Chilika Lake

From November through January, a visit to India's largest inland lake, covering 1,100 square km (425 square mi), is repaid with the sight of millions of birds, both residents and winter visitors. Siberian ducks and ibises are among the 150 species that have been cataloged here. A 10-km (6-mi), more than 1½-hour trip across this sparkling blue-green lake is a memorable, not-to-be-missed experience. The boats—a crude cross between a Kashmiri shikhara (graceful, simple flat-bottomed boat) and a Venetian gondola with noisy outboard motors—splutter past schools of dolphins, quaint fishing villages, remote island communities, two-huts-and-a-coconut-palm hamlets, tiny temples, fishing boats, prawn nets, coastal forest, and fishermen untangling their catch, eventually reaching a sandy beach, where the brackish lake joins the Bay of Bengal at its very narrow mouth.

To journey to the mouth of the lake you will need to catch a boat at Satapada and to go bird spotting, you'll need to take a boat at Barkul. OTDC organizes excursion boats to take you out past the many islands that dot the lake to the best viewing area for birds, Nalabana Island, really a long stretch of reeds perfect for nesting, with enough of a sandbar for a watchtower. Private nonmotorized boats—one of the 300 fishing boats that ply the lake for mackerel, prawns, crabs, and bekti—can also take you to Nalabana, where you can climb the watchtower for a close-up view of the birds that form a solid ribbon on the reeds. You'll see the birds on an OTDC or a private motorized boat, but because of the sound of the motor you can't get too close without scattering the birds, so bring binoculars.

Private motorized boats (Rs. 750) will sail to the Bay of Bengal on a three-stop tour. The first stop is to see the swimming dolphin schools; if you are very lucky you can catch them jumping in the air when two male dolphins skirmish. The next halt is at Kalijai Island for a look at its massively popular Vishnu shrine, with the full temple accoutrements of flower, sweets, and souvenir sellers. The final stop is the beach where eager fishermen will fry spicy seafood on the spot under makeshift thatched shelters or offer you coconut water. The ocean is one kilometer away.

One of Orissa's main rivers, the Mahanadi, empties into Chilika Lake. Silting caused the opening into the Bay of Bengal to close up and the lake was born. Some 225 species of fish inhabit the lake.

The portion of the wetlands bordering Chilika have been demarcated into bird sanctuaries. The drive to Satapada, that takes you past ponds of flowering red and pink lotuses, prawn ponds, and charming rural communites, is delightful as well.

The OTDC runs day trips from Bhubaneswar to Barkul by bus (for larger groups; per head Rs. 160) and by hired car (Rs. 1,150) or from Bhubaneswar to Satapada by bus (for larger groups; Rs. 130 per head) and by hired car (Rs. 1,150), as well as from Puri to Satapada by bus (for larger groups; Rs. 110 per head) and by hired car (Rs. 750). It also has excursion boats (Rs. 100 to Rs. 160 per head or Rs. 1,500 to book the entire boat) that leave from Barkul, Rambha, Satapada, and Balugaon; at each of these locations you can get basic accommodations and tourist information from the OTDC offices, where the boats depart from. Dolphin Motor Boat Association, Satapada offers trips to Nalaban Bird Sanctuary (4 hours and Rs. 1,000). And also trips to the "dolphin point" and to the mouth of the lake. (3 hours and Rs. 700). Call 99/38518818 or 99/37618387. OTDC, Satapada 6752/262-077 and OTDC, Barkul 6756/220-488 Note of caution: pearls do not naturally occur in the Chilika Lake area. Do not get swindled into buying pearls just plucked from shells. They are plastic.