[abirnale]

You might have read our earlier thread, where we went to Bandipur in search of tigers and were back content with birds and just the growling of the apex predator at night. Ref: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...b-birding.html (TheRedSparkle Story: B for Bandipur, B for Birding!)

Although I had seen a tiger in the open, my family hadn't. To make this sighting happen, we finally decided to go to the land of tigers - Tadoba. This is the story of that wonderful journey and five safari rides across TATR - Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve! A single-line summary - Tadoba did not disappoint us!

We seized the opportunity to go there during peak summer when the trees shed their leaves and the jungle isn't hiding its occupant deliberately. While we had our safari spanning just three days (weekdays), I had taken paid time off from work for the entire week. We left our BLR home much ahead of time and found some flamingoes on the way, too. Details here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...lamingoes.html (TheRedSparkle Story: In Search of Flamingoes)

This thread is broken into the following sections for a chronological reading:
- Background information about TATR, Formalities, DOs and DONTs
- A morning that we spent strolling around Moharli Village and a non-tiger sight-seeing
- Each safari, every big cat, and its story as it unfolded through my experience, as well as how kids saw it unfold in their own words.

Continue to read on if it interests you else feel free to scroll through the pictures if that is worthy of your time, and I will stand behind the bush ready to help you or stretch myself a little and yawn, in case you have questions

[abirnale]

Background information about TATR, Formalities, DOs and DONTs

About TATR:
The most accurate and legitimate information can be always found here: https://mytadoba.mahaforest.gov.in/

TATR stands for Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. It's one of the most famous tiger reserves and have total of 18 gates spanning across multiple zones. The zones are typically in the Buffer category or Core category. The Safaris are to be booked directly on the TATR official site by the visitors or have to go through the agent who will package the entire trip with safari bookings, stay etc. Moharli is the most famous gate, dotted with numerous resorts and home-stays and lodges. Most operators there will help you with Safari bookings in advance, stay choices etc. The Tatkal bookings are also available on official site an costs more than normal safaris. Weekdays are cheaper than weekends.

Normal safari booking includes Gypsy for 6 people, Guide Charges and Entries permits. The camera charges are to be paid by visitors at the entry gate prior to entering the safari rides. Each camera will cost you Rs. 250 regardless of what lens you use. Similarly the video cameras (including dedicated handycams and action cam and whatever general public uses) costs Rs. 250 per safari. Note that the mobiles are banned to be used while on the Safari. You will need to deposit the Mobiles to the guide in Gypsy that takes you in the jungle!

The buffer zones don't have much discipline for executing the safari while core has strictest norms. For example, both zones let you in right on time and expects you to come out on or before the end time - any violation, you will pay penalty, guide and gypsy will be suspended for a few days! In the core zone, you cannot make your gypsy go faster than 30 kmph speed ever while buffer zone will make you feel like a rally stage! In core zone, at entrance the forest officer will setup a GPS tracker app on a special mobile and hand over to guide which is to be kept ON all the time. the app will track the path you are taking, the speed at which you go and the entry/ exit timestamps. Anything that is violating the rules (like straying from the safari roads into bushes/ streams or speeding) will attract fine as well as permit suspension.

Last but not the least - each person must carry his/her ID card to be able to enter into Safari and it should match the booking you have made in the name of. Of course, the officer in-charge might not exactly check each ID card and match the faces (so your ancient aadhar card is ok too) but be prepared to pull it when asked for.

Here is a quick snapshot of the TATR regional map and various gates:



You can access the same interactive map here on Google: https://maps.app.goo.gl/yRsDvMbvqVWbm3Vi9?g_st=ic

And now here is the last and most important PRO-tip:This is land of tigers - don't be disheartened with no sightings. It is very much possible that you may not se the tiger but rest assured that Tiger has seen you! And if you want to avoid the disappointment, track the social media, see when the sightings are happening historically and book your safari for those timings. March - April and May are ideal months to sight tigers in TATR. The forest trees are loosing its leaves, heat is becoming unbearable and waterholes are the most frequented places for everyone! Oh, and by the way, while you are there during this peak summer months, stay hydrated with H2O! And not just while on the safari, a couple of days ahead of safari, get used to hydrating more than normal if you are from the places like Bangalore

Roads to take:
The most ideal roads from south India are via Hyderabad - Nizamabad - Adilabad - Pandharkawada - Vani - Chandrapur. For Mumbai folks, take the Samriddhi Mahamarg and get off it near Vardha and then drive towards Chandrapur.

