TIGERS OF TADOBA

A crocodile sunning itself  at Telia Lake

Ever since I can remember, I have been exposed to just one refrain.. “If you want the best opportunity to sight tigers.. go to Tadoba” . In search of this elusive big cat, I had been to Kanha earlier and got to see just one tiger and that too fast asleep !! We did get ample sightings of other wildlife but, (Panthera tigris)  was conspicuous by his absence.  So, when an opportunity to visit Tadoba, with friends Vivek Joshi, Hemant Gude  and Dr. Bhumkar, arose, I grabbed it with both hands. Hoping that I would get some great sightings and that health would remain  good in April's 45 degrees Celsius  plus we set out.

We took the direct train to Nagpur (The Duranto Express). Another option from Mumbai is to take a train to Chandrapur and then by road to Tadoba. Arriving at Nagpur Railway station at around Seven in the morning, we got into our vehicles and started our three and half hour drive.  On the way, about an hour out of Nagpur, we stopped at a place called Jam, for breakfast. The April sun was steadily rising and so was the temperature in our vehicle.  After what seemed ages, we reached Tadoba Andhari Tiger reserve with a small detour to Chandrapur Station to pick up another friend Shailendra Patil.

Settling down in our rooms, we were informed, that our first park safari would be at 3.00 pm. Even before we could settle down, it was time for Lunch. We were treated to a very spicy lunch (we then told the resort staff to go easy on the spices.. we were not used to eating such spicy food. They obliged and dinner was a milder meal). After lunch, we assembled under the scorching afternoon sun, at the Moharli Gate. Thank fully the resort was walking distance from the gate. In April, Safaris had to be booked, manually, well in advance, at the Forest Department (Chandrapur).  After identifying ourselves, we started our first safari with a mixture of  excitement and discomfort due to the heat. During the drive our guide informed us that since the morning, a tiger had been asleep, near the lake and we would be heading in that direction.

The reserve only allows a limited number of vehicles, every morning and afternoon. If I remember right, it was  26 vehicles. And, it seemed, that all 26 vehicles, were at the same spot as we were, waiting for the tiger to awake. As luck would have it, our vehicle  was towards the end of the long line. Our driver was trying to manoeuvre  his vehicle into the centre of the line, with little success. So  we all, unanimously, told the driver to reverse and park on the side of the road. There was a small gap in the bushes and if the tiger did wake up, and try and cross, he would have to come very close our vehicle;  as the other part of the road was blocked by the vehicles.  We settled down to wait. But in a matter of just a few minutes, say 10 (or maximum 15) a loud whisper erupted, alerting us that the tiger had indeed awakened and was walking from the edge of the lake, towards the road.

My first sight walking up the banks towards us

Craning my neck to catch a glimpse, I  could not spot anything in the bushes. And then suddenly this majestic tiger emerged from my right, taking deliberate steps towards the road, where we were parked. I waited with bated breath, watching, in fascinated awe. Slowly, he climbed the banks alongside the road and he was about to cross it. 

Climbing the banks ever so slowly

Deciding to cross the road in front of us

He changed his mind, and walked a few steps towards us and  for a brief moment looked straight into my eyes. At that moment I clicked !! 

Looking at me.. straight in the eye..

He again changed his mind and then crossed the road. Moving up into the bushes on the other side, he did his trademark “territory marking” ritual which we witnessed. He then vanished into the bushes. So our first Safari.. very very exciting and successful by any standard. We kept talking about seeing a live, wild tiger from so close, for the first time in our lives!!! We then drove around the reserve trying for more sightings, but that was not to be. By 6.30 we were back at the gate.

Now changed his mind again.. road crossing..

Reached the other side.. finished "territory marking"

The next day was an early start.. we had to be in our safari vehicles at the gate at 6.30 am. Looking forward  to another exciting safari hoping to sight many more tigers, we were all in a good mood. And we were in luck. While driving towards the Telia lake, we espied, from afar, a tiger swimming in the lake. He was too far to photograph. But as we got closer to the lake (and again there was a huge queue of vehicles) he came out of the water, and began his majestic walk, along the edge of the lake. This time he walked parallel to us and not towards us.  

In early morning light.. walking parallel to us..

And after he passed from sight,  we saw,  two tiger cubs playing with one another.

Playful cubs...

Finished playing, walking towards the Safari Jeeps...

I managed a good shot of them. And after having finished playing they started walking towards us. They walked ever so slowly and regally and crossed the road between vehicles.. unfortunately, far away from us. But again this was a breathtaking sight. In all we had seen three (or maybe four) tigers all in the morning session, in the space of about 30 minutes.

