The wilderness of Kanha and Bandhabgarh..

I had been to Kanha twice before. Once when I was 6 and the other time when I was 8. I hardly remember any details of those trips. The only detail that I could remember was the name of the place where we all stayed. I did'nt even realize when Kanha had secured a very safe position in my heart. I could vaguely remember the narrow paths..long trees..and a tiger


It was a lazy afternoon and me and one of my friend Susmita were working from home (Though I was not actually). Suddenly an idea came to my mind.....checked the calendar..yess....A couple of days off and we can go to Kanha and Bandhabgarh. I think the plan started on a thursday and sy Sunday we were all done with the planning. Me, Susmita, Suvojit, Shreya, Anindya and Susmita's Parents started on 27th April. Boarded a train from Yashwantpur, WAINGANGA EXPRESS, which left Yashwantpur on Time (11:45PM)and reached DURG after 24 hours . Ok...we wasted a lot of time because the flight tickets were extremely costly at that time and didnot have much choice. The other group, my parents, sourav and Suman they met us in Durg. They had reached before us and two cars were booked. One Scorpion and One Xylo.
The car charged around Rs 10/KM and 200 per day for the drivers. As it was the wedding season in Chattisgarh we did not get much choice.
We started aound 4 in the morning and reached our hotel Machan Complex near Khatia gate

Welcome dds000258,

Good start....

We had already booked the safari through the hotel. ( When you are booking the hotel then you can ask them about the safari. You have to send them the list of names and one ID proof for each gypsy.In Kanha 1 gypsy for 1 safari costs you 3600 and it can accomodate 6 people). This place Machan complex is 1 or 2 Km outside of the gate.

After the lunch we boarded the gypsy and after the rudimentary formality the safari started.

As I travel a lot in Jungles, I don't remember the details of each safari separately and I believe it is not the order in which you spot the animals rather the following events make your decription enjoyable. They are ..your thoughts...little incidences...some thrilling moments...your luck..dissapointment..colors.. .sounds..chirping of birds..etc


We had two safaris in Kanha. First one was inside Kisli Zone.
The moment you enter the jungle you will feel like being in a place where serenity is portrayed. After the intial 5 mins where you will see a race among all the gypsies (Though Gorest officials make sure that a certain time is maintained between two consecutive gypsies when entering the jungle) you will start enjoying the wilderness. Kanha is famous for the picturesque landscape. It is one of the finest and beautiful Tiger reserve you will see.



Spotting a herd of Bisons..Spotted deers..is pretty common here.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

Generally the safari goes on for 3-4 hours in the evening and in the morning it can be extended to more than 4 hours. We were unfortunate that on next morning there was a protest against the forrest officials' responsibility towards the surrounding villages was going on and we came back Anyways, probably I am missing the sequence a bit. Let's come back to the first safari that was in the evening. We had booked 2 gypsies and were romaing around separately. Just before coming back...we took a turn and saw almost 20 gypsies and the gypsy which came first from the opposite side ..smiling...that was our second group. They were all full of joy...ecstacy....they had spotted a full grown tiger first..and had the previledge of watching it alone for 5-10 minutes. When we reached there it was fully crowded and full of NOISE. We waited for some time and to my utter frustration..I could figure out the tiger hiding in a bush but could not focus it as there were so mane obstacles. Mean while, some thing happened which can be a proof that tiger is by far the most popular celebrity in the jungle.
There was a grassland beside the road track and after that the a small ascends. The ground clearence of the ascend was more as there were only long trees on it and no grass. Our 'awesome' guide suddenly told me "sir..there is the tiger"..When I looked up and used the zoom I found it is a bear. But I was so busy getting a right focus on the tiger that I missed the bear.
Ultimately I got few out of focus pics. It was the time to come back. The light faded away....we followed the que of gypsies returning to the main gate. We were fascinated by the jungle but hear broken because we missed the tiger.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...in/photostream

We all came back to the resort and had some snacks and tea. Though it was End of April and the daytime is really scorching but the night brought the temparature down by quite a bit. We hired a private gypsy to see the surroundings of the place which is just outside the jungle. It was a playful night for clouds
and moon. They kept on playing the hide and seek when we roamed around the places in a open gypsy. It wasa wonderful experience to witness the cool breeze...the sound darkness...the amazing Kanha resorvoir...some spotted deers. Here we did not expect to see any wild animals but we enjoyed the journey thoroughly. We came back to the resort after 1.5 hours. We had our dinner and went to sleep. The next morning was awaiting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...in/photostream


The next morning safari was even more beautiful. This time we enetered Kanha Zone. The jungle is as beautiful as possible. As it was the pre-monsoon the clearence and visibility were good. The morning welcome us with a cool weather..chirping of birds...mating calls of spotted deers. We heard few alarm calls but they were false. We took a break near the KANHA NIC, had our breakfast there. Then we roamed around the grassland for a long time. Spotted a barasingha (though a child).

Some pics..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...in/photostream

a black Ibis


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/

The Kanha NIC

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...n/photostream/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dds_pho...in/photostream

After almost 3.5 hours we came back to our resort. I used to think that I have the luck of feeling the presence of tiger around me but not seeing it. After this experience in Kanha..I started believing it strongly. We talked to Mr Anil for some time and figured out that he organizes trek in the buffer area and camping. Hmmmm...I will have to go there once again. Anyway..its Bandhabgarh time now..after 3.5 hours.

Some pics of Kanha

nice descriptions... Great to see Hornbill :-) Lucky You...

Great photos! specilly I like pic. of Elephants playing in water.

Hey.. Thanks.. It's really nice to get comments and replies on my firt post. Those elephants were playing with the dust in the evening after their duty.

