My visit to manglajodi on
21st. Jan.’17.
Beautiful place for bird watchers with its own character of endless beauty of chilka lagoon with lakhs of birds.
No trace of trees inside. Only wetland and meadows .Birds can be sighted from any angle and direction. As I did a little bird study before going to Mangala Jodi, I could identify some of the birds which I noted down in my pad. Name and identification of birds
with its individual beauty within the bird world at mngld gives an another enjoyment in mind. The first view on the main road after a right turn from the village enchanted me and made me spellbound. What I read from previous visitor’s experience, that there
are 200 species of birds. But I only tried to see those 25 type of birds which I recorded in my notepad. To my satisfaction, I found out 23 types of birds with its names.
Some Tips for the visitors may be helpful.
To Reach at Mngld.: I got down at Khurda Road station. From there I caught
Local DMU (Berhampur Local) and dropped down at nearest railway station Mukteswar. From Mukteswar Rly. Stn. , Manglajodi Ecotourism cottage( manglajodi ecotourism website) is found visible and it is only 2 minutes walking distance. Also, one Private accommodation
of local person Madhu Behra is there. It is almost 1 km. away from Rly. station. Another Third accommodation of Godwit ecotourism cottage, private(Odisha ecotourism website) is there.It is around 2 km.. Journey and everything is included in their tariff of
booking. One can also take a direct cab from Khurda road to reach Mngld.
Preferable stay: All
the three accommodations have their own standard and facility. Godwit and manglajodi ecotourism are almost in the same standard providing the good facility. But the third one, the accommodation of local influential person, Madhu Behra is quite substandard.This
is cheaper but the quality of food and the dirty room is far below the normal standard and there is a hell and heaven difference. Manglajodi ecotourism centre is preferable with respect to the budget and facility. It is associated with the Odisha Govt. Ecotourism
Dept. So it can be preferred. Also, one more facility is that both the Mngldi eco.centre and godwitt eco.centre can be booked online. The third, Madhu Behra is not reliable.No system of advance booking is there. Only information through phone call but uncertainty
to get it after reaching there at the spot.
Boating: The most enjoyable event of mngld is boating inside the wetland.
You have to reach jetty to ride on the boat which is 3 km. away from Mangld. Eco.T. Centre and the village. It is an isolated place.No locality or nearby hotel is there. I went there by walking and encourage everyone to go there by walking to feel and experience
the beautiful road journey onto the jetty. Actually, it is not a road.It is a little dam to isolate the Chilka water land from surrounding wetland. Sighting of birds will begin after a walking distance of 1 km. only. Take photos and walk in the early morning
or anytime in the winter. You will find two jetties operating there. One operated by Mahabir Pakshi sanrakshan Samity(a unit of ecotourism society) and the another is operated by Madhu Behra. Mahabir takes Rs.850/-per boat @ 4 persons and Madhu’s private rate
is Rs.800/- @ 4 persons. Though Mahabir takes 50 rupees more but it is preferable because their all boats are shaded and will take you exact 3 hrs.trip as per the schedule. But Madhu’s boat is not shaded and trip time varies around 2 hrs.Preferable to take
two trips, one in the early morning sunrise ( Boating starts at 6:30 AM) and another is just 3 hrs. before sunset.
THANKS