Also note that, to be able to enter any of the resorts and homestay that are located inside the TATR region, you wither need to be in the local vehicle or have a valid Safari booking for the same day or next day or have booked the hotel for stay.

Place of Stay:
For my trip, I banked upon Hornbill Tadoba Homestay - https://maps.app.goo.gl/WVibArZHEKG12pxf9. He is a renowned photographer, a wildlife enthusiast and runs a simple small setup with 4-5 rooms. Manish, the owner of this place did everything for me: booking safaris almost three months in advance, blocking the dates for stay, arranging for the pick-up and drops from the homestay to various Safari gates, packing nice snacks while on Safari, giving us the cool-box to carry extra water bottles to beat the heat. And also entertained us in evenings with his crazy stories of past relating to Tigers and leopards. He knows the jungle like no one. He can help you with guidance on safari gates, sightings and also to guide the safari guide with best locations inside jungle to spot the apex predators, align your gypsy nicely so that you get the best shot! When in Tadoba, I will always prefer to go to him even though his homestay doesn't have a lavish swimming pool - his rooms are equipped with AC and he serves nice homely food. We don't need anything else than that!

And now the most important statement of in this thread: we have returned home super content with this trip. Amazing sightings, great learnings, best bonding for kids with nature and a better understanding of the ecosystem. This is yet another best trip we as a family ever had!

And as a gratitude - this is #TheRedSparkle story, incomplete without the mention and a click for record including a form friend #TheOrion who paid us visit while at the homestay:









We arrived in Tadoba - Hornbill homestay on April 1 evening, took a stroll in village. Our Safaris were booked for Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday both times and Thursday both times - morning and afternoon. Our duration of stay was four nights, five safaris!

[abirnale]

Part 1: Monday April 1st - evening stroll, Tuesday April 2, morning Visit to Butterfly Park.

This was a lazy morning, we woke up late, took a short drive to Agarzari village, little beyond the buffer gate where we enjoyed the butterflies. The newly built butterfly park (https://maps.app.goo.gl/YS9NrAmZTD9V5qKH9) here is a great place to send your early morning. Around 8am, you will sight a lot of butterflies and birds in this region. We also had taken a pitstop at the backwaters of Erai Dam to sight some beautiful kingfishers looking for fish and winter visitors that are still here in summer!

The journal as written by Hirkani, my daughter, posted below for your read.
(Hirkani is the pen name she wants to assume for her writing, based on various messages of encouragement she is getting after our last two travelogues - I think soon I will need to ask her to register here on forum instead of being a middleman to post it here!):

Helping someone in need!

It was a cool and breezy morning. We were at the Butterfly Park in TATR. We walked around and saw butterflies in huge numbers. At the end of the park was a mini greenhouse with flowering plants and butterflies. My mom walked around to the side of the greenhouse and saw a bird, almost dead, on the sidewalk. She called out to us and we rushed to see. At first glimpse it appeared dead. But as we got closer, we noticed it trying to make some movement, as it was most probably alarmed by us surrounding it. We all dropped whatever we were holding, and rushed to look for water. There was no signs of water nearby. That is, until my dad noticed a water hose that was most likely used for watering the plants. But the tap was nowhere in sight. He instructed me to lift the pipe slightly so as to get out any water left in the pipe. He cupped his hand to collect the water that was dripping out, and poured whatever trickling water was left, onto the bird.

