A
birding/tiger trip Travelogue
Tadoba-Andhari
Tiger reserve, Maharashtra, India
Dates:
12 to 14 April 2015
Travelers:
D Joshi, Sangeeta Joshi, Shivani Joshi
Photographs:
Nikon P 600 ultrazoom, point and shoot. Birdwatching setting.
Trip
Arrangements: Natureindia.
Going off the grid for a few days is
every city dwellers dream. To be in a thick jungle without being connected to
the mobile phones, work worries, television and newspapers is like being in an
alternate universe. So when the Missus gently reminded me about the yet – to –
be - ticked item on the bucket list i.e seeing the big cats in the wild, it
wasn’t a very difficult decision to jump into the Tadoba trip when the announcement was made by
NatureIndia.
Needless to say, most of our friends,
thoroughly spoilt by Bangalore weather, were loath to even entertain the idea
of visiting the central Indian plains in the hot month of April.
But then there is a time and season
for everything. Birds are to be seen in winter at dawn and dusk. Reptiles and
amphibians are best encountered in peak monsoon. For sighting tigers, it has to be the hot
season, for the simple reason that they feel thirsty and visit the water holes
frequently where one can lay in wait, camera in readiness. So the hotter it is,
the better it gets as far as tiger spotting goes.
We chose the season very carefully,
but everything seemed to go wrong for us on the weather front from the word go
as we boarded the Nagpur flight on 12th of April. When we landed at
the Sonegaon airport, we were greeted by a cool breeze and a wet runway. As we
sped southwards on the four lane highway (incidentally the NH 7 which we
Bangaloreans call Bellary Road and which actually passes from Varanasi to
Kanyakumari via Nagpur) the lush green countryside was almost mocking those of
us who expected a dusty, hot and arid landscape. It had been raining and we couldn’t have asked
for better weather if we were to be going on a picnic.
The Breakfast stop was at the traveller
friendly Hotel Asoka at a place called Jam, which was a nice midway halt in our
180 Km journey. At this point we turned on to the state highway which in turn
took us through winding but metalled roads passing through quaint villages. We
reached the village of Moharli and onto our ‘resort’ called Hornbill Resort.
The choice of name is unique, since every other resort there has the word Tiger
in it, and interesting since the name of our resort was not actually mentioned
anywhere!!
 |
| Hornbill Resort, Moharli |
Today in the world of internet and Tripadvisor,
it is possible to have all the information about where to stay and what to
expect, even before one has set foot out of the house. The more one surfs, the
more number of choices one is confronted with. All have amazing websites and reviews.
And all have almost equal number of very satisfied and very dissatisfied
customers. One actually wonders if they are talking about the same property.
One could actually turn into a bundle of nerves when deciding to book a particular
resort. What if it does not turn out to be what it promises to be? Worse still, what if one misses out on a
“deal” which is cheaper and better. In fact this commitment phobia applies
almost to everything else today. Am I really committing to the right phone,
camera, TV, internet pack, cable pack….partner!?@#
Anyhow that’s why we decided to take a
leap of faith several years ago and hitched our wagon to Adesh and Mandar of
NatureIndia. Knowing that they would select the “right” place, and everything
else.
When on a nature trail, though
comforts are welcome, they are not the central theme. It requires a specific
sense to understand that a double room with bathroom can be made infinitely
more efficient if the wash basin is outside the bathroom. Especially if two or
three people have to get ready to move before sunrise. Having multiple charging
points on wall sockets in a room is far more useful than having paintings hung on the walls. Carrying portable
breakfast at 0530 is far more meaningful that a lavish spread at 1030 hrs.
Thankfully we were in the able hands of our very well intentioned local
resource person called Manish who managed the admin arrangements and the
resort, which more like a homestay I would say.
After lunch we settled in our rooms
and were quickly ready for the afternoon safari. The forebodings were not good
as we crossed the group who were checking out after a stay of two days and no
tiger sightings thanks to the wonderful weather and plentiful rains!!
