Wild Bandipura (Part III)

Well, Part II will appear as a guest post in one of my favorite blogs, you people need to wait for that for some more time... Let me quickly jump to the next phase of my adventures at Bandipura National Park :)

After the boys left, had an intense birding session and finally had to rush to catch the bus to Dharwad from Ganeshgudi and just made it in the nick of time. Carrying two heavy bags, one with all the equipment and the lappy and the other with apparels and shuffling b/w buses was a big task to accomplish. All along it was just one song playing in my mind -
Musafir hoon mein yaaro,
Na ghar hain na tikana,
Mujhe toh bas chalana hai,
Bas chalte jaana hai!


Similar song in Kannada-
Ellige Payana, Yavudo daari,
Ekangi Sanchaari, Ekangi Sanchaari!


After a heavy dinner at Dharwad, I traveled to Mysore bypassing Bangalore in the KSRTC Rajahamsa bus service, well the ride was pretty decent and comfortable. Sleep walking into the Mysore bus terminus and after a cold face wash and breakfast later, boarded another bus towards Ooty to alight at Melkamanahally check post (Bandipur National Park entrance) where the property of JLR (Bandipur Safari Lodge) is located. I would be here for the next 4.5 days only to roam the jungles, eat and sleep, solo.

After a warm welcome from the staff, inspite of the long journey and sagging shoulders, I was feeling energized just because I was there where I wanted to be :) Probably, for the first time, I had carried books to read (EH Aitken's 'A Naturalist on the Prowl' and Kenneth Anderson's 'Nine Man-eaters and One Rogue'). I never wake up to the alarm ringing at home and finally it snoozes getting tired..., well here I didn't require an alarm to wake me, my senses were sufficient and I never missed the time all the days :) Such wonderful things happen when your mind, body, heart and soul are in the place they want to be. Waking up early, safari ride, bfast, break, lunch, break, safari ride, snacks, dinner, sleep was all that I did but the excitements of each day made it interesting. Due to an unforeseen cyclone effect, the weather was cloudy and rains were happening on and off dampening my spirit. Well, all that in my mind was 'Why the rains when I had to be there?' :)

Spotting Deers, Gaur are quite common in Bandipur and you get your share of them more or less in all safari rides. The first safari passed off peacefully w/o much activity in the forests and just as we were heading back to the resort, saw a big sloth bear passing just beside the main road in twilight. So far never been lucky with bears and it continues... Overnight rains were quite heavy and early morning the situation was more or less similar from which I believed would be a wet outing in the jungle. Good things do happen and in a span of 15 minutes, the entire cloudy weather cleared up and the sun shone like there was no tomorrow. Just as we entered the jungle and within minutes I could see a bright flash against a tree basking in the golden sunlight! It didn't take much time for us to realize it was indeed a 'Tiger' basking in the sudden sunlight available.

Just as we moved towards him, he moved inside off the track into the field keeping a watch on us sitting, rolling, sleeping in the shade of a tree. Every now and then he would raise his head, look around, gaze and us and again go back to his slumber. I was so excited that the first few beautiful frames of him were all shaken (I realized this only after few days).  If my readers recollect, just in the last post of Bandipur I had mentioned I was due for a long tiger sighting and the day had arrived. The beautiful, bold male that we were seeing is about 14 months and one from the successful litter of the current reigning queen of Bandipur, Gauri (You can see her in my Bandipur post of 2009 crossing the track).
-> http://adventureanytime.blogspot.com/2009/08/bandipura-wishes-coming-true.html

Tigers are generally elusive and especially cubs are more so shy and they avoid humans like hell but this little young chap was all grace and confidence and his stare so charming you just could not take your eyes off him. We enjoyed his company for the next 20 minutes till he decided enough was enough and walked away into the bushes probably to join his siblings there. 45 minutes later roaming other parts of the jungle, we came back to the same place to see him again basking under the sun and he was around again for the next 25 minutes with us seeing him roll, stare, doze and finally walk away not to be seen again. Along with me in the jeep was an ace photographer from Mumbai Vedwati Padwal along with her family and we thoroughly enjoyed the show but I thoroughly missed my boys during this.

Back at the resort, it was the hot news for the day and we enjoyed the discussions thoroughly. Wonder what happened next - the clouds and the overcast conditions were back and the next 2 safari's were literal washouts in spite of no other vehicle other than ours roaming the jungles in the morning and evening. That is luck and when it decides to leave you, you are just left nowhere!


