On the 17th of April ,
myself and a group I organized through Classic Travel, departed on a memorable
wildlife adventure to the heart of India , in the hopes of coming face to face
with the most majestic cat in the world, the Royal Bengal Tiger. We met up early morning at Classic Travel
Head Quarters and left together towards the Airport, our flight would take us
first to Delhi, and from there on we need to catch a flight to Jabalpur which
is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The initial flight was
uneventful, but after reaching Delhi Airport, we spent around 4 hours in
Transit. We are all very impressed with the modern airport and the many shops,
outlets and franchises which the airport had as well as how well organized and
clean the whole place was.
Our next flight was in a much
smaller propeller driven plane, and the flight was quite bumpy and
uncomfortable given the size of the craft and the prevailing weather. As soon
as we took off from Delhi, it began to rain hard, and I was worried at that
instance whether the rains would affect our safaris. This was a worry which I
had throughout the flight.
We reached Jabalpur late in the
evening, and were welcomed outside with a fleet of luxury SUV’s which would
take us to Bandhavgarh our stay for the next 6 nights. The journey was 3 hours
long, and it was in the night hence we couldn’t observe much of our
surroundings. In fact we were quite hungry, given we didn’t have lunch, and
were awaiting our meal in our lodge.
The hotel we stayed in was
Monsoon Forest Lodge, which is owned by our Indian ground partners who work
with us very closely, and hence had 100% confidence we will be well looked
after. Upon passing the last big town Umaria, we drove through the park which
is separated by this carpeted road. I saw the boards of Magadhi and Khitauli
zones which we would be visiting the next day. Upon reaching the small town of
Tala, we went off on a dirt road which led us to our lodge. We were given a warm
welcome by all the staff at the car park and greeted by its General Manager
Deepak. Walking through the paved path led us to the main lodge, a rustic and
tastefully designed building, which used natural material and lovely
architecture. Being very hungry we went straight away to the dining room. We
were served a delicious piping hot meal, after which we retired to our rooms.
The rooms were amazing, and my chalet was located close to the lounge building.
It was a nicely designed structure with a direct view of the wilderness. The
rooms were large and spacious and tastefully designed. After a quick wash, I
went into a deep sleep, but only for a few hours as we were to wake up at 4.00
am the next day for our safari.
The alarm went off, but I wished
I could have slept longer, given our tiring day before to get there. Half
asleep, I walked to the main lounge with my camera gear. So to give an outline
of the set up on how the safari system works, we pre book our slots well in
advance. The demand for safaris in April is so high these slots get booked up
almost within seconds. Hence we were lucky to get most of the best slots.
Gathering at the main lounge, we
headed to the car park where our jeeps were waiting for us. These are small
Maruti Gypsy’s which can accommodate 4 passengers comfortable. All set and
ready we set off on our first game drive. I joined my client Udara’s jeep, and
headed for Khitauli zone. Along the way we have to pick up a guide which is
compulsory on the safari. Passports are inspected at the gate and in we went.
The park was very different from what I was used to in Sri Lanka. The landscape
was filled with Sal Trees, and much greenery. We came to a beautiful meadow
which was lovely in the morning mist. We kept driving to many areas and the
landscapes too kept changing. Some areas were covered in bamboo. The park was
well populated with Spotted Deer and Grey Langur, primary herbivores which are
also prey for tigers. Also we spotted quite a number of Sambhur and Barking
Deer.
I was very tired, and at times
drifted off to sleep, given how tired I was after having virtually around 4
hours of sleep for the last two days. Suddenly at one point the jeep came to a
halt, and the guide told us hes spotted some “Blue Bull”, which I knew
immediately were Nilgai, these are massive antelope which are endemic to the
Indian Sub-continent. They are large animals the size of a big bull and very
close relatives of the Eland of Africa. There were around 4 individuals to be
seen and we noticed 2 more quite a distance away. Still no tiger, and hence we
continued until we came to a location where we got news a patrolling elephant
(the park uses elephants for patrols to monitor tigers), has spotted a tiger
and hence we waited for about 30 min hoping the tiger would appear. But as
there were no signs we headed to the designated picnic spot for breakfast.
