After weeks of patience and an altogether new venue from that initially planned, we arrived at Nagpur station in the wee hours of the third day of December, to what was certainly a warmer climate than the freezing temperatures of the night journey! But it was by no means warm in the true sense of the word and the cold created an all the more difficult-to-control excitement! Nagpur is quite a quaint station, at least in the early morning hours, as compared to its metropolitan counterparts. I happened to meet an old acquaintance at the station quite co-incidentally and was to be informed later that we had both travelled in the same train. Having decided to skip morning coffee so as to have it together with the rest of the clan, Amey, Rujuta and I set off therefrom in search of some random colony, where Prahlad and Anuprita’s bus was to drop them. Modern day navigational tools proved to be instantaneously handy what with none of us having an iota of knowledge about the possible location of the said ‘colony’. So with Google maps guiding us efficiently, it was all but a piece of cake.
So now the vehicle was fuller with its 5 occupants and their respective luggage. But the tech guy was yet to arrive so we had to then idle our time at the airport. Bird sightings had already begun and if Amey may help my memory, we had already spotted some variant of some species of some bird. To hazard a guess, it was the parakeet and the dove that would have been the likeliest appearances. But that is not a thing I would wager my money on. In a short while, when neither of us had sighted any ‘plane’ landing, Akshay had already arrived and waiting for us at the exit and in not less than half an hour we were on our way, to the then most awaited place – the Restaurant!
We had checked with this particular restaurant twice since morning and we were turned away as it still would have taken another 15 minutes to open every time we asked. So this was in reality our third visit to the restaurant. Although we placed orders quite quickly, it nevertheless still took him 15 minutes to get the food. But we were hungry and we cared! Yes the dosa as I remember was horribly salty and had to be returned but supposedly the vada was better. Tummies filled, we set out finally for our destination – Pench National Park!
So now the vehicle was fuller with its 5 occupants and their respective luggage. But the tech guy was yet to arrive so we had to then idle our time at the airport. Bird sightings had already begun and if Amey may help my memory, we had already spotted some variant of some species of some bird. To hazard a guess, it was the parakeet and the dove that would have been the likeliest appearances. But that is not a thing I would wager my money on. In a short while, when neither of us had sighted any ‘plane’ landing, Akshay had already arrived and waiting for us at the exit and in not less than half an hour we were on our way, to the then most awaited place – the Restaurant!
We had checked with this particular restaurant twice since morning and we were turned away as it still would have taken another 15 minutes to open every time we asked. So this was in reality our third visit to the restaurant. Although we placed orders quite quickly, it nevertheless still took him 15 minutes to get the food. But we were hungry and we cared! Yes the dosa as I remember was horribly salty and had to be returned but supposedly the vada was better. Tummies filled, we set out finally for our destination – Pench National Park!
Pench National Park, located on the southern border of the centrally located state of Madhya Pradesh, which till some time ago, had boasted the highest numbers of tigers in the wild, is easily accessible from Nagpur, which is obvious from the fact that we chose the same route to approach it. But what is important is that it is a comfortable ride of around 2.5 hours and the roads are decent enough to not evoke a sense of criticism. The name Pench seems to have been clearly derived from the Pench River which flows through the Park. The Park has 2/3 of its area marked as a buffer zone while the rest remains notified as the core area.
The best time to visit any national park in India can be considered from two angles – comfort and sightings! Whereas the probability of sightings, of course of the most regal of animals – the Tiger – is high in the hot and dry months of summer, the winter provides the much needed respite from the heat and sun! The call is basically ours, though personally I have always travelled during winters only. In the summer months, one just needs to lodge oneself at some watering hole and wait for the tigers to come for a drink or a bath in the scorching heat. In winter, life is not so easy on the spotting front but the thrill of the chase is exhilarating.
Our stay was organised at a hotel which was only a few hundred metres away from the park boundary. During the course of the time till the first safari (it was to be during the afternoon slot), we were told that a tigress was spotted a few days back in the neighbouring Taj property during her nocturnal walks. This was very interesting and raised our excitement levels even further. The first safari was dry but we did manage to spot three jackals.
The second safari proved to be a watershed. It was chilly so we had taken blankets for our comfort. Split into two groups, we had two jeeps for the remainder of our stay. Spotting a mongoose is supposed to be lucky and we did spot one, scurrying across to hide behind the rocks. After a few more turns and bends, we heard calls. The deer (cheetal) and the monkeys (langur) make peculiar cries when they spot or smell a predator moving. The langurs have a general ‘whooping’ call and a more grunt-filled ‘alert’ call. The latter is what is important. The cheetal and the langur move in pairs, one having a good sense of smell, the other the vantage of height. So here we heard strong calls. At the same instance we met our other jeep. We decided to stay at a small distance and cover both the bends in the road. So we went ahead to cover the uncovered portion of the road, lest the tiger decides to cross from there. As we move ahead we spot her on our left, walking directly towards us, to the lake beyond the road and then the small hillocks. She spotted us too and decided to lie low for a while. It was the ‘collar-wali’ female who was rearing five cubs. She played in the grass and yawned and stretched her legs, all the while tracking our movements. The other jeep came within sighting distance too.