Next, in my 5th safari, one cloudy evening just as we entered the park, Kiran, the driver shouted Wild dogs and so my luck continues with their sightings every time I'm in a jungle. It was a pair and probably searching for their pack and they kept us company for the next 30 minutes until we decided on the insistence of other people to jeep to move ahead. Wild dogs or Dhole's are very relaxed once they find the vehicles are no threat to them and they stick around for a long time till you are bored. In this scenario, asking the driver to leave them and move put me in jitters as these kind of opportunities are few and far.

So far, tiger, elephants, gaur, sloth bear, mongoose, deers were all sighted and the missing link was the leopard and to say I have poor luck with them is not untrue! Finally after extended stays, in my last safari at Bandipur, just about the time we had to leave the park got a chance to see the leopard crossing the road in a fraction of a second. All that I could manage was a shaky image of the ghost crossing the road, yet I was happy and content on seeing it in the first place. I know my time will come and the lady luck will smile upon me... :)

Meanwhile in all the dull safari's, birding was opportunistic and soon I realized the variety I could see and the list grew longer and longer much to my surprise and mind you all this from the moving jeep. Also was nice meeting Thomas, Vineet and others and had a good time with them.

Finally, time to leave with GB's of photos, heart-full of memories and with little intent to go back home. Rested for the night at Mysore and was back at home early next day thus ending my mega trip covering Ganeshgudi and Bandipura.


Travel partner - ever dependable KSRTC - www.ksrtc.in
Stay partner - Jungle lodges & Resorts - www.junglelodges.com


Bird checklist -
1 Oriental Magpie Robin

2 Yellow Wagtail

3 Jungle Fowl

4 Peafowl

5 Indian Roller

6 White Breasted Kf

7 Pied Kf

8 Hoopoe

9 Jungle Babbler

10 Common Flameback Woodpecker

11 Lesser Flameback Woodpecker

12 Streak Throated Woodpecker

13 House Sparrow

14 Scaly Breasted Munia

15 Rose Ringed Parakeet

16 Plum Headed Parakeet

17 Yellow Footed Green Pigeon

18 Spot Billed Duck

19 Common Coot

20 White Ibis

21 Spotted Dove

22 Laughing Dove

23 Brown Fish Owl

24 White Breasted Waterhen

25 Asian Paradise Flycatcher

26 Darter

27 Blue Faced Malkoha

28 Ashy Drongo

29 White Bellied Drongo

30 Racquet Tailed Drongo

31 Pond Heron

32 Red Wattled Lapwing

33 Indian Grey Hornbill

34 Eurasian Golden Oriole

35 Bay Backed Shrike

36 Long Tailed Shrike

37 Large Cuckooshrike

38 White Browed Fantail

39 Common Iora

40 Rufous Treepie

41 House Crow

42 Jungle Crow

43 Hill Mynah

44 Jungle Mynah

45 Common Mynah

46 Brahminy Mynah

47 Green Bee Eater

48 Common Hawk Cuckoo

49 Black Kite

50 Brahminy Kite

51 Black Shouldered Kite

52 Crested Serpent Eagle

53 Short Toed Snake Eagle

54 Malabar Starling


Wildlife -

1 Hanuman Langur

2 Bonnet Macaque

3 Black Naped Hare

4 Spotted Deer

5 Sambar Deer

6 Barking Deer

7 Grey Mongoose

8 Stripe Necked Mongoose

9 Wild Boar

10 Wild Dog

11 Malabar Giant Squirrel

12 Indian Gaur

13 Elephant

14 Tiger

15 Leopard

16 Monitor Lizard

17 Garden Lizard

18 Tortoise

19 Indian Rock Python

20 Water Snake (Un Id)

More photos on my FB pages here and here :)

Tadoba (TATR) Tiger...

Well, the Tiger land’s magic cast on us made us visit Tadoba once again. Last year we had an unsuccessful trip without sighting the big cat. This time, visiting in peak summer, we hoped things would change! This trip was full of adventures and misadventures with lot of filmy twists and masala added.

Part1 – Reaching Tadoba – Our tickets were booked well in advance in the 2AC coach of the Sanghamitra scheduled to depart at 9am and reach Chandrapur by 5:30am the next day. We hoped to drive straight into the morning safari ride. With news of “Laila” pouring in on the day of our departure, we left as scheduled keeping our fingers crossed. Comfortable seats, chai, coffee, biskut, chips, samosa kept us occupied and till Chennai there were no issues. Then started the drama… As Ongole and Prakasam and the coast were severely pounded by the Laila cyclone, the Sanghamitra was diverted from near Gudur itself, thus started the journey into the districts of AP.

