Bandhavgarh

Central India is usually dry and extremely hot during the months of April and May. The trees shed their leaves and the otherwise dense green forest adorns a gloomy and dreary look. But this period also serves as a great time to visit Wildlife parks. The shortage of water and the dry heat forces drags the animals towards the artificial ponds to quench their thirst. April is also the time for summer vacations in schools and hence it is very difficult to find reservation (train and hotel) at the last minute. It is better to plan in advance.  

Bandhavgarh, situated in the heart of Madhya Pradesh, spreads over a massive area of 429 sq kms (divided in 4 zones) and is one of the biggest wildlife sanctuaries in India. It comes under the purview of Project Tiger apart from other 25 national parks.

Umaria, being the closest station to Bandhavgarh,  is only 30 kms away. The train from New Delhi starts at 1530 and reaches Umaria at 630 the next day. Having got our train reservation confirmed at the last minute we confirmed our booking at the Mogli resort. The train journey from Delhi to Umaria was quite comfortable. and the resort had arranged for a pick up from the station. Surprisingly, the resort turned out to be quite swanky. The rooms are quite big and can easily accommodate 3 people. The huge spread during breakfast followed by a dip in the swimming pool was something we were looking forward to after the journey. There was only one surprise in store for us. Since, we had finalized the plan at the very last minute we didnt get permits for all the zones and could only get permits for Makdi Zone. 

Day 1

We started out on our first safari in an open jeep accompanied by our guide/driver. Makdi is a zone which offers the best chance of sighting a tiger. Male tiger, Bokha and a tigress which is named after the nearby village are most commonly sighted close to the entrance gate of the zone. As we drove inside the zone, dark  clouds started enveloping the sky and winds gathered speed causing a dust storm. An unexpected slight drizzle helped settle the dust around. We drove around and reached another spot - Khada Pani, which is famous for spotting tigers. A halt and quietly listening to the alarm calls of the deer and other animals could not give us any idea about the whereabouts of the tiger. Bandhavgarh houses over 250 species of birds

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We spotted a few on our way viz. Lapwings, Bee Eaters, Indian Roller, Eagles, Wood pecker, Kingfisher, Drongo etc. A water hole on our way back, popularly known as Bhool Bhuliya, is another spot where the tiger is often spotted. We waited for a while at the spot and rushed back. Had we waited at the hole a little longer we would have had the best view of the tiger. Having reached near the entrance, we saw hordes of jeeps lined up to get a glimpse of the elusive cat and a stench emanating from the kill that Bokha had made a few minutes back. The tiger apparently wanted to cross to the other side to drink water after enjoying the meal but couldnt do so because of the huge crowd gathered all around. As per some guides, Bokha had come out a while back just to pose for the camera and went back into the jungle. This now seems true after having experienced Bokha's behavior on our last safari (more on that below). So, this was the second chance that we had missed out on in the same safari. But this was not the end; while coming out of the gate, with the evening light fading away, tourists had lined up outside to capture the tiger and tigress roaming outside the park. Disturbed by the huge crowd and noise, the duo escaped into the jungle bringing an end to an eventful day. 

Day 2

We started out at sharp 515 in the morning. We were all set to visit Taala zone but were surprised to see that the resort had booked us for Makdi zone again. Only later did we get to understand that the booking for other zones needs to be done in advance. Our guide Shukla ji looked very experienced and assured us that the chances of spotting a tiger are high during the morning safari. Having crossed all the areas where the tiger is likely to be seen, we headed back with very little hope left to catch a glimpse even in the evening safari. 

After enjoying a delectable meal at the resort we had set out on our last safari of the trip. With very little expectations, we were in for a surprise. Our guide Sanjay who is also a leader among the guides is really quick and has an incredible sense of how tigers would behave. 

Just half an hour into the safari and without wasting any more time we were able to spot Bokha, sitting calmly along the water hole. As, more jeeps started pouring in and surrounding the area, Bokha got a little restless and quietly got up and strolled back into the jungle. The cars also were quick to react and followed the tiger around the jungle. Meanwhile, another tigress was spotted on the other side of the jungle, quietly enjoying her afternoon siesta. While only the stripes on the tigress' body were visible from a distance, tourists tried their level best to disturb her enough so that she drags herself out of the forest. The tigress decided to stay put. 

