'The Jungle is a place
where peace rules, colors ignite, curiosity arises, imagination takes off, and
solitude implies.'
Tadoba is where
tigers rule. A place for birds and an academy of wild animals! Tadoba is
also a home to some of the endangered species of the universe, such as tigers, jungle
cats, leopards, etc. Also, some unique birds live here. Tadoba is a jungle
where a single call from a bird or a monkey or a deer and a suspicious
atmosphere is created. Tadoba never disappoints.
Nested in eastern
Maharashtra, Tadoba is one of the national parks in India which is a home for
tigers. The reserve was named after the deity Taru, who is worshipped as Tadoba
and the Andhari River. I was visiting Tadoba for the fourth time.
The journey started
when I took my seat in the twenty-eighth row of the flight to Nagpur. We were
flying with -GO AIR. My friend, Shreya was seated way up front. The journey was
of 1hour 15 minutes.
We landed in Nagpur
at 8:45 AM - a bit early than the scheduled time. The cars were pre-arranged to
take us to our breakfast destination - SANGAM. We were early than the rest of
the group travelling by the train, GARIBRATH. We ordered our breakfast, which
came in plenty. And soon we were joined by the rest of the group. After
breakfast, one of us saw a special jalebi known as Khava jalebi. We tried that
and it was really tasty. We started the journey of two and a half hours by Innova.
We reached our resort
Chava at 12'o' clock in the afternoon. Our first safari was at 2'o' clock. We
had our lunch hurriedly. And then went to our separate rooms to change for the
safari. The resort where we were residing is situated very close to the jungle.
The resort owner had a German shepherd named Alina.
We left for the first
safari at 1:45 PM, but once we reached the gate, we noticed that we were very
late and way back in the queue. There were at least eight gypsies in front of
us. Rats!!!!! Better remember to be early next time. 'Better be early than
late.' Our safari guide was Mangesh. There were two families in my gypsy - my
father, Amol, my mother, Shilpa, and me. The second family was Radhika, a cute
three-year old girl , her father, mother, and her brother. The journey started
as usual with pictures of some birds. Now I know how we are supposed
to enjoy nature as a whole and not just go to a national park to see a tiger
and if we don't get tiger sightings, we are supposed to enjoy birds. But I know
that in the back of every camper's mind there is that urge to see a tiger and only a
tiger. That is why we get upset if someone else sees a tiger and not us.
We
now started moving
towards Lake 97 because we had got a tip that alarm calls had been heard
from
there. This area belongs to the one and only tigress - Maya or P2. She
had
given birth to three cubs in June. Her first surviving litter! As we
reached
the 97 area, Radhika started crying due to ear pain; so we left from
there
early. We met some more gypsies and gave them the tip that we had
received. As
soon as we were out of the area, Radhika stopped crying. So we went back
towards
Lake 97. Luckily we had managed to get a few photos of different birds
before
she started crying again. But the second time that we went near the
lake, the
ear pain got so bad that she literally started howling with pain. Then
all of a
sudden all the other people present there started looking at us with
these
looks. The thought 'if looks could kill .' came to mind. So we got out
of there as soon as we could. Since we couldn't go back in
there the guide suggested that we could visit the Pandharpauni lake
which was
also included in Maya’s area. Even though my father was convinced that
Maya was
still at lake 97, he still agreed to pay a visit to the Pandharpauni
lake. As
we reached there, we saw nothing but just some deers grazing peacefully,
some
peacocks wandering here and there......also peacefully. So we left. We
then went
to the Tadoba lake to see if we could sight a crocodile. Instead, we saw
a lot
of........birds!!!!! And ,as we were leaving the driver spotted a croc.
Finally,
we’re talking! A lot of 'clicks ', and lot of 'awes ' followed.
A baby deer was killed by her. Suddenly my father climbed on top of the gypsy to click some close-up photos. Though we had missed seeing the kill, the people who witnessed the chase, missed the prey being dragged away
Our guide said that seeing a kill is common, but drag is rare. I was really excited to tell all of my friends that I had seen a tiger up so close that too in such a rare moment.
On the way back we found another predator of Tadoba - wild dogs. Wild dogs are one of the most ferocious predators, they attack in group and tire the prey till the point where it can't walk anymore. Then they start eating it alive :(
We reached the resort
in a few minutes. My friend Shreya asked me what I saw as soon as I got down from
the gypsy. I told her that we saw a drag. Later, we came to know that the other
gypsy from our group wasn’t able to get any photos of the kill. I felt really
bad cause they were able to see such an awesome chase but weren’t able to get
any photos of the unique experience. But then eyes are nature’s camera and the
photos taken are stored in our memory.
