[nilanjanray]

Heading out to Masinagudi - got news of a couple of elephants playing together below a machaan (pictures of that place posted on my ownership review thread). They are hanging around there, and I should be able to see them in the evening. The weather is also supposedly pleasant now.

@ shajufx, robimahanta, sarmarishi: in case you guys are interested, PM me. Didn't call because of the short (30 min) notice. Am starting now, will be back after lunch tomorrrow.

[sarmarishi]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Heading out to Masinagudi - got news of a couple of elephants playing together below a machaan (pictures of that place posted on my ownership review thread). They are hanging around there, and I should be able to see them in the evening. The weather is also supposedly pleasant now.

@ shajufx, robimahanta, sarmarishi: in case you guys are interested, PM me. Didn't call because of the short (30 min) notice. Am starting now, will be back after lunch tomorrrow.

Oops.. Didnt see this. Would have loved to! :( Next time!

[nilanjanray]

Since people had asked for pictures of the vehicle, and I hadn't clicked too many during the MP trip...so I am sharing a few photos taken during the last weekend trip.

[nilanjanray]

The last Bandhavgarh safari was in Khitauli zone. Previous night, people had seen tigers crossing the main road and going to Khitauli from Magadhi, so our driver decided to follow Abheek’s gypsy and go to Khitauli (the two drivers were brothers, that might have something to do with it as well).
No major sighting at Khitauli. But the zone was probably the most beautiful of all the ones in Bandhavgarh. In fact parts of it reminded me of Corbett.There is a fantastic watch tower in the middle of Khitauli zone - one can see all of Bandhavgarh from the top. We met up with Abheek and his gang there.

After the safari, had breakfast and took a one hour nap before starting for Kanha. It was supposed to take us 5-6 hours through an interior route, but we managed to reach in 4:30 hours, with small stops for ATM, fuel etc.
The driver – Satish – was waiting for us at near the checkpost, and helped us go over the formalities quickly. Only folks staying at Baghira Huts are allowed to are allowed inside the checkpost – it is a 3 km drive to Baghira Huts that is inside the core zone.

The room in Baghira was very ordinary, but as many people have mentioned, the outside view was great. I had specifically asked for a room with the best view, so we got the cornermost one, facing the meadows.
Kanha gives a different feel – more vast, more scenic. Out of the three parks, I liked Kanha's ambiance the most.

Evening was spent sitting outside and chatting. It was pretty hot, but the night view of the meadows was worth it. Heard Cheetal alarm calls in the night around 1 AM right beside our cottage . Also heard them running off – a leopard (likely) must have come right next to room. The power went off for 1 hour – it was horribly hot inside the room, and we didn’t want to go and stand outside – which we would have done otherwise – because we knew there was a prowling big cat outside. Anyway, we opened the two doors a little bit (one was facing the meadows, the other facing the side where we had heard the alarm calls) and panted till generator was switched on.

[nilanjanray]

Khitauli trail


An eight-pointer stag


Serpent Eagle


The watchtower


A pond frequently visited by tigers


A close up of a red jungle fowl...just see the range of colours!

[abheekg]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

The last Bandhavgarh safari was in Khitauli zone. Previous night, people had seen tigers crossing the main road and going to Khitauli from Magadhi, so our driver decided to follow Abheek’s gypsy and go to Khitauli (the two drivers were brothers, that might have something to do with it as well).
No major sighting at Khitauli. But the zone was probably the most beautiful of all the ones in Bandhavgarh. In fact parts of it reminded me of Corbett.There is a fantastic watch tower in the middle of Khitauli zone - one can see all of Bandhavgarh from the top. We met up with Abheek and his gang there.

Your driver in the last drive did what many drivers do in Pench sometimes when they run out of ideas - that of following my vehicle blindly with the hopes of seeing a Tiger with me. What the Pench drivers don't understand even after telling them repeatedly that I never visit the park specifically to see a Tiger, your driver didn't understand too during the eventful last drive in Khitauli.

I had planned to take a very relaxed last drive in Khitauli with the only intention of seeing the Jungle and spending considerable time on the marjatgadh watch tower and the forest bunglow beside the river.

Infact when you guys turned up at the tower, I was taking a relaxed 1 hour nap atop the tower after doing a bit of landscaping. Will post a few pics that I took atop the tower.

