After having a great time at the fort of Jaisalmer, we headed towards the Desert National Park, which was situated in the outskirts of Jaisalmer. The park was one of the largest national parks in India and covered an area of 3162 square kilometres. The national park was the perfect replica of the varied ecosystem present in India. The famous Thar Desert was close and we could feel the heat easily. We learnt that sand dunes from the desert surrounded the park nearly 20 percent of the time. The main landforms consisted of rocks, salt bottoms and few fixed dunes which were good enough. Though the surroundings were hot, the wide range of birds mesmerized us.
The region was full of different kinds of birds like eagles, harriers, kestrels and vultures. There were also some sand grouses that were spotted in the ponds and lakes which were near the park. This place was one of the favourite picnic spots for the local people and capable of drawing plenty of tourists every year.
The national park was rich in flora and fauna. Some commonly found plants included palm trees, dhok and ronj. Some of the animals that could be spotted inside the park inlcuded desert cat, chinkara, fox and black buck. The reptiles found were Russel viper, lizards which were accompanied by few other species which were unknown to us. I captured the images of all the interesting animals and birds that could be viewed by us.
We were so mesmerized in the charm of the place that we didn’t realize we had forgotten to take our lunch. All of us were extremely hungry and we went to a restaurant for consuming the traditional Rajasthani dishes. We knew that the traditional meals were prepared using different kinds of spices and all of them impressed me as I was a big lover of tasty dishes.
We knew that we could visit a few more attractive places around the national park which constituted the famous Gadsisar Lake and the sand dunes which were the trademark of Rajasthan. We left the place with a great impression about the rare animals which we saw in the Desert national park.