Having dodged everyone around for a hour, we realized that Bokha wanted to escape to the other side and was scared because of all the traffic. The jeeps finally made enough space for Bokha to escape and we got first row seats to witness the sprint. 

Although, wildlife tourism has attracted a lot of people from all over the world and brought in a lot of revenue into the state. It is saddening to see the number of vehicles being allowed into the zone (32 currently which will be increased in the future). The tiger population is diminishing and the area available for the cat is slowly being encroached upon by nearby villages, I hope the tourism to these parks is more stringently controlled by authorities and tourists made more aware of issues regarding wildlife conservation. 

With this our sojourn came to an end and we headed back to Delhi. Would like to come to Bandhavgarh next year but would make sure to book well in advance and hopefully with a 400mm Lens..:)

River Rafting at Kundalika

It was rainy and gloomy Saturday in Mumbai. The usual problems of roads getting blocked, traffic jams, water seeping into the house had started creeping up. This is also the best time to visit the outskirts of Mumbai, enjoy the greenery and witness the newly formed waterfalls. We decided to step out and go for river rafting at Kolad, 3 hours drive from Mumbai. We had already booked a place to stay for the night and the package deal for rafting for our group of 5 people.

Luckily, one of us decided to get his car. Travelling by public transport in this weather could be a little difficult, if not impossible. We started out at 4 in the afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to see very little traffic on our way. We reached Vashi in an hour and decided to buy some booze for the journey and the rest of the trip. Samosas could probably be the best snack to enjoy during the monsoons. A couple of hours drive and we had already reached Lonavala. The cloud or rather the fog had descended on the mountains and the view from the car was simply breathtaking. Since, it was getting dark we decided not to halt and waste more time. An hour later we had taken a left turn from the Mumbai-Goa highway and were heading into a jungle. We could see a few lights as we passed a small village and were not quite sure as to where our Farmhouse was. Quite frankly, we were a little lost and a bit scared too. We tried calling the farmhouse for directions but our cellphones were not within the mobile network. Finally, we saw another village and I went out to ask for directions. After another hour of hunting in the dark we saw a little board with directions for Pooja's Farm and we were relieved.
The sumptuous meal at the farm house was a perfect welcome for us. The cottage at the Farm priced at 1000 bucks per person for the night.seemed to be a little expensive. The huge window on the front in the cottage offered a beautiful view of a lake and we immediately knew that it was worth the effort and the money we were paying. The cottage was big enough to easily accommodate 5 people.  Playing around with the long exposure photos from the camera spiked with some booze we were carrying made the experience of staying at this farm quite memorable.
The next day, we got up early and after enjoying an Omlette and Poha we headed out to the river. Kundalika is 12kms away from the farm and carries water from the dam. We met people from other groups who had come down from Pune. After the first few lessons on how to row forward and backward we were ready to hit the water. This was the first rafting experience for me and I was a little scared to start with. The flow in Kundalika is not the greatest and after a few initial tests we set sail. We were accompanied by our instructor who was guiding us on when to row forward or backward. We ran into our first rapid after a while. It didnt really turn out to be tough. On the way our instructor felt a little adventurous and decided that we should venture into the wild bushes and grab some Jamuns. This didnt really please the bees one bit as they attacked us. To avoid the sting we decided to jump off the raft into the water.

Going a little further, our instructor had plans to clean all the mess left from the bushes inside our raft. So, we met the next rapid head on and rowed further into the rapid filling our raft with water. This turned out to be quite an experience and a little scary for the people leading our raft. Now, we were all quite comfortable with the art of rafting and wanted to enjoy ourselves in the river. A few of us flung ourselves into the river and just floated around on our backs. We later realized that pulling ourselves back onto the raft is one hell of a task.
Finally, our expedition had come to an end and we, having made some friends on the raft, joined them for a drink afterwards. The Fenny offered to us by our new friends turned out to be quite smooth and we ended up licking it.
Back at the cottage, our meals were ready and we left for Mumbai after enjoying the delicacies. It turned out to be an experience I shall never forget and would certainly come back next time for some more adventure. 