My last drive was never going to be a run after a Tiger. Infact I planned to catch up on some lost sleep that I lost over the last 4 days of Tiger chasing at Bandhavgad.

Have to agree with you 100% Nilanjan that Khitauli is indeed the most beautiful of all the zones in Bandhavgad. I have already drawn up plans for atleast 3 drives in Khitauli in my next visit to Bandhavgad in November/December 2011. Game for another drive in your bison ?

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh
09960332228

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by abheekg

Your driver in the last drive did what many drivers do in Pench sometimes when they run out of ideas - that of following my vehicle blindly with the hopes of seeing a Tiger with me. What the Pench drivers don't understand even after telling them repeatedly that I never visit the park specifically to see a Tiger, your driver didn't understand too during the eventful last drive in Khitauli.

I had planned to take a very relaxed last drive in Khitauli with the only intention of seeing the Jungle and spending considerable time on the marjatgadh watch tower and the forest bunglow beside the river.

Infact when you guys turned up at the tower, I was taking a relaxed 1 hour nap atop the tower after doing a bit of landscaping. Will post a few pics that I took atop the tower.

My last drive was never going to be a run after a Tiger. Infact I planned to catch up on some lost sleep that I lost over the last 4 days of Tiger chasing at Bandhavgad.

Have to agree with you 100% Nilanjan that Khitauli is indeed the most beautiful of all the zones in Bandhavgad.[b] I have already drawn up plans for atleast 3 drives in Khitauli in my next visit to Bandhavgad in November/December 2011.[/B Game for another drive in your bison ?

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh
09960332228

Do share your pictures from the watchtower. I had the 70-300, so didn't bother clicking.

Come down to Bangalore - I will take you to elephant country. As you can see from my pictures, the place is beautiful...and fantastic for birding. I am not a birder, but I saw amazing variety of birds that I didn't bother clicking.

[nilanjanray]

This is going to be a consolidated post, covering our time in Kanha. As I have mentioned, out of all the three parks, I liked Kanha the most. Why? Perhaps the open atmosphere, grasslands, many types of animals (less of tiger obsession), the Barasinghas, the view from Baghira, the ability to drive around in the evening inside the forest. Perhaps also the power cuts, insects, MPTDC service...





We did 5 safaris in Kanha in 3 days. For the last two, another friend of ours joined us from Mumbai. He flew to Nagpur and then drove to Kanha just to be with us for 2 days! When he arrived, he was boasting that he has always seen a tiger in his safaris, and he expected to do the same here. Well, his luck held out, inspite of me pulling his leg. He came across a tiger in both the safaris. And in one safari, we ended up seeing a tiger, a sloth bear (that had eluded us till then), many jackals etc. – apart from the standard herbivores.











The morning safari timings were 5 AM – 10AM (if I remember correctly) – quite long. The evening timings were 4 PM – 6.45 PM (I think). So we were doing close to 8 hours of safari every day.

I had booked the drivers through Dr. Abheek Ghosh. There were two brothers, very friendly and knowledgeable. I would recommend them strongly. PM me if someone is interested.

In the first morning safari, we were the first ones into the park. That helped in getting some great Barasingha pictures – the great deers were very close to the road. However, the vehicles that came behind us has some great tiger sightings over a kill – we missed that, because we didn’t know that the tigers were sitting (hidden) 20 feet from the road when we passed them. There were no crows flying around or waiting, so we didn’t even know that a kill was there. We did get some good pictures of a tiger later on.

The Kanha museum was great. I spent quite some time in it. It was amazing to read about and see pictures of a former village converted into forest land.

Since we were staying in Kisli, we could drive down to Khatia gate till 9 PM. It was an interesting drive, and I could switch on my spots. Unfortunately we didn’t see any leopards during the drives, as I was hoping to.
The heat was bearable in the evenings. It rained a few times. The clearing in front of the deluxe huts – overlooking the meadows – is great for relaxing.

One evening, we went out of Khatia gate to have dinner. When we were having dinner, the power went off. Not that I minded. There is something appealing about having freshly cooked chicken under the moon and stars (we were sitting in open air), and then driving back through the jungle late in the night.