It immediately jerked and stood upright as if it had just been woken up from sleep by a large mug of water. He returned back to the water hose to get more water, but this process would take a long while. So I looked around for anything that would hold at least a little bit of water. I found a mug at the back of the greenhouse and rushed back. We collected water in the mug and took it to the bird. The mug had a hole at the bottom and some tissue had been stuffed into it, in a feeble attempt to make the mug useable. We used that hole and tissue to slightly drop water on its tiny beak for it to drink. It drank a little but was still very dazed. My brother touched it, stroked it on its head. It didn’t seem scared, or maybe it was just too tired to even react. After about 10 minutes when he reached out to stroke it again, it gave a sudden start and flew straight at my mom, causing her to screech, and then flew over her head and onto a tree barely few feet away. It perched there on a branch under the morning sun and my dad seized this opportunity to be its personal photographer and clicked such amazing pics of the little bundle of feathers.

We were all so happy that we got to start the day doing a good deed, by saving a tiny life. My mom was so happy that she started crying tears of joy. That’s when we knew we were going to return back home with so many happy memories, that when recalled, will fill us with immense joy.

The pictures form this section of our trip are:

[abirnale]

Part 2: Tuesday April 2, Afternoon Safari in Buffer Zone, Gate - Devada/ Adegaon.

Gate Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xD8vcZVUG8AADVxE9

Highlight of the day - we experienced the Rally Stage racing, Off-roading and no apex predators anywhere!

Monkey see, monkey do - the junior wanted to write something to use for my thread here:

Safari 1 - A Birding Safari in the Buffer Zone!

It was our only safari of that day. Scheduled during the hot April afternoon, our assigned gate was the Devada-Adegaon buffer zone. With high hopes of spotting a tiger, we set off, not realising how the safari would turn into a roller coaster of boredom and excitement. Though we did not spit any tigers, Tadoba never ceases to surprise. About three hours into the safari, our curious eyes were ready to give up under the sweltering heat. Parked near a waterhole in the shade of a tree, in hopes of seeing a tiger, my dad noticed a flash of blue perched on a branch above the water. After a few photos we realised that it was the much elusive black-naped monarch. a cute little bird, it is blue in colour and ha a small tuff on it's head and a collar-like mark on it's shoulder giving it a formal look. Another lifer was spotted half an hour later! As we sat looking at racket-tailed drongos flitting around in another waterhole, I noticed a bright little creature hopping about on the banks. After inspecting through my binoculars, I realised it was the uncommon jewel of the forests, the orange headed thrush! The thrush we saw ws a different sub-specimen of the thrush, the white throated one. It has a dull orange face, neck and belly, topped by aqua-blue wings, and a black-striped white neck. Thrilled, we returned to our stay, both happy yet unsatisfied. Wholly, it was a mixed safari experience!

The pictures form this section of our trip are:

[abirnale]

Part 3: Wednesday April 3, Morning Safari in Core Zone, Gate - Moharli

Gate Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZTZ9Awk6d1xheJyn9

Highlight of the day - we saw tiger, the most dominant and majestic Mowgli and literally experienced the catwalk of Choti tara!

The yesterday afternoon safari without sighting in the scorching heat of about 40+ degree celcius took toll on the junior's health. He vomited at night everything he had eaten for dinner. He started blanking out whenever he stood up and had no energy to do anything. That was shocking but we knew this is just his body reacting to heat and probably under-hydration. Manish, our homestay owner was insisting that we take him for morning safari and a tiger sighting in core zone will make him feel better or leave him alone at home-stay and he will take care of him. The maternal instincts did not allow to let him be alone - so finally daughter-father decided to carry on with safari while mom-son will stay back.

I once again asked Hirkani to give her journal entry to share with my readers:

A call. A kill. And then, silence…

It was our second day at TATR and a morning safari. It was just me and my dad on the jeep. My brother is sick so he had to stay back and my mom too stayed back to accompany him. We were driving past the Teliya lake when we spotted an Indian Gaur grazing. We slowed down and tried taking pictures of it. But something was off about it. While grazing, it kept looking up in the direction of the thick bamboo trees. It would look up every 30 seconds…it sensed danger.

