Darjeeling, Sept. 3: Get ready to hit the forest trail in pursuit of the elusive red panda.
Two Siliguri-based organisations — Help Tourism and Association for Conservation and Tourism — are developing a red panda circuit, which they promise will be open to tourists after the Pujas.
The trail will take tourists to Megma, a village on the fringes of Singalila National Park in Darjeeling, Kolakham, a virtually unexplored entry point to Neora Valley National Park in Kalimpong, and Hee-Bermiok, along the Barsey Rhododendron sanctuary in Sikkim.
All these places are home to the red panda, an endangered species. The project aims for sustainable development of the area through eco-tourism.
For the moment, the brains behind the circuit are focusing on Kolakham, in many ways a virgin territory for tourists.
“We plan to set up a jungle camp at Kolakham, located around 10km from Lava. The residents of the area are getting in place the required infrastructure like cottages and we have already started training them on the nitty-gritty of the hospitality industry,” said Raj Basu, the vice-president of the conservation and tourism association.
From Kolakham, the visitors can choose from a number of trekking trails. Those looking for a stress-free walk can embark on an 8km trek to Changa Falls, while serious trekkers can explore the Rachela forest over three days. One can even stay an overnight camp at the Pankasari area or try to trek to Lava and Reshop, a distance of 6km.
Along with jungle camps, there are also plans to start home-stays at Kolakham (Hee-Bermiok already has the facility and Megma, too, will have home-stays soon). For this, a group of 12 residents from the three areas came to Darjeeling recently and were trained at a hotel here.
Bharati Rai, a villager from Kholakham, was one of the twelve who attended the week-long course.
“Back home, everyone is excited,” she said. “It might take some time to develop home-stays at Kolakham, but we will succeed.”
“We have decided to adopt two red pandas in Darjeeling zoo (which allows individuals and organisations to pay for the upkeep of animals at the zoo) to start the new circuit,” said Paras Dahal, project manager, Help Tourism.
Two Siliguri-based organisations — Help Tourism and Association for Conservation and Tourism — are developing a red panda circuit, which they promise will be open to tourists after the Pujas.
The trail will take tourists to Megma, a village on the fringes of Singalila National Park in Darjeeling, Kolakham, a virtually unexplored entry point to Neora Valley National Park in Kalimpong, and Hee-Bermiok, along the Barsey Rhododendron sanctuary in Sikkim.
All these places are home to the red panda, an endangered species. The project aims for sustainable development of the area through eco-tourism.
For the moment, the brains behind the circuit are focusing on Kolakham, in many ways a virgin territory for tourists.
“We plan to set up a jungle camp at Kolakham, located around 10km from Lava. The residents of the area are getting in place the required infrastructure like cottages and we have already started training them on the nitty-gritty of the hospitality industry,” said Raj Basu, the vice-president of the conservation and tourism association.
From Kolakham, the visitors can choose from a number of trekking trails. Those looking for a stress-free walk can embark on an 8km trek to Changa Falls, while serious trekkers can explore the Rachela forest over three days. One can even stay an overnight camp at the Pankasari area or try to trek to Lava and Reshop, a distance of 6km.
Along with jungle camps, there are also plans to start home-stays at Kolakham (Hee-Bermiok already has the facility and Megma, too, will have home-stays soon). For this, a group of 12 residents from the three areas came to Darjeeling recently and were trained at a hotel here.
Bharati Rai, a villager from Kholakham, was one of the twelve who attended the week-long course.
“Back home, everyone is excited,” she said. “It might take some time to develop home-stays at Kolakham, but we will succeed.”
“We have decided to adopt two red pandas in Darjeeling zoo (which allows individuals and organisations to pay for the upkeep of animals at the zoo) to start the new circuit,” said Paras Dahal, project manager, Help Tourism.