After that while driving around we did manage to see plentiful wildlife as well. We were treated to a close up view and encounter with Gaur  (also called Indian Bison),

Gaur... Indian Bison

Spotted Deer.. looking at us curiously..

A thirsty female Sambar Deer

Male Sambar Deer

Baby Sambar Deer crossing the road

The shy barking deer

Langur mother & child

Langur family meeting...

Spotted deer, Sambar Deer  and Langurs. We were privileged to see Indian Rollers (posing for us) Oriental Honey Buzzards, 

Indian Roller

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Open billed storks, and red wattled  lapwings.  A very rewarding, exhilarating and exciting  second safari as well, came to an end. Our third Safari was uneventful in terms of sightings and thus came to an end an excellent trip to see the “Tigers of Tadoba”. A not to be missed trip for any wild life lover.

Note: I am told that from June 2013, Tadoba safari bookings can be made online. If anyone has any experience on this (I know the reserve is closed) please do share.

CHAMBAL NATIONAL PARK

From Bharatpur we hired a car and left for Chambal National Park (Also called the National Chambal Sanctuary) which is about 125 km from Bharatpur.  En route we took in a quick visit to Fatehpur Sikri the city established by Akbar the great, admired the grandeur of Salim Chisty’s tomb, the Jamma Masjid, the Diwan- e- Khas  and of course the magnificent and imposing Buland Darwaza.  We also got a fabulous view of the city from the ramparts of the fort. Having spent an hour here we started towards Chambal.. which was a drive about one hour.

Arriving at Chambal National Park, one does not see any signs of a National Park. There are no gates, no security personnel, etc. You just drive down from the highway  onto the banks of the river Chambal. There in a small make shift cabin is the  office of the Chambal National Park. Here one needs to buy a ticket for a boat ride. You stipulate the time in advance and you are given a motor boat with a guide & motor boatman. And your river journey starts.  As you head upstream, we passed by a few black cormorants and darters sunning themselves. Going slowly upstream one is mesmerized by the silence of the surroundings. The only sounds you hear are of the Chambal river slowly winding its way and of course the harsh sound of the outboard motor. In between you hear the cry of some birds. And along the banks of the river and is small mud islands between the waters we found an amazing abundance of wild life. Turtles sunning themselves,  lying motionless on the rocks, Bhraminy Ducks lazing on the shores, spoonbills & egrets standing patiently in the water and of course the famous  but threatened Muggar Crocodiles. 

These huge crocodiles lie on the sand banks for hours on end and don’t bother even when a motor boat with tourists on board come reasonably close. They just go on  sleeping peacefully, sometimes opening one eye for a bit. We saw quite a few of these huge creatures, lying in various positions of rest and relaxation. Some of course (the more energetic ones I guess) were in the water swimming.

We were also fortunate to spy many critically endangered Ghariyals  (  I do not know how to classify them as crocodiles or alligators). These are smaller and much more slender than the Muggar Crocodiles. They have a long narrow snout as compared to crocodiles. The ones we saw were together.. Gharial  parent & offspring, I guess.

There were baby Ghariyals as well sunning themselves. But as soon as they heard the noise of the motor boat they slipped into the water and swam away from us. It is a wonderful sight to see these “masters of camouflage” swimming in the water with nothing but a small tip of their snout exposed over the surface of the water. Our guide informed us that they were very shy creatures and at the first sight of an approach, they slip away. We were lucky to see so many and even got a few reasonable shots.

On our boat ride back to the starting point we happened to see some small white birds on the far bank. Excited we asked the boatman to cut off the engine and slowly steer us towards these small white birds. Getting closer we saw an entire flock of Indian Skimmers. But we couldn’t get too close to them for fear that they would fly away. 

But just sitting in the boat and observing their behaviour is a rewarding experience in itself. These  are medium sized black (upper part) & white (lower part) birds with a pronouncedly orange beak that fades to become yellow at the tip. Unfortunately  could not sight the Palla’s Fish Eagle.

After about 20 minutes of observing them, it was time to hit the road and get back to Mathura station. In time to catch our train back. With a bagful  of fantastic memories of a never before imagined trip. And full memory cards to cherish those rare moments.

BIRD LOVERS PARADISE... BHARATPUR

    (Note: This blog had been written quite some time ago.. but I clean forgot to publish it. My sincere apologies to all.)

I had always wanted to go to Bhartapur, Rajasthan, also known as the birding Capital of India. However,when, in the past, I had planned, fate conspired against me. Not one to give up easily, I started planning once again. This time, I roped in a couple of fellow birder friends (for good luck) and certainly for their company. Train & stay bookings made, we were finally off, on D day. From Mumbai we took a train up to Mathura Junction and from there a one hour car drive gets you to Bharatpur. Vivek Joshi, Deepak Bartakke and I were excited and looking forward to a very eventful & rewarding birding trip.