And then we heard a loud and clear call of an animal, something small, most likely a deer. Yes, the guide confirmed it was a deer. And then we heard the same call again. And again. And again. And then suddenly the gaur that was grazing ran in the direction of the bamboo trees. It had no idea of what was lurking behind the thick cover of the bamboo trees. All the jeeps waiting on the trail had switched off their engines and were waiting in anticipation. What will happen next? Will the gaur run back out upon seeing the tiger? Will the tiger chase the gaur out? No one knew that this was the silence before the storm…

It was silent for about 30 seconds. And that’s when we heard it. An animal had screamed, as though in pain. The same sound was heard thrice after that. And then, silence…
This was Tigress Sonam’s territory. She had two cubs about 10 months old. It was possible that she was training her cubs to hunt or that she had to feed her cubs.

Our guide speculated that based on the call from the animal, it might have been a deer or a wild dog that was attacked and most likely, killed.

All the jeeps started their engines in unison. There was chaos as all the jeeps were rushing to get to the main road first to try and spot the tigress and her cubs. Our jeep got onto the main road and neared the place from where all the sounds were coming- it was eerily quiet. Another jeep told us that a wild dog had run into the thickness of the bamboo trees before all the sounds had started coming. So we then knew it was a wild dog that had been attacked. Everyone stood up in their jeeps, craning their necks to try and spot a flash of fiery orange. Everyone was waiting silently, holding their breaths. But nothing happened. No tigress walked out with her killing trophy, the carcass of an animal, in her mouth. No cubs walked out from behind the trees, following their mother. Just absolute stillness.

We all drove away disappointed. Everyone had hoped to sight the tigress within the first hour of their safari. We know for sure that the wild dog had been attacked. But whether or not it had been successfully hunted and killed, is a secret that only Sonam, her cubs and the bamboo trees would know. The cubs would now have a story to tell to their younger ones in future.

She later again penned down, the rest of the same safari in which we sighted a tiger and tigress separately:

Day 2 - Safari 1

It was our second day at TATR and we were on a morning safari into the core area through the Moharli gate. It was about 7.30 and we had stopped to watch the antics of a group of monkeys as they climbed up and down a tree, jumped from one tree to another. A jeep was coming towards us from the opposite direction. As usual, we asked them if they spotted anything back there. Yeah, they said. There’s a tiger sitting by the pond. Monkeys can be seen another time, but this tiger cannot wait until later. We drove at maximum speed limit- 30kmph.

We drove to the pond that they were talking about. Another guide told us that the tiger was sitting by the pond but at a little lower level. We tried standing up on the seats to get a sight of him, but it didn’t work. But then a flash of orange was caught under the sun from behind the bush. Everyone got their cameras ready. Next a head peeped from behind the bush, as though he was shy to face the audience. Slowly, part by part, his whole body emerged. And there he was. Mowgli. As huge and majestic as ever. He walked around the high banks, slowly and with heavy footsteps. His charisma, unmatched. He exuded royalty, walking and swaying like the king he is. His gaze, absolutely fearless. His big paws leaving behind marks, proudly claiming this territory as his. No one could tell that this was the same tiger that was shy to come out of its resting spot!

He did his leisure walk around the same spot for about 2 minutes, and then went into the water. He swam to the other side of the pond, climbed up and disappeared behind a cluster of bamboo trees.

Although we got to watch him only for about 5 minutes, he’s going to be the topic of conversations at mealtimes for days to come.

We then drove forward to get to the other end of the trail. And that’s when we saw jeeps crowded at a particular place. We rushed forward to see what it was that they had seen. And there we saw Tigress Choti Tara, the daughter of Tara. She was walking at her own pace along the side on the road, and wasn’t willing to give space for the jeeps to go ahead. The guide then told us that she’s always like that. He said the last time some jeeps spotted her, they spent one hour watching her back as she walked down the road. We got a few pics, but then had to rush back to the entry gate as our safari time was almost up.

The pictures form this section of our trip are:

[abirnale]

Part 4: Wednesday April 3, Afternoon Safari in Core Zone, Gate - Moharli

Gate Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZTZ9Awk6d1xheJyn9

Highlight of the day: We glanced Mowgli again and a bold subadult tiger - T-114 - the from the Mama-Bhanje pair being raised by tigress Bijli!