From Chennai, Gudur (Nellore dt), Cuddapah dt, Dhone (Kurnool dt), Kurnool town, Mahabubnagar, Kacheguda, Secunderabad, Jangaon (Warrangal dt), Kazipet (Warrangal dt), Uppal (Karimnagar dt), Sirpur Kagaznagar (Adilabad dt), and then entering into Maharashtra! Bangalore to Secunderabad took a wonderful 30 hours (normal duration max 12 hours) and overall the train was delayed by 16 hours and the entire day was lost in travel. We had a good free trip spanning 8 districts of the hot, dry Andhra Pradesh. Innumerable consumption of snacks, chai, coffee, ice cream, watching movies, sleeping (as much as you want), roaming kept us busy and with the comfort of 2 tier AC berths we managed to pass out the entire 36 hours extended journey. Finally we landed at Chandrapur station at 9pm the 2nd day. (2 safaris went straight out of the window owing to “Laila” – o – “Laila”).

Part2 – Shalik came in his Indigo and took us to the MTDC at Mohurli, in between I got a chance to drive his Indigo XL, was amazed by the amount of interior space available. The weather was warm indicative of what we would be facing the next day. Journey sick bodies and instant sleep and we were asked to be ready by 5am for the safari ride.

Changes at TATR when we were there – The main tarred road from Mohurli to Tadoba was closed for free movement of the tigers (and as the man made waterholes are on the roadside and the dominant tigress had cubs. Good move for their safety!)

Now, a queue system is introduced to limit the number of jeeps entering the park. Only 20 jeeps are allowed during the day and evening rides at Mohurli and Tadoba. So if you have to enter, your jeep needs to be in the list of 20!

Now to reach Tadoba zone as the main roads were closed, an alternate road has to be taken that is about 20+ kms roundabout dirt track.

Our first drive was in the Mohurli zone and Telia dam area is the main attraction here. As the approaches to the main roads are blocked, it’s a kind of restricted movement with very few places to go around. Yenbodhi, Jamunjhora and Telia are the hotspots and all vehicles go around these playing the waiting game to catch a glimpse of the big one! Tadoba was supposed to be hot and we were feeling it now as expected. The temperatures were rising by the hour and we were moving between places, but roaming in the jungle has its own charm which no heat or cold can deprive you of and that’s exactly how we were. Painted storks, Egrets, lots of Peafowl, Brown fish Owl couple, Indian Roller, Treepie, Lapwings, Oriental Honey Buzzards and a male Shikra was all that we got to sight in the morning round. We were back at MTDC for a breather, some rest and food. The afternoon our rounds were in the Tadoba range and sightings in the last 3 rides there kept us excited.

The entry to the park was at 4pm and we had to travel from MTDC till the entry gate on the deviated route that would consume another 40 minutes. There were another group with us and Shalik had arranged an open gypsy in which 10 us travelled. The sun was really blowing hot with temperatures hovering above 45C and the breeze was like a hot dry blower ramming into your face as the gypsy sped along. Burning sun, hot blowing breeze, burning eyes and there was absolutely no respite from the heat. Standing under a shade of a tree was like heaven and that really proves why you need to protect the trees from being chopped down!

All the action in Tadoba range is at the waterhole (I can’t recollect the name…), the only source of water is the manmade waterhole that is filled regularly by the forest department. Cars, gypsies, sumo, a few of them had already gathered there playing the waiting game. Varieties of birds had assembled there, all for the water (If they could speak, they would spell out the importance of WATER). The heat had taken a toll and dried them out and the major activity was only near the waterholes. Waiting patiently, we got to sight…

Red vented Bulbuls (in hordes), Red Whiskered Bulbuls, Orange thrush (in multiples), Drongo, Racquet tailed Drongo, Oriental White eye (in multiples), Greater Coucal, Treepies, Brahminy Mynah, Golden Oriole, Common Woodshrike, Black naped Monarch (lifer for me), Sunbirds, Shikra, Asian Paradise Flycatchers and a few more. In the meanwhile I tried out the Canon 300mm F4 prime lens of Shalik and Oh boy! I was mighty impressed by the speed of the autofocus and the images were really good.

