The MP Tour – Part 3

Kanha, Pench, Tadoba

Our first stop was Kanha where we stayed at the Kanha Jungle Camp. Our friends, Hari, Sangita our nephew, Advaith, joined us there. This was also Archana and Sandeep’s first ever jungle safari. The Jungle Camp is set at the edge of the forest. It is a large wooded property with well spaced cottages that give us a preview of the forest. There are monkeys on the property and we wake up to the sound of birds. There is a central social space and dining hall. Here, there are maps of the Park, information about local flora and fauna and the local tribal Gond art . We also met the team. Supriya, a naturalist accompanied us on all safaris and she had a wealth of information to share. She also had installed illustrations of the insects and butterflies that were a part of the jungle lodge campus.

We had 4 safaris in Kanha. Kanha is a beautiful forest that is a combination of Sal trees and vast meadows. We saw the Barasingha, one of the only places in India one sees this family of deer. Sandeep and Archana had beginners luck as theirs was the only jeep that spotted the tiger. We did see a lot of colourful birds, jackals, the wild dog and gaur.

Kanha has a museum within the park and an archway made up of antlers, which is unique and beautiful. The arch itself is about 15 feet tall and perhaps another 15 feet across at the base. It is difficult to estimate the number of antlers that went into making this sculpture. We stopped for a break and got some pictures.

We drove to Pench, with plans to stop for lunch on the way. Sadly, there were no rest stops and lunch was a makeshift affair, comprising of our theplas and samosas from a rare dhaba.

We stayed at the Pench Jungle Camp there. Pench was beautiful after the rains, so were the tigers in Pench. The highlight of our Pench trip was the endless time we spent watching a leopard and its cub playing on a rock in a clearing in the woods. It was simply awesome. Pench is also where Shankar and Deepika joined us on their way back from Panna.

Our friends left Pench to head back to Bangalore while we drove down to Tadoba.

Ranjit and Nandita who run Svasara, the resort we stay at welcomed us as we started the final sector of our safari trip. Tadoba didn’t disappoint as we saw tigers in the Core and Buffer zones. Choti Tara with her two beautiful cubs was by the side of the road. We also saw Veera roaring as she walked around the jungle searching for her mate.

After a marathon 13 safaris in the three forest reserves, we headed back to Mumbai with an overnight halt at Aurangabad.

Hope you enjoy the pictures shared in these links below –

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2QruY5PfZjXMuj2J8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QhpU66XxFvzTSjaB8

This trip was fun. First timers, Archana and Sandeep, seemed to have enjoyed it as well. We seemed to have got better and more efficient at packing for such trips and have triggered more friends who are now keen to join us on the road in the future. We look forward to the next trip.