Hirkani again penned down her experience:

Day 2 - Safari 2

This was the second core safari in Moharli. It was 2 in the noon and it was melting hot. We started off the safari with spotting a White-eye Honey Buzzard that was nesting, a pair of Mottled Wood Owls and Sambar deers. Our guide decided to first check Tiger Mowgli’s territory since we had spotted him earlier that day. We reached the lake where we had sighted him before. There were so many jeeps crowded on the trail. Either they were waiting for Mowgli to show up or he was already in sight and everyone was looking at him.

As we neared the jeeps, we saw Mowgli sitting under a dense tree in the water. If you were to just look at the lake surface from afar, you wouldn’t notice this big guy sitting there. But with a closer look, you’d notice how he was just chilling in the cool waters under the harsh afternoon sun and lapping at the water once in a while. We noticed how a herd of deers and a few Indian gaurs too were drinking water in the same lake, barely a few feet away from Mowgli. This goes on to show that tigers aren’t necessarily always going to hunt. They hunt only when they’re hungry. It was a lovely sight, to watch them all be in the same surrounding, co-existing peacefully. After a while, a safari bus came on the trail, blocking the view of the jeeps behind it. The people on the jeeps started making a lot of noise, asking the bus driver to move and let them see the tiger too. This noise disturbed Mowgli. He slowly got up, his orange fur glistening with water, and with slow and heavy footsteps went behind a thick cluster of bamboo trees. He was completely out of sight. All jeeps left there disappointed.

Earlier that day too when we had seen Mowgli, it was barely for about 5 minutes. This time also it was the same. I was hoping to get a good eye full of him. There was just something about him that made me feel drawn to him. Maybe it was how majestic he looked and how dominant he seemed, or maybe it was the fact that he was the first ever tiger I saw in the wild.

We continued our safari and reached a place where apparently a tigress and her two cubs had been sighted. The guide on the jeep that had seen them cross the road told us that the tigress was somewhere on the other side of the water stream, and her two male cubs went in two opposite directions- one went into the grasslands on our right and the other was sleeping by the stream on our left side. We waited for 5 minutes hoping one of them would come out of hiding. We looked around in all directions to see if there was any movement. All we could see and hear was a Sambar deer making calls. There were lapwings tittering around making all other noises inaudible.

As if on cue, a tiger walked out of the clearing. It was Tigress Bijli’s male cub, Mama. He was huge, not as much as Mowgli though. He walked slowly and at his own pace. He was coming at our jeep head on. He wasn’t in the least bothered by the jeeps around him. He walked down the road and stopped abruptly. Oh, there was no space for him to continue walking. All the jeeps had blocked the width of the path completely. He got down the trail and walked on the grassy land, parallel to the trail.

He looked around, and I happened to make eye contact with him. Adrenaline rush. That’s what I felt. It felt as though time was moving slow. It was love at first sight for me. His eyes were so captivating. He walked further behind our jeep and disappeared between a few other jeeps. Since we’d gotten him on camera, we decided to go further down the trail to try and see if his mom or brother would come out too. We waited there for another 10 minutes, but were disappointed. So we went back to where Mama was. He was walking under the trees off the trail near a chowk, 4 roads intersected there. We too reached the chowk and just watched his movements.

He was trying to cross the road and get to his share of his mom’s territory. But again, all the jeeps were blocking his path. Suddenly he turned towards our jeep, and walked towards us. He slowly got back on the trail, and walked from behind our jeep. I felt a rush of joy upon seeing him up so close. His orange fur looked bright under the sun, his bare yellow teeth, his big paws leaving prints behind him. His aura was such that I couldn’t bear to look away from him. Even as our jeep drove a little further to make way for him, I stared at him continuously, as though hypnotised by him.