We were lucky indeed!! Thanks for the comment. Will post the bandhabgarh episode soon with the pics

Hi Duronto Jajabor>
Thanks a lot for the comment and the encouragement. Let me know how do you like the rest of the post. Bandhabgarh episode will be posted soon

I am eagerly waiting for your trip report Bandhabgarh with Nice photos.

dds000258, very good TR and too good photos!!!

I loved those and the elephant sprinkling water is awesome

You make me nostalgic about our own trip in Kanha... we were in three jeeps and did two safaris... morning and evening.... and only one jeep met His Majesty once (Oh!! yes, I was there). It was such a thrilling experience. I loved the jungle too, the barasinga, horn bill, kingfisher, chittal... all welcomed us. Nice trip it was.

But Bandhavgarh is still in my wish-list....so waiting to listen from you.

Good going....

Having experienced the beauty of Kanha we headed towards Bandhabgarh. We took the Kanha-Mandla-Barrasagar-Niwas-Shahpura-Umaria road. After Niwas you will have state highway 11 and the road condition is really good till Umaria. We started from Kanha after the lunch. It was a very uneventful but beautiful journey. Most of the time, specially after Niwas you will see Barren lands on your left and right. It is not totally a plain land but few ups and down added to the beauty. We crossed a small hill which was densely covered with trees without leaves. It looked like a comb from a distance. We stopped for some pics and got some amazing landscape and street shots. We reached Umaria by 7 and the Hotel by 8:30. Here we stayed near tala gate. You can stay in any of these small hotels because everyone of them arrenges safari and trek to Bandhabgarh fort.









This is a mirage created due to the heat in the afternoon.

I am not being able to attach any image.I am clicking the attach button but nothing is heppening. What to do?

It was time to enjoy the forest with highest number of sightings. We were all very excited and went off to sleep pretty early after reaching the hotel.

Sometimes we hear that a new day brings new luck. I realized it on that day. The next day started in a hurry. We had pre booked the ticket (and this is what you should do. Pre book your safari).We had a safari in Magadhi zone. I had noticed a very unique feature of Bandhabgarh safari. When you were pre booking you would have to give thhe names of all the persons and they will allocate the name in gypsey. So with whom you want to sit in a safari is not in your hand. We started the safari and just before entering the main jungle our gypsey had a tyre puncture and then there were some confusion over the which guide should sit in which gypsey. Eventually we needed to interchange our gypsey and later I realized that was the bliss.

The safari started with the muddy road and the jungle was not as beautiful as Kanha. We were welcome by a peacock, sitting on a branch of a tree.



It was mainly shrubs and bamboo trees all over the place and the place looked a bit dull in color. We were about to reach a forest office when the guard signalled something and our guide asked the driver to drive very fast to some particular place. When we reached there we saw around 20 gypsies were standing and all of them were trying to look into a bush, probably 20 meteres away. We got to know that a tiger along with his tigress are hiding. I tried o use my Nikon 70 -300 VR as a binoculars and whoa!!!!! I saw something moving! I looked again and again, behind the bush, something yelloish..with white spots...I looked again and this time I had the eye contact with Majesty! It was quite close through the lense and I saw two big eyes were looking directly to me. My first ever sighting and that too an eye contact. It was pretty difficult to focus but I got few shots.



We were literally very thrilled and we made away space for others and started waiting in a different place for him to come out. After waiting for sometime the guide asked the driver to go to a near by water hole. There was a kind of a mud wall between the road and the waterhole. You need to stand tall in the gypsey to see what is there on the bank of the water hole. When we were about to reach the place we saw couple of Gypsies standing and they were very thrilled by something on the bank of the water body. We reached the place. we stood tall. We saw a full grown Tiger standing on the opposite bank. The sun was on top of us so the lighting was great. What a sight..what a beauty..what thrill.For few moments (only for 2 or 3 seconds) the time stood still. The he turned back and started to walk..some time run parallely to the road. Then we did something which we should not have done. We started driving the gypsey along with him and kept clicking from a bumpy gypsey ride.



After a good 5 -10 minutes of sighting we came back to the forest office and had some tea. The ranger was furious as some of the gypsies, specially those carrying the foreigners, were still following the tiger. We were really thrilled and excited. We took another route. We saw few Neelkanth bird, one mongoose, lots of spotted deers. Few of the pics are :











The first safari was real good one and we quickly finished our lunch and were ready for the second one. This time in Tala Zone. We entered the jungle and saw the a paradise fly catcher. I could not click it as I spotted it at the last moment. But ..what is that....It looked like the paw and mouth of a tiger and yes it is. It was lying on top of a rock, behind some trees and other rocks. We got to know that it is a tigress with 4 cubs. But we did not see them any more clearly



Though we could not spot any more tiger but Bandhabgarh really came out with all it's beauty and colors.Be it the fort at a distance on top of the hill or the vast grassland, every thing was like a painting on a canvas. We heard couple of alarm calls but could not spot any thing.

We again saw lots of bisons, deers, herons and the majestic jungle. Here goes few pics











Sometimes you feel like the days are very short and then you realize you have already spent 3.5 hours in the jungle. Though it was April but the temparature was not unbearable. We had covered face (obviously except eyes :P ) with clothes and carried a lot of water. But believe me, if you hear the mating call of a deer or the alarm call, you will forget everything.

We came back through a road which is supposedly leopard and beer infested. The other group had spotted a beer on their way back.





Next day was our return. We had to reach Nagpur by the end of next day. We were sad because this trip was coming to an end but was thrilled, satisfied, overwhelmed by the colors of jungles. We wanted to get back to the jungle once more, before departing for Nagpur. Our last but a memorable Bandhabgarh experience - on foot will be on my next post.
Till the do let me now how do you like my post?