centre” which provides a lot of information to the tourists regarding the flora and fauna that are found in the Dooars. Thus Lataguri is a compulsory spot for a Dooars tour.
Places to visit in Lataguri
Gorumara National Park: Situated in the banks of rivers Murti and Raidak, Gorumara National Park is one of the most important Dooars tourist spots. The national park is located in the district of Jalpaiguri and is home to a wide variety of wildlife includingthe famous Asiatic one-horned rhinoceroses, Asian elephant, the royal Bengal tiger and the great Indian hornbill.Indian wild dogs, giant squirrel, wild boar, deer, cobra python and a huge variety of birds are also found here.To visit the national park, one has to book a safari from the forest department. There are two types of safari: ye elephant safari and the Jeep safari. If one has a pair of binoculars with night vision enabled, the most splendid experience in the Dooars tour will be this safari. The safari takes the tourist to various watch towers:
Jatraprasad watch tower: Named after a female Elephant known for her caring nature, the Jatraprasad watch tower is known to have the most splendid view among the watch tower because of the presence of the salt lakes just below. It holds refuge to a huge number of wildlife and can be very enjoyable to watch especially during the morning and afternoon safaris.
Medla watch tower: The Medla watch tower allows the tourists to enjoy the ride of a unique bullock cart driven safari. The journey to the watch tower allows tourists sighting is various bisons, deer and even elephants. One can get a beautiful Panasonic view of the jungle from the upper platform of the watch tower. The watch tower lying in the banks of the river Murti allows tourists to watch elephants and bisons cross the river from one side to the other. On a clear day, one can also enjoy the beautiful view of the Kanchenjunga from the watch tower. If one takes the last trip of the safari, one can also enjoy a tribal dance at the end of the trip which requires a slightly higher cost.
Other than these, there is also the Chukchuki watch tower and Rhino point.
Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary:
Being the neighbour of the Gorumara National Park, the Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary is another spectacular spot in the Dooars tourism. The sanctuary is known for the number of Asian elephants found here. Other than the elephants, one can find a large variety of wildlife including the Indian bison, rhinoceroses, deer, boar and even leopards. But unlike the Gorumara National Park, the royal Bengal tiger cannot be found here. One is advised not to take on a Dooars tour including the Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary in the rainy season as it remains closed to tourists from June to September.
Khunia forest: The Khunia forest is a vast area of grassland between the Gorumara National Park and the Chapramari Wildlife sanctuary. The Chapramari Wildlife sanctuary is just a kilometre away from the Khunia forest. There is basically a watch tower in the middle of the grasslands. The huge pond and salt lake in the area attracts a huge number of animals and provide beautiful scenery of the grassland. The watch tower inside the forest is known as the Chandrachur watch tower which was formally known as the Khunia watch tower. Unfortunately the forest doesn’t have any lodging centres inside. One is welcome to come and visit and see the wonderful panoramic view of the forest in the banks of the Murti River.
Hope you have a wonderful journey in the rain forests of the Dooars.