Gupti is 10 km shorter than Dangamala. So if your place of stay is Habelikatti (the only options are govt forest lodge), you can go to Gupti and take a boat directly to Habelikatti.

The boat ride is of 3 hours and costs 4000 (including the 500 for a night stay). This is for the private boats. The govt boats could be a tad cheaper but the forest dept people said that they are not giving govt boats anymore for Habelikatti, as the rotor gets stuck in the sand. So the private boat is the only option unless you have any jack in the forest dept. The price for Dangamalla is 2500 and we had decided to go there as well during our return (on Sunday), so our total cost was 6500. Tried hard to bargain but could not manage to get the price reduced. Plus, you have to pay 150 for car parking and 300 more for some other charges at the forest dept office. If your place of stay is Dangamala, which is the main national park area, better directly drive to Dangamala, stay there overnight and book a boat ride (at Kohla, which is on the way to Dangamala) to see the crocs. This could be a much cheaper option.

Gupti and the boat ride to Habelikatti

We reached Gupti at around 11. It is a very small place with a few stray hotels. But the hygiene factor of these hotels might be a deterrent for tourists to have any thoughts of eating there. I found it hard to even get a cup of tea, though could finally manage in one of the small shops. We bought a couple of water bottles for the way but regretted not have brought enough munches for the way. So after all the formalities at the forest office, we boarded the boat. Our boat driver's name was Vishnu, who was carrying his own food for the way and maybe for the night as well. He picked up another guy, just after we started, from one of the riverbank side villages who was his partner for the trip. While sailing through the gorges, there was a dense forest on both sides of the river. We started sighting some of the crocs, who were lying in the Sun and on the Swamps. They did not care who was sailing by or if we were making any noises. We asked our driver to sail close to one of the banks so that we could have a better sighting, rather than sailing in the middle of the river. The total duration of sail was around 2.5 hours and all throughout most of us were sitting outside the boat only (on the top). There is chair seating inside, but who cares to sit inside. The private boats make a lot more noise as compared to govt boats. Also, the boats are for 20 people and the price is the same, so the more people, the cheaper it will be. On the way, we had some oranges and jhal mudhi, which I had carried from home. We saw around 20 crocodiles on the way. Some big and some small in size.
trip to Bhitarkanika – The Crocodiles in the forest

Habelikatti - The unexplored zone

Once we reached the Jetty, my first thought was could we get some of these crocodiles in our trail as well? From the Jetty, it is a 2.8 KM trail to the lodge. It is a 3 ft road with jungles on both sides of the road. You could hear the birds chirping all way through. We saw 3 foxes strolling few meters ahead of us and went into the trees after seeing us. There is a small creek that also runs by the side and it will have different water levels during the day. We could see small boats parked, which probably sail in these creeks and then merge into the main water body. But that is where the crocodiles can come also - just my assumption :). Did not hear the locals talk about it, when we checked with them. Though they mentioned that the animals found are deer, wild boars, porcupines, snakes, etc. So what makes Habelikatti special. After the walkthrough of this trail, you reach the cottages which are just in front of an un-ending sea sight. Yes, you started from the riverside and walked straight into the sea. The places have 3-4 cottages. A couple of them is for 2 people per cottage - 3500 per night and better looking and furnished. But we were staying in a 4 bedded cottage (4000 per night) which was on the first floor and has a straw-based roof. Very basic amenities and not very clean but for a group of explorers, it was perfectly okay. Our total cost was around 6K including fare (1000) for an additional person and other transactional fees. But this 6K included your stay for one night and all meals (lunch, dinner, breakfast, and evening tea/biscuits). Apart from the cottages, there are a couple of other rooms which house the lodge staff and a few other workers. So you are surrounded by jungle on 3 sides and sea on the 4th side.

You can also reach this place by riding on bikes through the sandy beach, which will take you through villages, cross few rivers on boats and reach Gupti. Have heard about it but do not know many details. But have read fellow travelers having traveled through this route. When we reached the place, we were darn hungry and jumped onto our lunch. The staff brought the lunch to us and it was simple yet tasty. We had rice, dal, fish curry, dahi baingan, sabzis, bhajji. Generally, the staff will serve you but we started serving ourselves. After lunch, we were tired enough to catch up on quick sleep. We woke up around 5-5:30 and went to the beach. After spending some time, it was time for some tea and snacks. We got tea served to us but were expecting pakoras as well. Came to know the evening snack was only for the people staying in the 2 bedded cottages but the staff was generous enough to offer some to us.

It had gotten dark by then and our group decided to walk on the beachside. It was scary though because we had a jungle on one side and sea on the other. We did not know what animals to expect and kept seeing different kinds of animal footmarks on the beach sand. The footmarks just kept on growing bigger as we walked further and I did not want to be too adventurous. So I insisted our guys to travel back.

The best thing in our favor as it was full moon night and pretty lighted with the moon reflections shining on the sea. Talked to a couple of staff on the way, who had put up a bonfire and were trying to burn some of the larger seashells and probably will come back the morning next day to collect the ashes. We saw one boar as well which was trying to play hide and seek with us. After we came back, we saw a porcupine near the lodge kitchen, which had come to have food. There are a couple of them which come every day for food. We spent quite some near the sea and finally it was dinner time. The dinner was beyond expectations. Apart from the rice, roti, sabzis, we had egg masala, crab masala (unexpected) and topped it up with sweet. After dinner, we went to the room and kept chatting on different things. The noise of the tides was roaring by the night, which was kind of giving a feel that the seawater has reached our cottages. Around 12 when we thought of sleeping, there were certain noises heard on the rooftop. Some of us got scared that it would be snakes but weren't sure what it was. Could be just the sound of the glass windows as well. We kept our lights on throughout the night but still, I could not get good sleep, as I kept waking up to any noise. You could charge your phones but not all networks would work there. So it is better to have phones of different network operators. Airtel was working in the river as well as in Habelikatti.