He walked a little more and then stopped at a tree, first smelling it and then marking it. He again walked by our jeep, and crossed the road right in front of us. He slowly walked into the dense trees and disappeared from our sight. Wow. That was such an amazing experience. Having a tiger walk past you, barely a few feet away. Afterall, Tadoba is known for its tiger sightings on road

The pictures form this section of our trip are:

[abirnale]

Part 5: Thursday April 4, Morning Safari in Core Zone, Gate - Moharli

Gate Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZTZ9Awk6d1xheJyn9

Highlight of the day: We heard the long growls of two male tigers: Yuvraj and Balram. We saw the mating of Chota Dadhiyal and Sonam's third female cub- C3!

Seeing our clicks from yesterday, junior had started feeling more hopeful and didn't want to miss the sighting again - he and his mom took full day rest yesterday, hydrated well, ate simple dal-rice and became much better for today's morning safari! the words of Paulo Coelho comes to my mind from The Alchemist - When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it!

For this fourth safari, Hirkani again penned down her experience:

Day 3 - Safari 1

This was our last core safari in Moharli and finally my complete family was there. Again we first drove past Teliya lake in hopes of spotting Sonam and her cubs. And again, we didn’t. We drove to the main entry gate of Tadoba. We entered the gate, and soon heard tiger roars coming from the jungles on both our sides. We immediately stopped and sat waiting in complete silence. The tiger on our left kept roaring every 15 seconds. It was getting closer and closer with every roar. On the other hand, the tiger on our right kept going farther with every roar, and completely stopped after a while. We assumed it had left deep into the jungle. But the tiger on our left continued roaring. We sat and listened to it for a good half an hour. It seems like it was sitting in one place, resting.

We got tired of waiting under the sun for so long, so we left that spot for a while and drove further into the jungle. We saw a peacock dance with its feathers spread open. It felt like we wouldn’t sight anything that day, so we returned back to where the tiger was roaring while resting. We again waited for almost an hour, but to no avail.

Apparently there was movement of two tigers further down the road. A tiger had been spotted the previous day crossing the road with a new tigress. We reached the spot where they had crossed. There was a small well and beside that was a man made pond. We waited patiently for another 30 minutes. We hadn’t sighted anything at all that day. Not even a single bird.

That’s when my mom jolted upright. She’d seen some movement behind the sun dried golden grass. A tiger walked out, again with slow and heavy footsteps. He was Chota Dadiyal. He, like most other tigers, was big. He slowly walked to the edge of the pond, bent his knees, and lapped at the water. His shoulder blades were so evident. He looked so strong, so masculine. He then turned towards us upon the hearing noises that the jeeps made as they hustled around to get the tiger in their line of sight. Chota Dadiyal then turned around, with his back facing the pond and slowly step by step, went backward and sat at the edge of the pond. But he kept looking in the direction of the tall trees to his side as though expecting someone or something…

Another tiger walked out, we were told it’s a tigress. Tigress C-3, the daughter of Sonam. She was bright orange in colour, unlike Chota Dadiyal who was pale orange. She too walked towards the pond, and bent down to lap at the water. Even the tigers aren’t able to bear the immense heat! As she was drinking water, Chota Dadiyal got up, his fur black from the mud, and followed her movements. He kept trying to sniff her tail. But she’d get up and walk away from him. He’d again follow her, and she’d again walk away. This went on for about 10 minutes. This was courtship at its finest!

After a while she disappeared behind a cluster of bamboo trees and he tried following her there too. But she’d walk away from him. So instead he chose to pose for the cameras that were pointed at him. He bared his teeth and yawned, sticking his tongue out. Soon C-3 got up, went and sat behind a tree. He followed her there too. They were getting ready to mate. We had to leave as we were out of time. But we hoped that the next time we were to return back to TATR, we’d spot a tiger or tigress and we’d be told “This is Tigress C-3’s daughter/son”. We let the two cats have their privacy and rushed back to the entry gate. Love was in the air…

The pictures form this section of our trip are:

[abirnale]

Part 6: Thursday April 4, Afternoon Safari in Buffer Zone, Gate - Agarzari

Gate Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/cuMSF6yjmkcS8oZi8

Highlight of the day: We witnessed Choti Madhu giving us different and bold poses for our camera!