Rajmachi

The concept of working on Saturday's was alien to me, but with the new job I spend most of my weekends working. I hardly get a chance of being anywhere remotely close to nature. After coming back from the office on Saturday I had decided that I would not let sleep take over and waste my Sunday morning. My friend Kirti from TCS, being free as always, had been making plans for going out on a trek during weekends. She was joining a friend who was joining a group of people for a trek to Rajmachi. So, I decided to join them.

Walking up at 6 on a Sunday morning reminded me of my school days when I used to wake up early only when I had to play cricket matches..:). Early morning treks have always been fun and I have always looked forward to such ventures. I had to reach Thane station by 715 to board the train to Karjat on time. I managed to reach Thane early, for a change, and enjoyed a cup a chai as it was just starting to drizzle. The platform no. 5 at Thane station was packed with groups of young people, eager to leave the hustle and bustle of city and enjoy a weekend, sunday rather, close to nature, in peace. I met Kirti and her friend at the station and we boarded the train. The train was crowded and there was no place to sit. The sheer joy and excitement among the travelers was quite evident. Finally, we reached Karjat and I met the rest of the group. I am not the kind of person who would make friends easily with anyone and hence was feeling almost alone on the trip.

We had the quintessential breakfast, Vada Pav, outside the station and started out on our expedition. A rickshaw took us to the place from where we start walking into the jungle, towards the Rajmachi village. It had started pouring quite heavily and I was in complete awe of the pristine green surroundings. With a few villagers working in the fields and children standing by the huts staring out into the open fields, this was rural India as I had always read and heard about. We decided to start the trek and were quite excited to see small waterfalls formed by the rain water.

We reached the Kondane caves after a few hours. The huge caves with scriptures engraved on the outer side of the cave is was declared as a Heritage site by the government and is preserved by the Archaelogical Survery of India.

The 50 feet high waterfall presents a great opportunity to relax and beat the summer heat.

A little over an hour from the Kondan canves and we reached the half way mark, a plateau. The plateau offered a breathtaking view of the hills with clouds(read fog) interspersed in between. The rain was making the tracks very slippery and I was thoroughly exhausted. I had decided to head back but was forced by the group to carry on and walk for another 40 mins. I somehow pulled myself and dragged for another half an hour. This time I was serious about going back. I could not bear the pain in my legs and back. I was told that we are very close to the village and we can relax and eat good food in the village. The lack of any edible items in my bag kept me going for another few minutes.

Finally, we reached the village by 1400 hrs. The group was still excited about going to the Fort. But I had given up and decided to roam around the village and click pictures. The poha and anda bhurji I had at the villager's house is probably the best meal I have had in recent times. It was totally worth the painful journey.

The village also had a few solar panels installed by a government agency for a renewable energy project. I spoke to a villager and came to know that the village had no electricity because their is no sunlight during this time of the year. This is a serious issue and I hope that we can some day figure out a solution to this problem.

After having relaxed for a couple of hours we started walking back. This time the rains had stopped but the tracks were very slippery, making our walk downhill all the more difficult. I was falling down quite often now and was literally covered in mud like the kid in the Ariel Ad. Somehow, we managed to reach the base by 1830 hrs and Karjat station by 1930 hrs. We took the 2040 train back to Mumbai and took back with us a lot of memories and injuries..:)

Ranthambhore

This summer i wanted to visit a wildlife sanctuary. Ranthambhore had been on my list of places to visit for sometime now. It is the last place where my friends would want to visit in the month of June. Going out into the jungle during summers is not considered as fun by a lot of people. My idea of fun is a little different. I might not be a wildlife enthusiast but I like to venture into the jungle and click pictures . Now, that I had time to visit, I was alone but still decided to go with a bunch of people from Junglelore.

