[Stryker]

The idea for this trip took shape during our last visit to Kabini in September. It was a completely dry trip, no sightings at all on the four safaris. We were really disappointed and thought we will give Kabini a miss for the next few outings and look for greener pastures instead, so to speak. That decision was heavy on my heart, given my love for Kabini. But of late sightings have dropped drastically for various reasons. This time around the quality of stay has also dropped in JLR, with almost completely new staff maybe still getting used to the new environs. Whatever, we discussed several options and finally narrowed down on Tadoba since none of us had been there. Under the influence of some strong coloured liquids in the Viceroy Bar, we decided we will drive there from Bangalore, instead of the more sane and safe idea of flying to Nagpur and then taking a taxi to Tadoba. One of us had a new-ish BMW X7 XDrive 40i M Trim he was itching to take on a long drive, so that was that.

We quickly contacted our good friend and wildlife tour operator Dr. Shashank Gowda of Jungle Arc. He is a practicing paediatrician in Mysore and a very avid wildlife photographer himself. With a little back and forth regarding dates, schedules, etc., he arranged the resort and safari bookings for us. On his recommendation, we finalized the Wagobha Eco Lodge near the Khutwanda gate. I can whole heartedly recommend this place, the rooms are large and well lit, the staff is friendly and very courteous, the food is simply too good. The chef was personally involved in ensuring we were enjoying the food and entertained our special requests for the packed breakfast we were supplied with every day on safari.

The plan was to drive to Hyderabad the first day, stay over and drive to Tadoba the next day. The reverse in return. We started around 6:00 am on Saturday 1st December from my friend's home in East Bangalore and reached Hyderabad by 2:30 pm, with a couple of stops in-between for breakfast and coffee. Nothing to report on this route, which I've personally driven more than 10 times over the last several years. We started post breakfast around 8:00 am from Hyderabad and after a lovely drive on NH44, reached Tadoba around 6:00 pm in the evening.



NH44 is very good all the way and once we exit onto the SH roads, those are surprisingly good too. First time for me on Maharashtra roads and the horror stories were keeping me on tenterhooks. Happy to say there was no need for the trepidation, except maybe the last 15-18 kms stretch which were pothole ridden and the last couple of kms were nearly no road at all.

The biggest BMW is a wonderful vehicle, very comfortable and an absolute dream to drive. Even with that heavy body, it handles almost as good as my 330 Li. There is very little body roll when driven on the highway and what there is, is controlled superbly. It doesn't accelerate as smoothly and seamlessly as the 330 though, you can hear the 6 cylinder inline 3.0L B58 turbo petrol engine growling menacingly during overtakes and sprints. And of course, it takes that bit of extra time to get upto the 3 figure mark and beyond. 8 seconds, says BMW. But it feels a little more than that in reality. Compare that with around 5 seconds on my 330 Li. But then it has nearly 800-850 kilograms more to pull, almost 1.5 times the weight of the 330! As in most new cars with giant screens, they have removed all physical buttons, which is a huge pain in the proverbial. Even changing fan speed requires you to dig into the Climate menu and tap a few icons. If you are on the highway at speed and you start feeling hot or cold and there is no one in the passenger seat, it doesn't feel safe at all. But overall, a very capable car that takes everything you throw at it and asks for more.

After a relaxing evening, we woke up fresh for the morning safari in the core zone, starting from the Khutwanda gate.

The first safari - Morning, Khutwanda Gate
As in all Central and North Indian parks, the vehicle is a petrol Maruti Gypsy with no top and two rows of seats. We have a vehicle for ourselves, four of us plus driver and the mandatory guide in the front. We also see a few large Isuzu vehicles with three rows, but mainly the Gypsies. Since this is my first time in Tadoba, I'm all eyes and ears. The experience is completely new, the landscape is very different.

Note: All photos are in 4K resolution, so please click on them to see a bigger version, thanks.



A tar road runs through the forest and is very well maintained. The yellowing high grass on either side of the road makes for a lovely sight. The 200-500 is in no way a landscape lens, but this captures the location quite well. We did have a wider 17-80 lens, I'll post photos from that later.



We come across a Sambar fawn standing in the path, looking curiously at us. Its mom was on the other side, looking anxiously back at the little one.



We slowly head towards Pandharpauni lake. There is no alarm calls anywhere, the deer and langur are not even visible. It is still only 7:30 am in the morning, the sun is bright though. Not much fog, so visibility is pretty good. One turn at the end of the red mud road, and voila!



The background is so bright, it is confusing the sensor. I dial down to -0.7 EV, which makes the tiger become almost a silhouette. So I decide to overexpose, let the background blow out since the tiger is a better subject! Back up to 0.0 EV. I know I can pull back most of the background while processing the RAW image. The benefits of shooting RAW!