2nd SAFARI
Our
second safari began with a lot of hopes and excitement. We had seen Maya the
other day dragging a kill. It was 11C outside on the February morning. The cold
misty air was trying to tell me something; something that, I just couldn’t
understand. We had decided to first pay a visit to Lake 97 and then the Pandharpauni
Lake. The gypsyies roared to life as we began our journey. Everyone was excited
to know that our guide was once again Mr.Mangesh. We were 9th in the
line. Again!! Wow two safaris in row 9th in line. We entered the
peaceful jungle with our hopes high, luck found and sleep forgotten. The
journey started with photos of birds as usual. Still annoying! I quickly noted
down their names in my memory, but forgot them later in the journey. You’ll
know why aheadJ. We reached 97, but
there was no movement. There were pug marks leading in so many directions that
my head was spinning faster than the gypsy’s wheel. But luckily, our guide knew
what they meant and surprisingly, so did my father. We were chasing across the
park when the clock turned 8 and it was breakfast time.
There
is
this place called Khatoba. We had puri for breakfast with ketchup and
some
pickles. Luckly our resort owner Mr.Alok had provided us with dustbins
in our gypsies so that we don't litter in the jungle. We ate our
breakfast hurriedly and used the bio-bathroom. We then met
up the rest of our group there; got news that there was no movement
here. We
took some photos of some babblers and black-headed oriole
We decided to go to Telia. I always wanted see Telia and wondered if it looked same as they showed on TV. So I guess it was like some kind of weird coincidence. We warned the rest our group and one gypsy decided to follow us. Let me tell you something - Telia definitely is nothing like the one they show on the T.V. It’s more beautiful. We were going in the direction of Jamun-Jhara.
We reached Jamun-Jhara and got the message that calls were heard from there. Like I told you guys earlier-‘Tadoba is place where a single call from a deer or a monkey or a bird - and the atmosphere is phenomenal. ‘Says a famous person, me JJ. The other gypsy decided to try their luck elsewhere. As soon the other gypsy left, we heard a call from some birds. The atmosphere was electric. Each moment was hard to grasp and even harder to let go. Then suddenly HE emerged from woods like a prince from above.
We finnaly got to see Honorable Bajrang. You could hear shutterbugs clicking and Chinese style photography was on. He drank some water then went in the pool to cool off. Photos were clicked. Flawless expressions made. And to add to our luck he was joined by the legendary Sonam one of the 4 sisters of Telia and their three beautiful, cute cubs.
They
all drank water which was a photo shoot moment all four drinking water in a
row. Then one of the female cubs which I listed as the bravest went and said
‘hi’ to her father ;played with him for couple of minutes and then went back to
her mother. This was certainly one of the rarest photos ever taken. Soon all of
them said ’hi’ to their father and they left. Sonam was the last to leave.
I
was very excited to tell everyone what I saw and sad at the some point because
I have been in their shoes before. Filling my stomach only on birds was really
hard for me. But I didn’t want to push them too far so I was hoping that even
they had some sightings.
We
reached
the gate just as the clock ticked 11. The guide got down and we bade
him good will and left. We rushed back to the hotel to spread the good
news. We
were greeted by a pair of curious eyes, Omkar. He was really excited to
know
what we saw. I first asked him what he saw and he replied nothing. I
felt very
bad to tell him that we saw a family. But I didn’t have to do that. It
seemed
that my father was unable to hold this information inside him and
already had let the cat out of the bag before we could even get out of
the gypsy.
We
entered the dining hall and my dad and Guru Uncle were sharing the photos from
this remarkable and memorable journey. Everyone was jealous that we saw a tiger
family and they didn’t, but the truth really is that-‘nobody can assure you a
tiger and that’s the fun of it.’
3rd safari
Our
last safari had been bliss! Can you imagine getting to see a whole family of
tigers? Till this time, even I wouldn’t have been able to. For our afternoon
safari on the 2nd day, everyone else except us had decided to go to
Telia to see Bajrang. But our gypsy was going to stay near area 97 to “experience
Maya” once again. We had seen her earlier in our first safari, so it would have
been awesome if we could see her again. We started our safary as always - Applying
sun tan, covering our faces with our scarves, grabbing our caps, and parents
indicating that we were good to go. Moreover, we also had some special duties,
such as taking binoculars without fail, taking the bird book, etc. We started
the journey with bags of happiness as we realized that our guide was once again
Mr. Mangesh. As before, we started the journey with hopes and excitement.
Soon
we reached the gate and entered the jungle. It was getting annoying that every
start of a new safari had to like this - first we would be greeted by birds for
an hour or so, and then we would be greeted by monkeys and deer. I mean is the
earth going to crash if we had an unusual greeting from a tiger perhaps right
at the start! I think if anyone had a tiger for greeting they would just fall
in love with Tadoba and visit consecutively like we do. I was getting a bit
dreamy when we got a tip that calls were heard from Embodi. So we rushed to
this place. Honestly I have come to Tadoba so many times but I don’t remember
one name from another. Weird!!! We stopped at place which I can only describe.
But hey isn’t that what I’m supposed to do actually. Guess I’m getting a little
dreamy writing this blog. I’m gonna sleep for a while, guys. Remaining story
later guys. ZZZZZZZZsssssss!!!!!!