Maybe we undid her patience. She slowly got up on all her fours and began walking across her original path. I was on the back end of the jeep, closest to the gap the tigress would emerge from. She had her eyes on me (or maybe it was the jeep, but I can swear she was looking at me!). She continued walking. Gradually she emerged from the grass and onto the road.
Here was this majestic mother of five, still graceful as a tigress should be, the sheen of her coat glistening. She was within a few feet from me, so close that hardly anyone could capture her on camera. Her fur shone like a blazing sheet of fire when the sun’s rays hit her. I could not but gaze at her mesmerising beauty. But, she was hardly bothered. She continued to cross the road and while we adjusted our cameras to capture her walk, she vanished behind the foliage on the other side of the road.
That was the closest I had ever been to a tiger!
The remaining four safaris were spent spotting the other richness the jungle of Pench had to offer. We spotted a huge herd of Indian gaur and a few more jackals.
That was the closest I had ever been to a tiger!
The remaining four safaris were spent spotting the other richness the jungle of Pench had to offer. We spotted a huge herd of Indian gaur and a few more jackals.
Actually we spotted jackals on almost all safaris, leading us to conclude Pench is more of a ‘Jackal Park’. On our fourth safari, we took a new route, which for most of the duration remained hilly. In this part of the jungle, sighting ANY animal was a rarity. The driver did tell us that there is a male tiger resting in that area, but to no avail. The fifth one saw some action with strong calls coming in at the fag end of the safari. WE didn’t have much time left and had to be out of the jungle in a few minutes. The driver, just to ensure we don’t miss on a sighting, took a chance to check out the calls and then raced us back to the forest gates, just within time. The fact is that the calls were distant and not on our route. At the evening tea, we were informed that a few jeeps were lucky enough to see the ‘collar-wali’ with her retinue of five cubs and a leopard! What luck!
In this entire hullabaloo, there were other events happening outside the forest too. On our second night the same tigress from the ‘Taj episode’ supposedly walked across the road in front of our hotel during the night. We were told about this the next day though and we were quite livid at the hotel staff for not waking us up. They on their part felt that the comfortable sleep of their guests was of far greater importance. It was going to be our last night at the hotel. And we had just finished our sumptuous dinner. And retired to our respective rooms, with a few already hitting bed. Then came the unmistakable sound of a deer call. It was too close and clear to be ignored. Within seconds Amey, Rujuta, Prahlad and Anuprita knocked on my door, most armed with strong flashlights. Their presence was the only confirmation I needed about the existence of the call and I jumped up to join them in this nocturnal quest (a first for me). It was very cold outside and pitch dark! We followed the calls for almost a mile, all along being on high alert. It’s one thing to be all excited when you discuss such things and completely another to be actually groping around in the dark, on the outskirts of a jungle, knowing a tigress is out there too and that we can’t even spot her! Trust me, you would have had your hair stand on their ends! To be fair, I was outright scared and the only solace Amey was to offer was that the tigress ‘was not known to attack humans’! We kept walking till the calls subsided. On our way, we found a small herd of deer, as usual feeding on the roadside grass and a few hare and of course owls! We waited near a small stream, expecting the tigress to come there for water. After a while, we decided to move back into the comfort of our hotel! This experience is still fresh in my mind and the mixed feelings of excitement and fright that I experienced during that crazy walk are nothing less than monumental.
In this entire hullabaloo, there were other events happening outside the forest too. On our second night the same tigress from the ‘Taj episode’ supposedly walked across the road in front of our hotel during the night. We were told about this the next day though and we were quite livid at the hotel staff for not waking us up. They on their part felt that the comfortable sleep of their guests was of far greater importance. It was going to be our last night at the hotel. And we had just finished our sumptuous dinner. And retired to our respective rooms, with a few already hitting bed. Then came the unmistakable sound of a deer call. It was too close and clear to be ignored. Within seconds Amey, Rujuta, Prahlad and Anuprita knocked on my door, most armed with strong flashlights. Their presence was the only confirmation I needed about the existence of the call and I jumped up to join them in this nocturnal quest (a first for me). It was very cold outside and pitch dark! We followed the calls for almost a mile, all along being on high alert. It’s one thing to be all excited when you discuss such things and completely another to be actually groping around in the dark, on the outskirts of a jungle, knowing a tigress is out there too and that we can’t even spot her! Trust me, you would have had your hair stand on their ends! To be fair, I was outright scared and the only solace Amey was to offer was that the tigress ‘was not known to attack humans’! We kept walking till the calls subsided. On our way, we found a small herd of deer, as usual feeding on the roadside grass and a few hare and of course owls! We waited near a small stream, expecting the tigress to come there for water. After a while, we decided to move back into the comfort of our hotel! This experience is still fresh in my mind and the mixed feelings of excitement and fright that I experienced during that crazy walk are nothing less than monumental.
After the daredevilry of the previous night, the final day dawned and it was time for the final safari, but we still had no further luck other than the first sighting. The drive ended with seeing pug marks of a male tiger but not the creator thereof. A few deer calls, purportedly on the sighting of a leopard, but then again, not the reason of the calls. We even waited for a tiger show on an elephant, but still, no more sightings.
I find it amusing that, during the second safari both our jeeps met and at that very instant, we spotted the tiger. Maybe, God didn’t want any of us to feel bad that the other spotted and I didn’t spot! But all in all, Pench was a super experience! It was a new forest for me and I certainly liked it!
Thank you :)
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