The entry formalities at the Moharli
Gate, did take a little while, but soon we were driving through the Andhari
forest (the outer layer of forest area ensconcing the Tadoba forest) which has
a metalled road running right through. In fact there is a scheduled state
transport bus which services some villages still located deep inside the
forest. The mixed deciduous forest was
looking like a lovely painting in the golden evening sunshine against the
backdrop of distant low dark clouds.
Majestic teakwood trees with the large
leaves lined the road and every now and then a grey jungle fowl would scurry
across the road. As we learnt, the Sal
forests in the northen part of the country support the red junglefowl. We
turned into the kutcha road and headed towards the Teliya dam and lake. We spotted a large flock of Lesser whistling
teals at the lake. White and black Ibises were also on display. We encountered
several wild boar, chital, sambar and barking deer. The prey base of this
forest seemed quite healthy even to the casual observer.
By dusk we made it back to the resort
and after a refreshing cup of tea, sat down for the customary introductions
with the group members. The discussions which followed regarding various
subjects related to nature and tigers and birds is actually the real reason why
we prefer to go birding with this group. We gleaned interesting facts about
tiger conservation. We also learnt that the Black Panther is actually just a
leopard with melanocytic overload. And that the white tiger is an albino form
of the regular Royal Bengal Tiger found in India. Incredibly all white tigers
in existence are bred in captivity from just one forefather called Mohan who
was found by the prince of Junagarh.
Just as we were finishing dinner,
Adesh heard the call of the Savanah Nightjar. We tried to spot the bird in the
open field behind, but it seems it had decided not to come down from its tree
perch. As we learnt, nightjars roost on the open field by day and hunt from the
tree perch by night. They are so sure of their camouflage in broad daylight
that they don’t bother to move even if you are standing inches away from them. Flying
around with its huge jar like mouth open, not only earns it the name, but also
seems to be a unique strategy to catch flying insects.
It started to drizzle and must have
rained through the night. It was cool and rain soaked forest that greeted us on
the morning safari. The safari plan was very simple. Go to any of the water
bodies, where the tiger would be expected to come for a drink, park the jeep
and wait. Obviously that strategy was not going to work for us on this
beautiful cool rainy day… We had to be content with excellent views of
the jungle bush quail, yellow footed green pigeon, Indian roller, magpie robins,
Tickells blue flycatcher and oriental honey buzzards. Presently news came of Shivanis jeep having
seen the Brown Fish owl.
Owls, especially the large ones, are
known to inhabit specific areas and are a good consolation prize when tiger
sightings are not happening as expected!! So we retraced our steps and went to
the specific spot and found that the reliable owl had decided to take a hike. We
stuck around and our patience was rewarded with the sighting of a herd of Gaur
(mistakenly called Bison) which are basically enormous cows which appear to
wear white stockings and look decidedly wild. One was actually hoping to have a
NatGeo moment with a striped feline suddenly charging onto the unsuspecting
Gaur. Alas no such thigh happened. The ten strong herd of Gaur came to the water body, had their fill and
moved on.
But suddenly there was rustling in the
bushes nearby and a full grown sloth bear made an appearance and crossed our
vehicle barely at a distance of 20 yards. In the excitement of the spotting and
trying to click a photo, one failed to appreciate that this was a 400 pound beast
with significant claws looking at us in an open jeep. The trip was suddenly
looking quite worthwhile.
We headed back for lunch after picking
up the customary T shirts and fridge magnets at the souvenir shop near the park
gate. Afternoon brought some clear skies and heat, and along with it a faint
hope that the big cats would be thirsty by now and make an appearance at the
water holes.
We kept coming across various kinds of
deer on the way and large troupes of black faced langur monkeys; differentiated
from macaques by the presence of long tails. The highlight trees of the forest
included the “ghost tree” so called because of its nude white appearance, now
displaying a blush of red on account of recent rains. The crocodile bark tree
actually lives up to its description. The much talked about Mahua trees were in
full bloom, though the freshly fallen flowers are devoid of the intoxicant which
appears only after a period of fermentation.