Just
kidding
guys!!! I’m still here. So where were we? Ahhh!!!! Right Embodi. So
it was like a small valley cum watering hole surrounded by thick
bushes to the left and trees to right. Anyway, I was getting a little
bit
drowsy while waiting for the tiger or tigers and I dozed off. I was
suddenly woken
from my sleep because of so much noise. I was startled to see so many
people
looking down the valley, so I asked my parents what was going on in the
valley.
Our guide told us that Maya’s cubs were entering the water. At the same
time, I
saw a cub going down the slope. Awesome! …and then another one followed!
They
were so cute. We waited for a while and then saw them climb up the slope
and
enter the thick foliage again. There were two of them. ‘So lucky!!!’ I
thought
to myself. Then after some time we started on our way back
We came out of the park and it felt like we
left either our mind or our heart back in there. It was a very different
feeling. Nothing like I had felt before. We said goodbye to our guide and
started our journey back to the hotel. We were once again greeted by a bunch of
curious eyes. Shreya said that they saw Bajrang 2 times. My face lit up that
second. I was so glad that weren’t the only ones who saw a tiger. We broke the
news that we saw Maya’s cubs. I guess this was the best safari for everyone.
4th
and last safari
Hi guys,
it’s the last safari. This safari was a little bit - just a little bit
disappointing. Everyone was a little bit sad when we got to know that our guide
for this safari had changed. We started journey like usual - checking
everything and getting all ticks. As usual we were greeted by a variety of
birds. First we made a stop at Jamani village as we heard a tip that yesterday
P-1 was spotted here. But, after spending some time here, we didn’t spot P1 or
any other tiger - that was rotten luck for us. We moved ahead and stopped for a
couple of minutes at the junction. Then we went to Embodi and we saw a rare
bird in Tadoba known as black stork. Then we saw some pugmarks going in every
direction! We were following pugmarks and running around the park like crazy.
But we stopped at Tadoba Lake as we heard that a leopard had passed there. Again,
no such luck for us. So, we decided to visit Telia once again. We stopped again
at Khatoba. We had our breakfast. Palak puri, ketchup, and pickle-Yum!!!! We began our long journey to Telia once
again. On the way, luck favored us when we saw a sloth bear. Awesome!!!! Such a
rare sighting!
Then we heard a call from deer. A suspicious
atmosphere was created - false alarm though. The journey started again. We
finally reached the place-Jamun-Jhara. But it was so quiet there that I didn’t
feel that we would see anything. And I was right! Finally it was time to go
back, since we were at Moharli and it takes at least an hour to reach the Kolara
gate.
And so with that ended our last safari!
I really gotta say that this was and will be
the most memorable Tadoba journey for me so far. It is etched into my mind
forever. Though I know that not many of you got to experience what I did, I am
sure that some of you will one day be able to. I cannot predict the future but
what I can predict is that god and luck go hand –in-hand. For the simple reason
that: ‘Tadoba never disappoints’! I am saying this with experience. Hope you enjoyed - I enjoyed a lot sharing my most
amazing experience of my life with you guys.
Thanks for reading!!!!!
Here is the list of birds that we spotted:
1) Yellow-throated sparrow.
2) Black naped monarch.
3) Asian paradise flycatcher.
4) Tickel's blue flycatcher.
5) Lesser whistling ducks.
6) Little cormorant.
7) Red wattled lapwing.
8) white throated kingfisher.
9) Red naped ibis
10) Open billed stork
11) Little Egret
12) Cattle Egret
13) Dusky craig martin
14) Palm swift
15) Short toed eagle
16) Grey headed fishing eagle
17) Mottled wood owl
18) Ashy Crowned sparrow lark
19) Racket tailed drongo
20) Forest owl
21) Black shouldered kite
22) Shikra
23) Purple sunbird
24) Purple rumped sunbird
25) Paddy field pipit
26) Great tit
27) Osprey
28) Barn swallow
29) Wired tailed swallow
30) Crested serpent eagle
31) Honey buzzard
32) Rose ringed parakeet
33) Plum headed parakeet
34) Jungle fowl
35) Orange headed thrush
36) Grey jungle fowl
37) Indian peafowl
38) Greater coucal
39) Greater flameback wood pecker
40) Black hooded oriole
41) Copper smith barbet
42) Long tailed shrike
43) Spotted dove
44) Indian roller
45) Pied bushchat
46) Little green bee eater
47) House crow
48) House sparrow
49) Black drongo
50) Magpie robin
51) Red vented bulbul
52) Rufous tree pie
53) Yellow wagtail
54) Common Myna
55) White eyed buzzard
56) Bronze winged jacana
57) Wood sandpiper
58) Common sandpiper
59) Plain prinia
60) Red start
61) Jungle babbler
62) White bellied drongo
63) Black stork
64) Common blue king fisher
65) Brahminy starling
(Thanks Shreya for the list)
THANKS A LOT FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!!