We started out on 23rd June, the day cab drivers decided to go on a strike in Mumbai. Reaching the Bombay Central station to board the train was in itself a hell of a task. I was eagerly waiting to board the Jaipur Super Fast Express to reach Ranthambhore the next day and put my new Canon 55-250 mm lens to test. I was travelling with Gaurav from Junglelore and Alpa, who I had just met at the station. Finally we boarded the train at 1840. The food in the train lived upto the expectations and the Thepla's carried by Alpa proved to be a life saver.

Day 1

We reached Sawai Madhopur station at 1030 in the morning. The warm breeze was just an indication of the kind of summer heat that we would have to bear for the next couple of days. The resort was 10 mins away from the station. We checked into the ITC Welcome resort and received a warm welcome from the staff. At lunch, we met the rest of the people who were travelling with Junglelore and had flown down to Ranthambhore directly. Having rested in the room for a while, we left for the first safari at 1515. We were informed by the driver and our guide that the tiger reserve is a dry deciduous forest and spanned across 400 sq km and was divided into various zones. Tigers/ Tigress are normally numbered as per a convention and are spotted in certain sections ( water holes) in these zones. The open jeep took Alpa and me alongwith a family into the Zone 5. The summer sun and the dry heat can sap your energy in a while. Thus, it is important to carry a lot of water on the safari. We were able to spot a huge gamut of birds and animals at the sanctuary. The spotted deer, peacocks, peahens, langurs, treepie, sunbirds, kingfishers, drongo, woodpecker, mynas, blue jay are omnipresent and offered a lot of photo opportunities to the tourists.

But the tiger was still elusive to us. After hours of struggling through the backbreaking journey in the jeep, we were lucky to spot T19 relaxing in a water hole. A hoard of canters and jeeps started assembling around the water hole thus disturbing the lazy animal. T19 simply decided to get up and walked into the jungle to sleep peacefully and we decided to return to our resort.

Day 2

The monsoons had not yet reached North Western parts of India but the area experienced slight early morning showers which had made the weather quite pleasant. We decided to leave early next morning. This time I was travelling with the other group of people from Junglelore and Alpa was with Guarav. The cool breeze and the wet roads on our way to the jungle were a welcome change. We entered through the old magnificent gate into Zone 4, popularly known to be the territory of Machali(T16), meaning fish in hindi, and her daughters T17 and T18. Machali is a favourite among wildlife photographers and tourists and got her name from the apparent small fish like mark on her body. The small puddles of water created throughout the jungle made it very difficult for us to spot Machali. While the tigress was relaxing in the jungle and refusing to come out to drink water from a puddle near our car we were thrilled to click pictures of the ubiquitous Treepie.

After lazing around the whole afternoon at the resort we were ready to go for another safari in the evening. This time I was accompanied by Alpa and we decided to go to Zone 4 again. After the early morning rains, the scorching heat in the afternoon had dried the forest and made it possible for us to spot tigers. After travelling for a few hours and searching every water hole for any signs of Machali, we finally managed to catch a glimpse of T17 resting peacefully under a tree. The tourists in canters and jeeps had lined up to witness the beautiful animal. T17, often referred to as 'Mehlo ki Rani' didnt bother to move from her spot. It rained heavily on our way back to the resort. We were standing in the open jeep and got drenched in the rain. The moment is simply unforgettable.

Our last night in Ranthambhore finally offered Alpa the chance to enjoy traditional Rajasthani folk dance while Gaurav and I enjoyed our Vodka..:)

Day3

Although we had decided to visit the fort on the final day, a last minute change in plans helped us visit Zone 3 in the jungle. The zone offered a picturesque view with a lake and egrets, herons etc. This safari proved to be our most successful safari of the trip as we watched T17 come very close to our car, stare into the camera a few times, check the territory and silently make her way back into the jungle.

We were not going to let the poor animal live peacefully. So, we alongwith other jeeps and canters followed her into the jungle and spotted her lazying around in a water hole. It was a wonderful sight and fulfilled all our wishes to catch a glimpse of this animal which is very close to extinction, if we dont act now. On our way back towards the gate we got lucky again and spotted T19 sleeping peacefully while the photographers were having the time of their life. :)

Our trip came to an end and Alpa and I boarded the train from Sawai Madhopur station in the afternoon taking back some wonderful memories and pictures with us.