Visit the Famous Bird Sanctuary at Nal Sarovar in Gujarat State in India

India is a country of lakes, rivers, and mountains. There are many famous lakes located all around the country. One such most famous lake that is situated in Gujarat State and has developed as picnic spot as well as the birds viewing sanctuary is Nal Sarovar. Nal Sarovar is situated at around 30 miles from Ahmedabad. It hardly takes around an hour to drive to this place from Ahmedabad. The State Transport buses are also available from almost all the cities of Gujarat for Nal Sarovar. This is an ideal outing for weekends for the residents of Ahmedabad.

This lake is 18 miles long and 4 miles wide. The lake is extremely shallow and its depth do not exceed 5 feet any where in the lake. There are around 300 Islands situated in the lake. Panvad is the biggest Island. Around 60 types of birds come here during the months November to February every year in the winter. Some of these birds come as far as from Siberia to protect themselves from severe winter. The birds start coming in the beginning of the winter and return back as soon as the winter is over. Most of the birds even make their nests here and give birth also to new birds. It becomes bird's sanctuary in true sense during the months of winter. The early morning is the most suitable time to view the birds. So, it may become necessary to stay here at the lake for at least one night. The Government of Gujarat has made a holiday home for staying overnight at a very reasonable rates. You can get a good double room at the rate of around Rs. 200 ($5) per day. The canteen of the holiday home can also provide the lunch, dinner, and the breakfast. However, only native Indian food is served here in the canteen.

There is a temple of Hinglaj Mata very near to the lake. Governments of India have declared 12 largest lakes in India as the national heritage and have allotted separate funds for their development. This lake is one of them. You may start at early morning from Ahmedabad so as to reach here by 7 am and start your birds watching tour immediately thereafter. There are small hired boats available to travel deep inside the lake for birds viewing. It is absolutely necessary to avail the government approved guide services that are available here at the rates of Rs.300 ($7.5) for a trip of around 4 hours. The boat hiring charges are around Rs.500 ($12) again for a trip of around 4 hours. You must make sure to carry your cameras with you with spare film rolls if needed as the film rolls are very expensive here. The binoculars are available on rent here. However, if you have your own binocular, having proper magnification, you must carry it to enjoy your trip thoroughly.

The best period to visit this lake is from November to February. Make sure to carry your own mineral water for drinking purpose. There are very few food varieties available here. So, if you want to have some special type of food items, make sure to carry them with you from your hotel in Ahmedabad. The water level in this lake drops alarmingly low during summer in case of less rains in the rainy season. In that case your visit to this lake in summer may not be worth it. Though, the number of visitors coming here for picnic has increased off late. This creates disturbance to the birds staying here and it may be difficult to watch the birds under those circumstances. However, if you are an avid bird watcher, this is a place for you and you must make sure to visit the same. Many visitors from abroad visit this lake and it has become the most favorite birds sanctuary for them due to the vast varieties of the birds here.

I sincerely hope that this article shall encourage few of my AC friends to visit this lovely Lake in Gujarat State in India.