With the birds, came the spotted deer, barking deer, langurs and sambar deer all to quench their thirst due to the excess heat. It was sound all around; both the chirping of the birds and the sound from the machines and this continued for almost 100 minutes and then everything changed…

The birds all flew in frenzy; the sambar never got to drink water, with loud alarm calls he just zipped back the way he came, the langurs were busy issuing warning calls to everyone from atop the trees and it was absolute chaos (or you can say, just as we welcome a king, there was activity all around with sounds), the shutterbugs started off clicking… finally we got a glimpse of the majestic tigress coming to quench her thirst. She came straight to the waterhole watching all of us with a look of annoyance on her face, stood in front, frowned at the incessant clicking, dropped herself into the water to cool, started drinking all the while having an eye on us, sat for few minutes, stood up and walked away without any care in the world not even amused by the hordes of people watching her. Our gypsy being in the 2nd row and we had to squeeze to have a glimpse of the majesty and I even had to stand on the grills of the gypsy to get a few shots. It was like a stage play with all the participants playing their part to perfection and the guest of honor came and left, funny isn’t it! Sighting a tiger in the wild is no mean task and the sense of joy you get while seeing one cant be described in words. Every wildlife photographer dreams of shooting the big cats in the wild and its not everytime you get a chance to see one.

 

Probably this is how it is in the jungles of Vidarbha, MP and others up North (As you never get such time, nor chance down south as till now what we have experienced). It was exciting, sometimes irritating, moments of joy, disappointment, a mixed bag in true sense. Only hope visitors behave and not let things go awry. Back in the comfort of the resort and the AC room, and then finally rest for the “heated bodies” after dinner. Phew! Within the last 36 hours, we had experienced a lot of things!

Next day being Sunday and the morning safari was our last at TATR and we chose to go around Tadoba range once again. This time we were informed the gates would open only by 7am (not the usual 6am). We were there ahead and reached the same waterhole to play the waiting game again. By this time there were already many private vehicles assembled there (entry through another part of TATR who supposedly were left in early!). Next what happened was rude behavior with few vehicles opening their doors for air, some parking too close to the water hole, all in all a mess! We retreated back and the FD had to intervene after a phone call and chase all the vehicles out of the area. In the meanwhile, tigers being supremely intelligent animals, the tigress came and drank to her fill when the vehicles were chased out and left before they reappeared. Smart, isn’t it? Only 2 vehicles got to see this amidst the melee. We roamed around other parts of Tadoba and then retreated back to Mohurli by 11am.

Part3 – As expected our train AP express at 12:30 was delayed by more than an hour and we had to wait at the Chandrapur station. The temperature meter was showing 50C and that made us go frenzy on the heat. Ah! The train was full to the brim (with lot of unreserved passengers) and finally got some places amidst the crowd. The seats, cabin everything was blowing hot and this continued till almost 5pm when the sun had to inadvertently start his way down to glow another part of the world. Finally! We were gobbling up anything and everything that came by to keep our cool, liters of water together. The train chugged along slowly and reached Hyderabad station a good hour behind schedule. The weather in Hyderabad was similar to Bangalore and that lit up our faces. Went to the hotel for dinner right opposite the MGBS in Hyderabad and were taken by surprise when greeted in Kannada. After dinner we came to the bus stand and boarded the Airavat Volvo KSRTC bus headed towards home. 3 Idiots movie was being played and the words I could last hear from the movie was “Joy, Joy” and I woke up only when the conductor called out “Yaar ri… Hebbal, Hebbal…”, a good 9 hours later :)

You can contact Shalik Jogwe on 09420303020 / 09595936369 

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Bandipura - Wishes coming true!