Some of the best tiger photos in the trip were taken at Kanha – all the close up ones. The owl and Gaur photos were also taken in Kanha.
We heard that Baghira might close down next year – the forest department doesn’t like the idea of people staying inside the core zone at Kisli. If so, I would like to visit Kanha again – this time in winter – before Baghira closes down.

We started from Kanha after morning safari and brunch on 11th of June, and reached Nagpur late in the afternoon. Wasted some time waiting for lunch at a biggish hotel. It was 6.30 PM or so when we left Nagpur. We initially thought of stopping at Adilabad, but didn’t like the hotels. We ended going to Nizamabad for night stay. Pretty decent hotel, with a big AC room. There was a big parking lot, so I was assured that the vehicle (especially my Lightforce spots) would be safe.

On 12th morning, from Nizamabad, I drove to Hyderabad airport, dropping off my friends who caught the flight to Mumbai. Then I drove alone to Bangalore, a pretty relaxing drive on great roads. It took me 1.5 hours to reach home from Bangalore airport crossing. It was a bit strange to drive in such traffic after having enjoyed the empty highways for so many days.

[nilanjanray]

Polygamy? Looks too frail to handle two...


Parliament in session






Crows beside a kill

[nilanjanray]

His brother/sister ran away when we approached. Would have loved to have framed the two of them.

[sach.sri]

Great pics -- keep them coming
Have never sighted a sloth bear myself and as i understand it is quite rare to sight a sloth bear, congratulation

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by sach.sri

Great pics -- keep them coming
Have never sighted a sloth bear myself and as i understand it is quite rare to sight a sloth bear, congratulation

Thanks for the appreciation. My friend clicked the sloth bear picture.

I have been quite lucky with sloth bears in the Nilgiri forests. I once saw a bear and her cub while driving on a forest road at night. Another time, I was sitting on a 'machaan' in a resort, and saw 3 sloth bears coming down a track on a full moon night.

[Coooolcat21]

Hi,
Very nice writeup on Kanha. Your pictures have taken me back to every visit i have made to Kanha and Baghira log huts. Kanha is my favourite national park, its a perfect package of a serene jungle with wildlife. Its the forest that takes ones breath away , the wildlife adds on to the picture later. Baghira log huts has the best location with all the wildlife paying a visit to its residents. Have posted a picture of Baghira log huts with a herd of bisons here at. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...onal-park.html
regards

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Coooolcat21

Hi,
Very nice writeup on Kanha. Your pictures have taken me back to every visit i have made to Kanha and Baghira log huts. Kanha is my favourite national park, its a perfect package of a serene jungle with wildlife. Its the forest that takes ones breath away , the wildlife adds on to the picture later. Baghira log huts has the best location with all the wildlife paying a visit to its residents. Have posted a picture of Baghira log huts with a herd of bisons here at. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...onal-park.html
regards

Went through your thread - great travelogue and pictures! It is interesting how every travelogue is different, and captures unique experiences.

Kanha appears different during winter...the trees, the undergrowth and even the animals (e.g. the Sambhars seem to have more fur).

We saw Sambhars and Cheetals regularly near Baghira. I was hoping to wild dogs and leopards, but they didn't oblige. Though we could sense that leopards were moving around at night - there were alarm calls every night. The smaller leopards can also be scavengers, so I think many raid the dustbins and refuse pits at night.

Seems that like some people here (including me), you need a regular jungle fix to cope with city life :-)

Were you able to spot the Barasinghas? I don't see any pictures of them...do they have same beautiful colour in winter?

My daughter goes pretty frequently to the Nilgiri forests, but she is still too young to enjoy safaris. She is very fond of deers, rabbits and elephants...and has strong dislike for gaurs (the black colour + horns, I guess). She has grown up spending evenings in front of a campfire, and relishing the smell of the Nilgiris.

[razor4077]

Awesome pics Nilanjan! I had visited Kanha in the winter of 09 and fell in love with the place. Had a very good sighting of a big male tiger - that day will remain a red letter day for me
Some pics here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...nd-tigers.html
Thanks for the pics... made me nostalgic. I've been meaning to head to the forests for a while. Planning Corbett, Kaziranga, Pench, Bandhavgadh, Ranthambore... long list!

And by the way, your faithful Bison looks awesome too. Did a trip in a Fortuner recently and I have started to appreciate it beyond its butch looks!