About:
Dr. Bharatkumar Bhate is M.S. General Surgeon (Gold Medalist) by qualification with an experience of 30,000+ operations and is based at Rajkot, Gujarat. He is an avid reader and a passionate writer. In this blog, he shares his travel experiences and creative writings.
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Blog:
The dynamic and enthusiastic committee of Association of
Surgeons of Rajkot (ASR) organized a full day family adventure trip to an
offbeat destination near Jamnagar, Gujarat namely 'Narara Marine National
Park', which in turn has become a once-in-a-lifetime experience and an immortal
memory for every one of us.
When this trip was announced, my excitement pepped up when I
learnt that the place is accessible only during low tide and you can walk
around 3 kilometres deep inside the sea from the sea shore. So, we the senior
citizen couple decided to grab this opportunity. While I took along a walking
stick with me as an additional safety measure, my wife ensured that we had all
the necessary carry-ons like water bottle, sunglasses, caps, binoculars etc.
[Group photo of participants of the trip]
The program was very well planned and nicely organised by
the committee of Association of Surgeons of Rajkot (ASR) under the able
leadership of Dr. Kartik Sutariya (President) and Dr. Punit Trivedi
(Secretary). The committee members even made an advance visit to the
destination to ensure that this exciting journey is flawless and thus becomes a
memorable experience for all us enthusiastic travellers.
We departed Rajkot at around 5:30 am and reached the Marine Park at the most appropriate time, i.e. during the low tide, which made it possible for us all to walk in the sea for about 3 kilometres and peacefully watch the sea animals and plants. Thanks to the in-depth research of the committee members, our departure time was carefully planned so we get the best experience of the Marine Park.
[Program Schedule and Instructions]
On the way, we halted at a nice highway restaurant where
breakfast was pre-arranged. Needless to say, the food was delicious. We had
Idli-Sambhar, Thepla, Curd, Poha, and Tea.
[Breakfast setup and group enjoying the meal]
On our arrival at 'Narara Marine National Park', there were
refreshments like biscuits and banana ready for us all. This was essential
after four hours of travel from Rajkot because our onwards journey was by walk,
deep in the marshy sea, for about 3 kms.
We were divided into four groups with about 25 people in
each group. One experienced guide was assigned to each group, who gave us
orientation and preliminary information about the marine park, which I shall
discuss later in this blog.
[Arrival at Narara Marine National Park]
Delicious lunch was arranged for us after the exhaustive
travel in the marshy sea. Laddu and bhajiya were the specialties of lunch.
[Lunch spread featuring laddu and bhajiya]
Dr. Prakash Detroja, a senior surgeon, narrated a real-life
historical incident of a shipwreck involving a ship named 'VIJALI'.
Our bus journey was fun and entertaining as we played Antakshari, dumb charades, and other similar games.
During our return journey in the evening, we recollected the
fun moments of the day over high-tea in a good highway restaurant.
[Evening high-tea setup]
About Narara Marine National Park
There are four marine parks in India. This marine park is
located near Vadinar about 60 kms from Jamnagar (Gujarat) and it is India’s
first-ever Marine National Park. It was established to conserve sea animals and
plants, especially CORALS. Coral reefs and mangroves are an essential part of
the stability and diversity of the planet. They are unfortunately severely
degraded in many parts of the world. The necessity to save them was realised
long back which led to the establishment of this Marine Park in 1982.
[Narara entry info and marine ecosystem layers]
The Narara Marine National Park lies in the Gulf of Kutch
and covers a vast area of 163 sq. km. It includes a mix of coral reefs,
mudflats, mangroves, and salt marshes. Most travellers identify Andamans and
Lakshadweep as the destinations to explore coral reefs and marine ecosystems,
but the coral islands in the Gulf of Kutch have so much to offer for tourists
as well as biology students. Gulf of Kutch has 42 islands, out of which 33 have
coral reefs. Entry of visitors is restricted in most of the islands. These
islands are accessible through a ferry during high tide. Narara is a different
island having road connectivity with only one walking path of entry to the sea.
[Pathway leading to the mangroves and coral reef zone]
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[Video of Marine life like starfish, jellyfish, crabs etc.]
I would recommend hiring a guide if you truly want to enjoy
the park as they have good knowledge of the marine life and will help you
identify sea animals and hold them in their hand. Some of the creatures like
crabs bite badly and some animals are poisonous too, so be careful.
With this much preliminary information, we were given 15 minutes break to become fresh and ready. We visited the museum of marine life which is worth watching.
Our overall experience of Narara Marine Park is beyond description and can be realized by watching our photos and videos shared above.