May 1-3 2009... Just after the previous week trip to Nagarahole, this time it was Bandipura calling... and till date this has been one of our most wonderful, luckiest adventures in the wilderness! As usual we were stuck finding no accommodation at Bandipura (the FRH were as usual out of reach for the common man and the resorts are all very pricey…), finally we stumbled upon a resort called “Tiger Ranch” near to Bandipura. Well we had no idea what place this is and how good it is and the information on the net didn’t help us too much as there were mixed feedbacks on this. As we are all only male group, we decided to give it a try and reserved a cottage for 1 day over the phone (after seeing the place, we decided to continue for the next day). We left home by about 6 and reached Bandipura at around 11. Just after the office building @ Bandipura, a road cuts to the left wherein you need to travel for about a km and to the right you will find a board indicating the route towards Tiger Ranch and Ambuja Farms. Well there are no roads here and its virtually a mud path all the way down till Tiger Ranch. This place is an isolated area surrounded by jungle on all sides and you get a real good feel of staying in the jungle by putting up here. As only few guests were there, it was fine. Food was okay and after lousing around for some time we left for the evening safari to Bandipura. May Day and you expect lots of crowd and we could hardly manage tickets for the bus safari. The safari ride was infused with rains for some time and sightings of the Crested Serpent Eagle, Sambar deer and a pack of Wild dogs relaxing in the sun. Got the Jeep Safari booked for the next day morning and we lazed around the forest office for some time till dusk and went back to the resort. As it had rained earlier, it was a virtual mud slide everywhere for my Alto unable to grip the surface and few harrowing moments (it’s a city car and these things happen if you tend to use it like an SUV!) What shocked us all the more was the loud music and partying at the resort as the darkness engulfed and there were more guests also who had driven in! The cottages were fine (sufficient for bachelors and families please stay away!) for our requirements and we instantly decided to check out the next day after living through the evening atmosphere. There are 4 rounds of the Jeep Safari of 2 hours duration each conducted by the Forest Department @ Bandipura costing about 1300/- in total and you can book only if you can speak well and they prefer not to book rides for people who visit there for more of a picnic rather than passion! The 8 am Jeep Safari ride yielded sightings of Wild dogs again with some distant tusker sighting and the ever normal Sambar and Deer’s & the Stripe Necked Mongoose. No great luck this time too. Scouting for a place for the day we stumbled upon “Hotel Bandipur Plaza” just on the outskirts of Bandipur National Park (i.e., just before entering the park limits when driving from Gundlupet). We booked a cottage for 4 for 1300/- for the stay and then went back to the resort to check out and bid goodbye. The poor sightings of morning dissuaded us from taking the safari rides in the evening and so we decided on paying Mudumalai a visit in the evening. Realized after reaching there that the park was closed for census activity and we came back to Bandipura after a drive till Thorapalli. After lengthy discussions on hiring the jeep again or not, finally decided on booking the Jeep safari the next day again scheduled for the 8am ride. The cottage at Bandipur Plaza was sufficient for us to spend the night. We were up early next day with plans of a bus ride before the jeep safari and we managed to book the 6:45 am bus ride in midst of the big holiday crowd gathered. Langurs, CSE, Stripe necked Mongoose, Deer’s, Sambar and a few minutes later just near the Wesley road junction we could see many jeeps parked and lo behold! A leopardess was making its way down from a tree!! Still in the moving bus I could hardly manage still shots of the beauty, nevertheless what a start for the day! (We got to know that the leopardess along with her cubs was chased by a pack of wild dogs and they had climbed up here, but the cubs were missing!). A few meters’ down the road we found the pack of wild dogs too (Wild dogs are lucky sightings for us as in each and every place we get to see them while many people hardly get the chance!). All excited and charged up, we were again amidst the greens in the jeep ride passing by the same place where we saw the leopardess with faint hopes of her comeback but with no luck. 30 minutes into the ride and finally along the same Wesley road (Kambarlikalar junction) we saw a female elephant with her calf trying to cross the road. After 10 minutes with them and just 5 minutes down the same road we could sense something moving behind the bushes… and instantly realized it was a Tiger as we could slightly see the bright golden orange coat of the beauty. To our delight and surprise we also realized there were cubs around. We had to avoid a few jeeps and the buses by moving ahead and came back to the same place and then started the waiting game! Ahead of us was Mr. Krupakar’s jeep (the same person who has shot the “Wild Dog Diaries” and was once kidnapped by Veerappan along with his companion Mr. Senani!). All of us excited, sitting on the edge of our seats, praying no more disturbances occur, sensing one of our best wonderful wildlife moments just near and the environment suddenly vibrant, all eyes literally popping out … the wait was nearing its climax! Realizing the tiger moving, the other jeep raced ahead and we stopped a little behind and the Tigress peeped on us right in between the 2 jeeps to check how safe it was to cross the road! Sensing no danger at all the queen slowly walked across giving us a lifetime sighting so close by and then followed the little bundles of joy one after another joining their mom ahead. Full credit to the jeep driver Sunil who spotted the little ones first and ensured we got to see the family together. 20 minutes and all over the surroundings was back to normal telling us these are regular things happening, its only you people find it exciting! Leopard, pack of Wild dogs, Elephant with calf and now a Tigress with her litter of 4… What else could we have asked for? We came back to the reception office and as soon as the news spread, there were many people wanting to have a look at our lucky sightings and also popped a few questions like? Were you not scared seeing so close? What if they had attacked?... (Who has the time to think about these questions as we wait for that perfect moment when you get to see these majestic beauties up so close, and they maintain their distance until and unless provoked!) Still with the excitement soaking in, we checked out of the hotel and our way back till home were discussions only about the same! Hope this luck continues in the future too… Our sightings included all of these: Crested Serpent Eagle; Black Kite; Brahminy Kite; Brahminy Mynah; Chestnut bellied Nuthatch; Rose Ringed Parakeets; Peacocks; Indian Roller; White breasted Kingfisher; Green Bee Eaters; Flame backed Woodpecker. Common Langur; Sambar deer; Chital; Stripe Necked Mongoose; Elephants; Wild dogs; Leopard; Indian Tiger. Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Save Tadoba (TATR)

