Namdapha is a combination of two Singpho words "Nam" means water and "Dapha" means origin (the river which originates from Dapha Bum glaciers).
Namdapha National Park is a 1,985 km2 (766 sq mi) large protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India. With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. The national park harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests in the world at 27°N latitude. It also harbours extensive dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests ecoregion. Wow....a place that needs a week to explore and camp in but we only had a day!! So much to do ...so little time.
We went in around 11 am....it was more about getting to sample the park more than anything else......and yet we got lucky. We sighted a few birds and a gibbon put on a great show for us. This is the only ape species besides Homo Sapiens that is found in India - The Hoolock Gibbon. Take a look at the video below.
The reserve has Chakma migrants who live there. It is said that there are 40-50 thousand Chakmas in Arunachal Pradesh who migrated there in 1964 after the Kaptai dam tragedy with about 20-30 thousand Chakmas in Assam too. Their ethnicity is closely linked with the peoples of East Asia. According to our guide, they are Buddhists who have taken asylum here. This is the first time I am hearing about this...like many things in this trip.
We came back around 3 pm and after taking a break we went off to the riverside for dinner....beautiful setting that was enhanced with a dance floor....great to see everyone shake a leg!!
Tomorrow we head to Dibrugarh
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