Day 4 was planned to be a rest day at the Chilika lake in Odisha.
Friendly contacts who worked with an NG0 in the Chilika area had made all the arrangements - they had booked our stay at the OTDC hotel in Satpada and 2 of them had made themselves available to show us around.
The time at Satapada was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and something the kids will remember for a long time.
Since this is a travel blog I must write a little about the OTDC hotel in Satapada.This is the only hotel in this tourist town and has the potential to be a really special place.Instead, the facilities are quite run down and shabby. In our room, the flush tank, geyser and AC were not working, but the hotel staff made arrangements to get hot water for us from the next room.
We, however, had a great time together . The Chilika lake is one of the largest saltwater lakes in the world.We did a 3 hour boat trip, saw flying/ hopping fish and the famous Irrawady dolphins, and travelled to an "island" called Rajahamsa which has saltwater lake on one side and the Bay of Bengal on the other. As you can imagine, we had a great time. One disappointment was that we were a little early to see the migratory birds. The birding season begins once temperatures drop - from November to February.
As recommended by one of our friends on FB, we had ordered seafood at one of the beach-side shacks before leaving in the morning, and it was such a delight to return to a piping hot and tasty meal.
We slept well in the afternoon, had another lakeside picnic in the evening and another great seafood meal for dinner.
All in all, a good restful break of journey in an excellent location - a great decision all around.
Friendly contacts who worked with an NG0 in the Chilika area had made all the arrangements - they had booked our stay at the OTDC hotel in Satpada and 2 of them had made themselves available to show us around.
The time at Satapada was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and something the kids will remember for a long time.
Since this is a travel blog I must write a little about the OTDC hotel in Satapada.This is the only hotel in this tourist town and has the potential to be a really special place.Instead, the facilities are quite run down and shabby. In our room, the flush tank, geyser and AC were not working, but the hotel staff made arrangements to get hot water for us from the next room.
We, however, had a great time together . The Chilika lake is one of the largest saltwater lakes in the world.We did a 3 hour boat trip, saw flying/ hopping fish and the famous Irrawady dolphins, and travelled to an "island" called Rajahamsa which has saltwater lake on one side and the Bay of Bengal on the other. As you can imagine, we had a great time. One disappointment was that we were a little early to see the migratory birds. The birding season begins once temperatures drop - from November to February.
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| Picking a boat |
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| All aboard! |
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| On the Chilka Lake |
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| Fruit Juice never tasted better! |
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| Nature study |
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| Drawing cormorants sitting on poles |
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| Fishing poles on the Chilika Lake |
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| The Rajahamsa beach, Chilika |
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| The Rajahamsa beach, Chilika |
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| The Rajahamsa beach, Chilika |
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| The Rajahamsa beach, Chilika |
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| Tired, but happy! |
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| Seabreeze in our face |
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| Trying to spot birds |
As recommended by one of our friends on FB, we had ordered seafood at one of the beach-side shacks before leaving in the morning, and it was such a delight to return to a piping hot and tasty meal.
We slept well in the afternoon, had another lakeside picnic in the evening and another great seafood meal for dinner.
All in all, a good restful break of journey in an excellent location - a great decision all around.
Hi Pradeep,
ReplyDeleteHow is the stay arrangement at Rajahamsa Island? (is there any in the first place?)
Regards
Sachin Bhusari
I am so sorry that I did not see this comment earlier. No, as far as I know there is no possibility of staying on the Rajahamsa island
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