Dear All, Requesting all nature & wildlife lovers to sign this online petition against the proposed mining activity in the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve near Chandrapur, Maharashtra. The link - http://www.savetadoba.org/ For those who are not aware about tadoba, links as under: http://projecttiger.nic.in/tadoba.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadoba_National_Park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadoba_Andhari_Tiger_Project http://tadoba-tiger.blogspot.com/ http://tadobatourism.blogspot.com/ Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve - Chandrapur - Maharashtra

Tadoba calling..... I'm just back from the jungles, TATR - the pride of Vidarbha and.... This was the first signboard we came across and how true it turned out to be..

3 days / 30 hours in the jungle / 6 junglee trips and countless minutes of patient waiting and prayers... still the tigers were elusive in showing themselves up.. We had to be content with only the loud calls / roars very close to us... Still we had many firsts on this adventure, good close sightings of many species which are very elusive here down south and meeting of a good person working towards the conservation of the TATR (Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve), Mr Shalik Jogwe, an fellow INWian and a wildlife enthusiast.

The options to reach Tadoba are:

1. Take a flight to Nagpur from Bangalore and from there 4 hours on road to Tadoba.

2. Sanghamita Express (except Fri - train no 2295) - 9am departure - alight at Chandrapur station - 20 hours journey.

3. Jaipur Express (Thu & Sat only - train no 2975) - 1pm departure - alight at Chandrapur station - 20 hours

4. Ypr-Gorakhpur Express (Thu only - train no 5016) - 7.30an departure - alight at Chandrapur station - 23 hours.

5. Bagmati Express (Fri only - train no 2578) - 9am departure - alight at Chandrapur station - 20 hours.

The best option would be this....

6. Rajdhani Express (Mon-Wed-Thu-Sun - train no 2429) - 8pm departure - alight at Balharshah station. You need to book tickets upto Nagpur (3ac / 2ac only) but alight at Balharshah when the train stops for change of men and machinery (cleaning / guard change / staff change -- The stoppage here is as confirmed from the Railway station master at Balharshah). From Balharshah its an 20km drive to Chandrapur. This saves almost 5 hrs journey time.

With expectations high and soaring, our group of 4, Me, Raja, Guru and Nag boarded the 9am Sanghamitra express on a 20 hour long eventful journey. Travelling by train itself is a pleasure where you get to see variety of people - different languages, different styles, different beliefs and ethics, some very vocal, some sober, some funny, some irritating and the continuous chai-biscoot-samose walas and the state wise enunchs who do anything for money... and travelling for 20 hours was itself something to be remembered (none of the others had travelled such a long distance in a train except me....). We had few college students as our companions who were travelling without confirmed tickets!! but were sitting in our compartment. We had no idea of Shalik whom we would be meeting for the first time and with that anticipation ended our day... all of us hitting the berths...

Alighted at 5:30 am at Chandrapur railway station, Chandrapur is a small sleepy town nestled somewhere in Maharastra enroute Nagpur. Few minutes later Shalik arrived alongwith Praveen (our gypsy driver for our entire sojourn to be).. in an open white maruti Gypsy. After a brief introduction, knowing the unknown we boarded and gypsy and had to travel another 25 kms to reach Mohurli where our booking at MTDC resort was done by Shalik.

The ride took of well and 10 minutes later started the real catch - we were literally shivering in the cold! These gypsies have raised back seats with absolutely no cover and the early morning cool breeze hitting straight onto your face... All of our sleep vanished and we were jostling for cover and our faces literally ice cold. As it was past 6am when we reached TATR, we rode straight into the park for our 1st safari ride of the trip.

Long train journey, Chilly ride and now we were at the gates of the TATR with high anticipation - things were moving fast and the first signs of fresh tiger pug marks at the entrance raised our curiosity and everyone was looking everywhere for those elusive stripes! But as the poster above read, luck is all that matters and we had no idea where had we left our lady.

TATR has three main zones: Mohurli / Tadoba and Kolsa. Mohurli is the place where the resorts are and the entrance is located... A little further inside is the Tadoba range and further inside is the Kolsa range. There is a FRH at Kolsa also. Its almost about 30-40 kms these forests spread across and there are villages inside the park too and the road leading them passes right through the buffer zone. The advantage here at TATR is its open throughout the year (however few routes are not accessible during rains) The forest cover is also amazing with bamboo shrubs across one part, open fields, dense growth, dry open lands, prominent lake inside TATR, many artificialy water bodies created for the summers, hill ranges of Tadoba... it amazes as the landscape changes on your every turn...