Afterwards we headed back to the same spot, to find a horde of jeeps lined up.
We knew there was a tiger, and after making our way in the crowd we got our
first glimpse of this majestic animal. It was a young male, and was sleeping in
the small ravine below. We couldn’t get a clear photograph, hence we admired
the animal with our eyes and waited. As we waited the tiger moved giving us a
view of his face as he turned to look at us. We managed to get a few images but
the light wasn’t great’. We waited in the same location for over 2 hours and
the sun was getting very hot. At around 10.30 AM we decided to leave the
sighting and head back for some rest. I was exhausted and so was Udara. We
reached the lodge at around 11.30 AM and in the scorching sun we headed to our
rooms for a much needed nap.
Refreshed after our sleep we met
up for lunch at the lounge. The rest of the group have had lunch and were
resting. We got to know they all have had some fantastic sightings in the Tala
Zone which they all went to. I was very happy that everyone got some good tiger
encounters.
The afternoon safari begins at
3.30 PM. I joined my parents (who also joined this tour as customers), to the
Magadhi Zone for this safari. The Magadhi zone is very beautiful, far more than
Khitauli. With some amazing meadows sprawling with deer and stunning back drops
of a massive rock where the historic Bandhavgarh Fort is located. We came
across a gathering of vultures, which included as many as 4 species such as the
Griffon Vulture and King Vulture.
After a few hours of searching we
came to a tiger sighting. A young tiger was enjoying the water of a small
waterhole made by the park for the animals during the dry seasons. After a few
minutes another tiger joined. Both enjoyed the water for a very long time, and
we observed both of them for over 2 hours. These were two of the three cubs of
Dotty, a well-known tigress. As this was out in the open, the sighting
attracted many jeeps. Some of our jeeps drove ahead and had encountered the
third cub with the mother Dotty as well as seeing a large male named Bamera’s
Son. Heading back it was very dark and we just missed a tiger crossing the main
road from the Magadhi side to the Khitauli zone.
Back at the lodge, it was a
lovely setting to meet at the lounge with everyone, and discuss about the days
sightings before dinner. Our meals were delicious and prepared using fresh
ingredients from their own organic garden.
The next day was a venture for me
into Maghadhi Zone once again, this time with Dallas, Christine and Puny. There
were many of the usual herbivores such as Spotted Deer, Grey Langur, Rhesus
Macaque and many species of birds but unfortunately no tiger sightings. In the evening
I set out to Tala Zone for the first time. I was truly amazed about the varied
landscape of this zone. We took an uphill rocky road, which was bordering some
deep gorges, and rocky outcrops. The landscape was truly surreal. Along this
road, we came across a leopard darting across the road. This was such a rare
find in this park, as the tiger being the dominant predator in the eco system
means the leopards are very shy unlike in Sri Lanka.
The safari led us to a small pond
close to the road, where an injured tigress named Bhanbei was resting. She had
a wound on the shoulder and the park vets were monitoring her as she had three
small cubs. One of the other jeeps of our group were lucky to have seen one of
the cubs in the water just before we arrived.
The next day, was spent in both
the Khitauli. zone as well as Maghadhi Zones. In Kitaouli, we came across a
young male tiger dashing across the road and into the woods on our right. I
managed to get some nice action photographs of the beautiful cat running. We
did have some sightings of tigers in Magadhi , two of Dottys cubs which were
around six months old and three small cubs up on a rocky outcrop which were
around three months old, and were the litter of a tigress named Solo. Photographically
they weren’t the best sightings. Dallas and the group had come across two
fantastic sightings that morning in Tala Zone. One of a large male named Bamera’s
Son who had given a lovely performance to the group with some amazing close
ups, plus a hunting sequence by Spotty a famous female in the park. By far,
Dallas’ jeep was always very lucky, except when I went with them.