For this last safari, daughter journaled her experience one more time:

Day 3 - Safari 2

It was time for our evening safari, the last one for this trip. It was a buffer zone safari at the Agarzhari gate. As we got onto the jeep, we weren’t really hopeful of sighting any tigers. All the buffer zone safaris we’ve done till date have disappointed us. We first went to a pond that was a tigress’s territory. We waited for 15 minutes for her to show up. But she didn’t. We left the pond and went to a big lake where a tigress named Madhu had been spotted during the morning safari. We waited for another 15 minutes, but were again disappointed. So we returned back to the pond, but were yet again disappointed.

We sighted an Indian Paradise Flycatcher, White-Throated Thrush and as usual some sambar deers. We then returned back to the big lake, Madhu’s territory. We waited and waited. It was getting very hot, there was no air blowing too. I was getting pretty tired at that point. I just wanted to go back to our room and sleep. An Indian gaur was grazing barely a few meters away from our jeep. Me and my dad had given up hope. The guide is just playing around with us, we thought. There’s no chance we’d spot any tiger here in the buffer zone, we thought. My dad was recording a Thrush singing her melodious songs under the setting sun. I was sitting with my head down, drained from the drive under the blazing afternoon sun.

The guide suddenly stood upright and pointed at the tall grass across the lake. A tiger was seen lapping at the water. We were surprised how the jeep that was waiting even closer to the tiger didn’t spot it. We rushed backwards, and parked by the lake- there was no obstacle in our way blocking our sight from this spot.It was Choti Madhu, Madhu’s 8-year-old daughter. We then realised her belly looked too big for such a young cub…she was pregnant!

She finished drinking water, slowly got up and walked into the water. She swam a little and then got onto the land again. She walked towards where we were waiting, through the tall golden grass. She climbed onto the trail and stopped at a tree and smelt it. And then turned around, lifted her tail up and marked the tree. This is known as scent marking. Some tigers also scratch the tree trunks with their sharp paw nails as a sign of their ruling in that area.

She did the same for about 6-7 trees and kept getting closer to us as she did so. She then slowly crossed over to the other side and disappeared somewhere between the dense trees. But then she reappeared again. She continued to walk slowly through the grass, and stopped once in a while to mark a tree or two. We were absolutely captivated by her, lost in her world. Our guide bought us back to reality, saying we had to leave right away before the gate closed. We left half-hearted, not willing to leave her behind as this was our last safari for this trip, and maybe the last safari where we’d spot a tiger in the open.

This trip by far is the best trip we’ve had. I would’ve loved to stay there for a few more days. I wish we visit all these tigers again sometime soon. We all were tested for our patience throughout all the safaris. Out of the 5 safaris we did, we didn’t sight any tigers, on two safaris we spotted tigers easily, but on the other two we had to wait for almost 3 and half hours just to catch sight of these big cats in the last 15 minutes of the safari. As we rightly quoted- T for Tadoba, T for Tigers!!

The pictures form this section of our trip are:

[abirnale]

Epilogue:

To sum-up this fantastic trip: We did see tigers final out in the wild! The better half drew this warli art summing up the trip:



Here is a piece in hard copy of the Tadoba Newsletter about Bijli and her cub "mama":



And the collage of all tigers we saw:



And here are some special moments captured as the videos:

Choti Tara's catwalk!

https://youtu.be/dHtwFwnBdfs

Waterholes are oasis!

https://youtu.be/ip_A3VWqpog

The Tadoba Tiger Safari Moments

https://youtu.be/fTzf8Sv4LSE

Hope you enjoyed reading through the thread and seeing the pictures! Ciao until another RedSparkle story!

[KarthikK]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[adetour]

Superb pictures and wonderful narration. Yet another awesome Redsparkle story, waiting for more

Originally Posted by abirnale

Roads to take:
The most ideal roads from south India are via Hyderabad - Nizamabad - Adilabad - Pandharkawada - Vani - Chandrapur. For Mumbai folks, take the Samriddhi Mahamarg and get off it near Vardha and then drive towards Chandrapur.

Did you take the direct Pandharkawda - Wani SH233 or the Karanji - Wani NH930?