Our 3 days stay there gallopped with only eating / safari ride / sleeping, gobbling our days...

Morning 5:30 am for the safari ride, back by 11am, breakfast / 1:30 pm lunch and rest / 2:30 pm evening safari starts, out by 7 pm / 8pm dinner and rest. Being in a jungle has its own advantages... as you have no distractions whatsoever.

Accommodation / Food:

We stayed at the MTDC resort @ Rs.900 per day (rates vary per season) and food cost extra. Currently stay options are limited at Tadoba to MTDC resort, Resort Saras and Tadoba resort. Still it was a good and comfortable stay at the MTDC. The FRH at Kolsa is also available with prior permissions.

Food is prepared at MTDC resort itself with prior notice (as also tea/coffee before the morning safari rounds). Comfortable / clean rooms are the highlight at the MTDC however food is a tad pricey.

Safari and Timings:

The park is closed on Tuesdays.

Entry time is from 6am to 9am (exit by 11am) and 3pm to 5pm (exit by 7pm).

Private vehicles are allowed inside with a forest guide. Camera fee / Safari fee / Guide fees etc.. are charged that are nominal.

An ideal safari round would be for about 4-5 hours with rounds around Tadoba and Mohurli region.

For more info see this link.

Other info: Good birding options around the MTDC resort too.

Patience is a virtue.

Certain behaviours are expected of visitors visiting the parks, please ensure that and stop acting wild!

Respect and care for the nature.

Park Charges and Rates: See this link.

Well our Tadoba adventure ended with no tiger sightings (all along we could hear only the growls / snarls all around us but could not spot them owing to the dense growth) but other wild life made their presence felt..

1. Indian Gaurs 2. Barking Deer 3. Sambar 4. Marsh Crocodiles 5. Antelopes and Spotted deer and the avians were not lagging behind...

1. Green Pigeons 2. Asian Paradise Flycatcher 3. White Eyed Buzzard 4. Greater Coucal 5. Treepie 6. Plum headed Parakeet 7. Indian Robins and the normal Drongo's, Egrets, Storks etc...

Well those who are interested in visiting Tadoba and savor its beauty can contact Mr. Shalik Jogwe who would be more than happy to arrange things for you.

His contact nos are: 93720 69911 / 94203 03020

Email: sljogwe@gmail.com / tadobatiger@gmail.com

Websites: http://tadobatourism.blogspot.com/

http://tadoba-tiger.blogspot.com/

http://tadobapictures.blogspot.com/

Pictures will follow......

Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!

Bandipur - Mudumalai - Masinagudi - Gudalur

Well, an unexpected trip and with all the luck in the world heaped onto us. Joshua invited me to join on this adventure he had embarked upon with his brother Ajith who was back home for his holidays. I could not say no to him as he has been of immense help to me, still I could not commit instantly due to some problems, finally I agreed on joining the brothers on this trip. For those who dont know, Joshua is my colleague cum friend cum wildlife guru cum birding shishya... We travelled in Josh's flaming red Zen to Masinagudi with plan of visiting Bandipur, Mudumalai parks and Josh's estate @ Gudalur. We had arranged for our camping at quiet corner in Masinagudi. Josh is only keen on wildlife and a bit in photography; so this trip was only for wildlife, wildlife and wild life...

We took off for a day on Friday and reached Masinagudi late Thursday night to catch on some sleep.

Day1: I have been through Bandipur many times but never got a chance to go on a safari ride there. So this was my first safari ride here and also my first joint adventure along with Josh and Ajith. The safari ride started in a cramped forest department bus and so did our excitement levels... Half an hour into the ride, just as the thought of seeing nothing special crossed our mind - someone seated in front of me shouted Tiger, Tiger!!! Immediately all 70 legs on board sprang and jostled near the windows for a glimpse of the royal Bengal beauty. Many people dont know how difficult it is to spot a TIGER in the jungles here in south (I know some people who are still waiting for their luck even after so many years roaming the jungles). I forgot to zoom my camera properly, hands were trembling and somehow managed to peep out of the window and get a shot or two of the majestic beauty trapped in the camera and in my eyes for ever. The photography was not so good as I was seated in the last seat and the tiger was seen in front of the bus and the window next to me was sealed! The majestic beauty was an adult female (named Gowri); as she saw the bus she stared upon us with a no nonsense casual disdain look (as if to say I dont care who you are), neither was she perturbed nor disturbed and after walking next to the bus for a few steps vanished into the bushes after giving a final disdain look towards us.