Suddenly we saw our driver and guide
getting excited as they saw a jeep which had stopped ahead. A large male
leopard had decided to settle down for an afternoon snooze barely 30 yards from
the road. Within minutes about 25 jeeps descended on the spot with barely
controllable tourists trying to get a view. The leopard lazily went about his
activities. Presently he decided to move on. But not deep into the jungle!! He
seemed totally unfazed as was to be expected from a leopard; rather he
displayed the behaviour befitting a tiger. In fact he decided to head exactly
for the road where the jeeps were standing, and with complete disdain walked
past the last vehicle and crossed over to the other side of the road and into
the shrubbery. For most of us it was a true NatGeo moment. Mandar who was in
the last jeep with the worst view till now, got the best video of all! As
usual.
The adrenaline rush that accompanied
the few moments when the full grown male leopard walked towards the jeeps can
hardly be put into words. It also makes it amply clear that the wildest of
animals are hardly bothered about us if we don’t actively stand on their tail
or threaten their cubs.
The pre-dinner discussion was
obviously full of leopard stories. There was also a special occasion. That of
Adesh’s birthday celebration, made more special when Manish produced a cake
decorated with…you guessed right..birds. As we were gorging on the cake, all
hell broke loose. There were gusty winds resembling a hurricane and deafening thunder.
Several bolts of lightning fell very close in the fields and we were convinced
that we were going to be next. We were getting the true jungle experience, with
all its unpredictability. The power
tripped and the torrential rain went on through the night.
We woke up to a grey morning and it
was still drizzling as we headed for the welcome cup of hot tea. Someone asked
Adesh if we are still going to go ahead with the morning safari. And he said
something which embodies the whole spirit of birding/naturewatching. “Rain or
no rain. We are heading into the forest and going to enjoy the trees, the flowers,
the birds or simply the beauty of the forest.”
Luckily the rain let up as we headed along
the Chandrapur road. It was an exhilarating experience as we drove into the
misty morning, surrounded by the wet forest, the cool breeze on our faces in
the open jeep.
After the entry formalities at the
gate, we entered the buffer zone forest. This is an actual forest complete with
its own lake. We had some nice spottings of the white browed bulbul, jungle
owlet, black shouldered kite and the stork billed kingfisher on the way. As we
turned towards the Ambazari lake, things started happening.
Our guide spotted a leopard sitting on
a tree about two storeys high. Excited clicking ensued and we were soon joined
by three more jeeps. Suddenly one of the guides noticed that the leopard was
not looking at us but at a spot directly below the tree. It didn’t take us long
to decipher this extraordinary spectacle of nature playing out right in front
of our eyes. There was a tiger sitting there playing the waiting game. Was he
really thinking of making a meal out of his distant cousin? After several
moments the tiger got up and moved closer to the tree. Someone actually noticed
the leopard wetting his pants and then we saw him climbing up the tree higher… Just
to be sure that he had put enough distance between himself and king of the
jungle below. Was the predator going to become prey today?
What happened instead was that the
tiger lazily groomed himself for a while and then got up and disappeared into
the jungle towards the lake. One group of jeeps decided to spot him at the
other end of the thicket, which they did, Mandar included!! Our guide decided
to stay put. What we saw then was even more amazing. After a few safe minutes,
the leopard climbed down the tree like a nimble cat. He stopped at the base of
the tree, and picked up what had probably attracted the tiger in the first
place. It was his kill (a deer) which he picked up and disappeared. Now we know
firsthand that the King doesn’t feed on leftovers!!
So all in all it was quite a
successful trip, weather notwithstanding. To paraphrase Paulo Coelho, if you
really badly want something, the universe will do everything to make it happen
for you.
Travel
tips:
Tadoba
is located about 180 Km south of Nagpur.
Park
is open year round but tiger sightings are supposed to be more frequent in the
hottest months.
Safari
timings are strictly followed.
Even
if you book a safari online, you have to physically show the ID that was
mentioned at the time of booking.
There
is strictly no walking allowed even in the buffer zone.
Personal
vehicles are allowed inside the park. Guide is compulsory in all vehicles.
Park
is closed on Tuesdays but buffer zone is open.