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by adetour

Superb pictures and wonderful narration. Yet another awesome Redsparkle story, waiting for more
……
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Did you take the direct Pandharkawda - Wani SH233 or the Karanji - Wani NH930?

Thanks!

No, I did not take either of those routes. For my onward journey, I had crafted my plan such that I get to drive on Samriddhi Mahamarg for good 150-200 kms.

While returning, I simply started Google Maps and set BLR as destination. At some point closer to Chandrapur, google auto-accepted faster route that is via Rajuri - Karimnagar. I didn’t realise it and went close to Rajuri. No network zone around the mining areas made it more difficult for me to get back on track. So I actually went all the way upto Rajuri and then took straight to Adilabad. The section from Rajuri - Gadchandur - Korpana is under construction in MH section while rest between Bela - Adilabad is normal state highway road. I was advised by Manish (homestay owner) to go to Pandharkawda via Wani SH233 though.

Again, I would have probably saved just 30-45 minutes by not letting that navigation blunder happen. I still feel it was a decent countryside drive in morning watching sunrise.

[ManasN95]

Great thread! I had visited Tadoba in February, spotted Collar Waali and Chota Dadiyal. Going again in June - please share some dos and don't for extreme heat and what all to carry to make sure we can all pull through the heat in the safaris.

Also, what was the camera gear that you used? I'm particularly interested in birding this time.

[haisaikat]

That is one hell of a wildlife outing you had at Tadoba, with beautiful narration from your daughter and a plethora of wildlife sighting in such a short duration of 3 days.

Thank you for all the detailed information shared by you for all fellow readers planning to make a trip to this place.

Loved the Warli Art too, you have a highly creative family. And last but not the least the sighting photos were nice too. I have recently taken interest in this wildlife touring hobby and understand the excitement of spotting the big cats. Keep travelling and eagerly waiting for your next adventure.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

….
….
I have recently taken interest in this wildlife touring hobby and understand the excitement of spotting the big cats. Keep travelling and eagerly waiting for your next adventure.

Thanks a ton

Originally Posted by ManasN95

……
Going again in June - please share some dos and don't for extreme heat and what all to carry to make sure we can all pull through the heat in the safaris.
……
Also, what was the camera gear that you used? I'm particularly interested in birding this time.

Thanks for the kind words!

Easier answer first:

• I use Canon crop-sensor mirrorless R7 with 100-400mm lens. Recently I also bought 200-800 lens. I don’t have a tripod and/or any other accessories that I wish I had…
• Beating heat is not so much to worry about unless you are never used to temperatures beyond 32-34 degrees. I don’t know if whatever we did was right but it did help to some extent. We kept hydrating ourselves all the time. About 4-6 ltrs of water (kids used to finish 4ltrs while i used to drink almost 6 ltrs) everyday was consumed. Keep sipping - not gulp down large quantities in one go. Water in any form - like mixed with electrolytes, lemon juice is fine too. We never stayed out in the sun other than safari timing, plus the gypsies are without roof. We wore full size hats all the time. We used ample SPF50 on our body that is exposed to sun-rays. We wore arm-tights while out. We avoided transitioning from extreme cold to extreme hot - be it food or water or staying rooms. We used to mix the cold water with normal water for drinking - never consumed ice-cold beverages. Buttermilk and lemon juices were our preferred summer treats! Hydration routine was being followed right from 3 days before we reached Tadoba so it wasn’t a sudden change for us - it was gradual increase. Also, food was always a simple one: Chapati/ Fulkas, Curd, Lentils/ Dal, Vegetable sabji, white rice. Never very spicy and oily things. But thats again how our diet in general is anyway so no changes for us there.

There are a lot of other suggestions people give - such as carry Turkish towel wet with water and leave it on your head etc - we didn’t do anything that we are not used to. I suggest the best tip: stay indoor as much as possible, avoid sudden changes in temperatures like in room AC to scorching sun in Safari. Give yourself some time to slowly transition - that means get ready ahead of time, acclimatising yourself is good idea. Also, if very younger kids - afternoon safari can be avoided, take them for morning ones for sure.