It was / will be a memorable sighting (the first of the TIGER) for me and for josh too (this being his first in south india). He started praising me because he thought with me joining him, lady luck started favoring us.. but you never know it may be the other way too...

After the morning safari rounds we came back to quiet corner for some rest till evening. In the meantime we paid a visit to the rehabilitation centre @ Masinagudi run by an NGO (who takes care of all deserted, wounded, limp animals that include dogs, cats, monkeys, horses, donkeys, camel etc...) We did four safari's in a day at Bandipur... (other than the first round, for all other rounds we got the first 3 seats as the ticket issuer became familiar with me). Overall in all the 4+4 safari's @ Bandipur and Mudumalai and Masinagudi put together over 2 days we spotted the following mammals and birds: Tiger (Panthera Tigris) Sloth bear Sambar Deer Hanuman Langur Asian Elephants (many) Mongoose family Spotted Deer Wild Boars Indian Bisons (a herd of about 25) Malabar Giant Squirrel Indian Hare Mouse Deer Hyeana (still under speculation - no photographic evidence) Jungle Cats Pack of Dholes Indian Civet ---- Peacocks (numerous) Peahens Jungle Mynah Bee eaters Indian Robin Pied Bush chat Red Whiskered Bulbuls Spotted / Laughing Doves and many others...

Day2: We had a slightly different plan for the day - after the first 2 morning safari's @ Mudumalai we would go to Josh's estate @ Gudalur (he had some work there) and then again return back for the evening safari's. The safari rides @ Mudumalai didnt let us down as we got to see the Dholes, Mongoose family, Elephants, Sambar during the rides. On the last safari @ Mudumalai, there was absolutely no sighting except the Spotted deers, so the driver allowed us to get down and view the Moyar falls (this comes along the Circle road safari route). Imagine in the jungle, on a safari you get off the bus and walk to the nearby viewpoint to spot the majestic falls. This was completely different than the one I had seen the last time near Moyar village. Its the same river that gorges down @ different places creating majestic sights.

The experience @ Josh's estate @ Gudalur was also wonderful with me getting wonderful birding oppurtunities along with Ajith who was my guide cum encyclopaedia as we roamed around the estate. The estate is full of tea and coffee plantations (last heard at a particular rocky terrain porcupines are resident here and wild elephants frequently visit this as well as the neighbouring estates). We were served to a delicious meal cooked by the resident cook there (he was more than happy to serve us and Ajith in particular as he had come after a long time).

Some mammals and birds that we spotted in the Gudalur estate were: Malabar Giant Squirrel Malabar Flying Squirrel (first time for me) Racket Tailed Drongo (another first one) Red Whiskered Bulbul's Velvet Fronted Nuthatch Scarlett Minivet (male & female) Flame backed Woodpeckers Common Iora Shikra Crested Serpent Eagle

We left the place with me continuously harassing Joshua to allow me for a few days @ the estate. Me and Ajith did what all possible to get near to the Malabar squirrel and the Flying squirrel just flew away just above our heads. After the evening safari's @ Mudumalai we were back @ Quiet corner for the much required rest.

Day3: Being Sunday and just half a day at our disposal, we went on trekking early in the morning around Masinagudi accompanied by local guides who know the place in and out. It was a good trexperience and we almost bumped into wild elephants twice. (Luckily they didnt notice us, so we could slip away easily). Now trekking / walking is banned in the jungles by the forest department. On our drive back after a heavy meal at Kamat, Mysuru we visited the Ranganthittu bird sanctuary and hired a boat all for ourselves for 500rs.

What we got to see here is as below: Open billed Storks Spoonbills

Night Heron Stone Plovers Indian Cormorant Grey Heron River Tern Snake Bird and colonies of Bats.

After this Ajith went back to Mysuru enroute Kochi, Me and Joshua drove back home to Bangalore. It was a wonderful experience with loads of luck on our side and some good sightings. We were only not lucky to sight the Leopard and the Black Panther. Aslo we undertook drives along the Moyar road and the Singara road (where we saw the Civet, Mouse deer, Hare and the controversial Hyeana). Last time also on a similar night drive I had spotted the leopard along with my friends. Another first was that since I bought a car this was the first time I was a passenger and not the driver. Overall a wonderful weekend trip it was and looking forward to many such adventures with Josh. Care for the nature and the nature cares for you!