Bharatpur, late afternoon landscape.

A lone spotted deer looking at us.. frightened?

Reaching Bharatpur in the early morning, we relaxed at the Hotel and in the afternoon we took our first trip into the park. The actual birding sites are pretty deep in the park and unless you are in great physical shape, walking should be your last option. You can hire a bicycle or a cycle rickshaw at the gate. If hiring a rickshaw, do note that each rickshaw can seat ONLY 2 people. So, if like us, you are an odd number, one person will have to cycle it out.  We hired one rickshaw and in the afternoon went into the Keoladeo National Park (as it is called). That afternoon, there were huge crowds (mostly of school children out on a field visit- making loud, raucous noises, disturbing the birds). So not very great birding. But we did manage to see, in the "Bhainsa Mori" area, hordes of Bhraminy Ducks, Pintails, Northern Shovellers, Comb ducks, Teals, few Large, Intermediate & Little Egrets, and other water birds. However, they were far away and photographing them was tough. Returned to the hotel in the evening, had dinner and slept like a log through the night.

Laughing Dove

White Breasted Kingfisher

The next day was an early trip into the park.  The crowds of the previous day (A public holiday) had thinned considerably. We were staying, with Mr. Devendra Singh (owner of Iora guest house) and a noted Naturalist and keen photographer, himself. He was extremely knowledgeable, helpful and full of tips and advice. Devendra even offered to send Breakfast & Lunch into the park for us... so we would not waste time. We gratefully accepted. He even instructed our rickshaw driver where to take us... for the best sightings. And sure enough... we got to see some amazing birds and some even more amazing pictures.

Our first stop for the day was the water body opposite the Keoladeo temple, where we were privileged to see a huge number of Great White Pelicans swimming gracefully and languidly, in the still waters of the lake. Like children with a new toy, all three of us would run helter-skelter, to get the best shot, of these huge but grace birds. We also got to see the Spot Billed Pelicans as well as the Dalmatian Pelicans, living peacefully among themselves.

Great White Pelican

Great White Pelican

Great White Pelicans

Great White Pelican

Great White Pelican.. Taking Off

Great White Pelican.. landing noisily

What a calm, serene scene this was. After a few hours, we were famished and we headed to the nearby canteen for breakfast (which had arrived by then).  Sitting down on the benches, we were joined by some uninvited, but delightful guests. It is altogether a fantastic experience, to share your breakfast with Common Mynas, Bhraminy Mynas, Jungle Babblers, White Breasted Moorhens, squirrels, and yes, even a Nilgai.

White Breasted Water hen

Oriental Magpie Robin

Roufous Tree Pie

Jungle Babbler .. up close & personal

Neelgai looking at us curiously

All of them, temporarily, shed their shyness and were emboldened to eat from our hands, without feeling threatened. After breakfast, we spent time in photographing Darters, Purple Herons, Grey Herons, White Breasted Kingfishers, Yellow Footed Green Pigeons, Laughing Doves, Bar Headed Geese Magpie Robins, Spotted Owlets, Rose Ringed Parakeets, the Hoopoe, Woodpeckers and so on. We even got to see a Jackal a Cobra and baby python.

Spotted Owlet

Oriental Magpie Robin

Rose Ringed Parakeet

Rose Ringed Parakeet

Sambar and spotted deer were quite common.

The ever busy Hoopoe..

Indian Darter

Bar Headed Goose..

Bar Headed Geese in flight

Mom & baby Spotted Deer (Feeding Time)

Sambar Deer

After a quick lunch, we headed to one of the remotest parts of the park... our Rickshaw driver said there was a possibility of seeing the Sarus Crane... which we all desperately wanted to see. And after a walk of over half an hour, in the hot afternoon sun, we were amply rewarded to see a pair of beautiful Sarus cranes, busily engaged in feeding. They came quite close to us and we had some fantastic photo opportunities. And all of us going click click, happily.

Sarus Crane Pair

Sarus Crane

Sarus Crane

And on our way out of the park, exhausted but rejuvenated, we got to some barbets and red bellied woodpeckers as well. And of course a huge colony of Painted Storks with juveniles.

The next day, we were to return by the evening train to Mumbai, We left early to visit the Chambal National Park to see Crocodiles & Gharials, from close quarters. Not only did we see them in large numbers, we got to see Indian Skimmers as well. After spending the morning, boating on the Chambal River, we were dropped off to Mathura station, for our return. What a rewarding trip it had been !!!  On the way back, all three of us, unanimously decided that we would be back next year. Again. And perhaps yet again.