That evening the lodge organized
a special dinner for us under a Banyan Tree further into the wilderness. It was
a lovely setting and decorated with lanterns, as well as a nice bon fire. The
special occasion was to celebrate Christine’s birthday. We had a lovely dinner,
as well as a nice surprise cake from the lodge for the birthday girl. During
the entire dinner, we were entertained by the constant call of the Common Hawk Cuckoo
which was roosting on the Banyan Tree, and giving out a loud call nonstop. The
bird was called the “Brain Fever” bird due to its nonstop calling. After a
lovely evening we went to bed late that night, but with alarms set for next day’s
safari.
I ventured to Tala Zone, and
despite trying very hard, we weren’t that lucky to see any tigers that morning.
I did manage to photograph a giant Gaur Bull, also known as Indian Bison, these
massive animals are the tallest species of wild cattle in the world. The big
males have a large muscular frame and are quite impressive. The bull we came
across was in peak condition and was calling for the other females who were
grazing in the meadows.
On our return to the lodge, we were met with shocking
news of the attacks back at home. Initially thinking it to be a joke, we took a
long time to realize this was all real. Our entire mood of our trip was ruined.
In the evening with heavy hearts we decided to continue our safari as “life has
to go on” and hence I went into Khitauli.
Zone as we had got news that the biggest tiger in the park Bheem was seen
there. So we set off with high hopes, and did end up finding this famous tiger.
There were a few jeeps, which made getting a clear view of him quite difficult,
but I did manage to grab a few images of this giant tiger through the vehicles.
He was wallowing in a small puddle, and his sheer size was mesmerizing. He was
easily the largest cat I have ever seen. Much larger than any of the African
Lions I had seen in my previous travels. This massive male had a large scar
across his nose, and had tufts of hair on his cheeks resembling a mane. After a
while, he rose up and walked into the deep forest. We saw him walking in a
distance, and hoping we can intercept him, kept driving up and down on a road
we hope he would cross. But we waited till 6.00 PM and he didn’t cross, hence
we retired back to the lodge, at least with some satisfaction that I saw him.
Our spirits were down that evening,
and was far from the good laughs and cheer we had the previous few nights.
The next day would be our last,
and hence we wanted to make the most of our safaris. We came across a tigress
crossing the road, by using one of the small pipes/tunnels set up under the
road to allow excess water to flow. This was said to be one of Bhanbei’s adult
daughters. I also was lucky to photograph an Egyptian vulture which is a
beautiful bird despite being from the vulture family. Before breakfast we came
across Spotty, one of the most beautiful tigress’s I had seen lazing in the
grass some distance away. After about 20 minutes she slowly walked into the
interior, where she drank water from a stream and settled down quite some
distance away.
In the evening we were back at
Tala Zone, and after searching for some time, came across Spotty resting in a
waterhole. There was quite a significant crowd, but we managed to get ourselves
a nice spot. After around 20 min she came out of the water and started walking
along the road ahead. The jeeps all scrambled to get a good position, but the
best thing to do at that moment was to enjoy the sighting. She was at complete
ease and oblivious to all the jeeps clamoring behind her. She even sad down on the
road for a few seconds before slowly slinking into the forest. We were
extremely happy to have this as our last sighting.
We headed back to the lodge one
more time, and spent the night in reflection of our encounters and good times
we had. Sadly we were not going back home to the Sri Lanka we left it, but a
country broken and hurt. But nevertheless it was home.
The next day I had news that our
domestic flight was to be delayed and hence we were worried on not catching our
connecting flight. Despite our worries, when we landed in Delhi, it was already
30 min after the scheduled departure time for our Colombo connecting flight,
but still the plane was waiting for us. Hence we all rushed and ran like we
have never done before, and sped through security to board our plane. The
flight waited all this time for us thankfully and after what seemed like ages,
we landed back in our home. Sadly it was a stark contrast to the Sri Lanka we
left. The airport was empty, and the security was very tight. We reached our
homes tired and yet relieved to be back with our families. Now, few weeks
after, I am reflecting on our memories and good times, and hence have decided
that despite whatever comes our way, we will not let these stop our way of life
and our love for travel, adventure and exploration. The tigers of Bandhavgarh mesmerized
me, and the wilds of India are calling me even now. I know I will be back, and
my love affair with the mighty tigers of India is just beginning.