This is a seven month old female cub. The guide says its mom, the unimaginatively named Choti Tara, must be somewhere nearby. Meanwhile, the cub is curious to see what the commotion is all about and comes closer to us, granting me a golden opportunity. The background looks pink because the high grass is very yellow and the morning sun is lighting it up.





I pull back on the zoom, down to the lower end of 200mm to get as much of the scene as possible into the frame. At the same time, the cub displays the Flehmen Response, an attempt to detect more scents on the air.



Incredibly, the cub decides to come even closer to us! Maybe it likes what it smells and wants to check us out from close up. She is one very curious girl! I hope this fearlessness continues.



There are several vehicles already lined up along the path, some of them are shooting at a different object. We think it could be the Matriarch of Tadoba and move up. Indeed, here she is! The teak tree leaves frame her nicely, while she looks fondly towards the cub running around.



We move just a few meters up to get a better shot, she is still in the same position.



After a few minutes (in which I have shot at least a 100 images!!) she gets up and starts to walk. Oh no! She is limping heavily and seems to be injured. All drivers and guides gathered there agree this wasn't the case a couple of days ago when she was last seen. So this is a recent injury.



She takes a few laborious steps and sits down again, still watching her baby. This is one badly hurt tigress!



A few minutes of rest and she is up again. She is probably heading towards the shade, as the morning sun is beginning to beat down. We still can't see exactly where or what the injury is.





And she sits down again, after exactly ten steps. Oh this isn't looking good!



Some more rest and she walks right by us, so close that I can probably reach out and touch her. I take this one only after I'm able to fit her in the frame at 200mm.



Down she goes once more. She has never taken her eyes off that little one running around a little behind us. Our guide keeps saying there should be one more cub, but that one is not visible anywhere. Here is a portrait of a mother supreme, this is her sixth or seventh litter (probably her last, given her age) and almost all of them have survived to lead their own lives. Some of them have cubs of their own now.



She has single handedly contributed at least 14 tigers to the Tadoba ecosystem. Her mom, the celebrated Tara, has passed on the longevity and motherhood genes to her. Now, she calls to the cubs, asking them to come back from wherever they are.

[Stryker]

And the first one comes back immediately, she is quite close by.



Soon enough, the second one comes from across the path. She crosses behind us, there are several vehicles between me and the cub, so no photos of her crossing.



A reunion occurs, with the cubs getting into a group huddle with their mother. Lots of TLC being handed around!






Some tender moments later, Choti Tara gets up and starts to herd the cubs away. Maybe time to find proper shade, with less disturbance from the gawkers around!



I'm especially proud of this shot of Choti Tara, the angle of the tree and the lay of the land make for a slightly tilted photo which I think adds some interest to the portrait. And the tail, oh the tail!



Portrait of the second female cub, which joined the party a little late.



The cubs are very frisky and keep running forward and backward, prompting the mom to keep up the calls and ensure they don't wander too far.



And what is a sibling, if it doesn't indulge in some rough play? One bites the other in the hind leg, all in good spirits.



Obviously, the bitten one is not very appreciative of this unwanted attention!



Well, they are sisters after all and all is well between them.



And the beleaguered mother is patiently walking ahead, looking back now and then to ensure there is no disobedience in the ranks. We begin to see what could be the injury, with some marks being visible on her back.



And a final shot of all three of them together stepping away from us towards the lake in the background. You can now see the difference in size between the mother and the cubs. They are still not even teenagers in tiger terms. However, by this time next year though, they will be near ready to go their own separate ways.



An enlarged 1:1 crop of the wounds on her body. It looks like the canines of another tigress has sunk deep into her, it must be causing her a lot of pain. The guides and drivers theorize it could be a fight with the Bhanushkhindi female. She is looking for new territory and Choti Tara is not ready to give up hers. I hope she recovers quickly and is back to full strength soon. Otherwise, the fate of these two cubs are not certain at all.

[Stryker]

The second safari - Evening, Khutwanda Gate

Well, could anything top the sighting we have had this morning? All of us are over the moon, very happy with the morning darshan. But hey, we are photographers and we always want more! Let's see what the evening safari has in store. We are OK even if we don't see anything worthwhile, we even tell the driver that, but desire is burning bright.

A large Sambar stag is on the path, daring us to come closer. I'm very happy with this image too, for some reason it speaks to me.



We come across a flock of Lesser Adjutant Storks, wandering around with their peculiar gait. This is a first for me, I haven't seen them in any park earlier.



And they take off within minutes, allowing me to capture one in flight showing off its large wingspan.



A cute little Green Bee Eater is perched very close to us. They always come back to the same branch, same location, after brief fly arounds. So you can focus on the branch and click when the bird lands. One day, I'll get one with its wings open.



We come across this sign board, somewhere on the Irai Dam backwaters. I took this from a fast moving vehicle, which explains the slightly shaky image.



And then come across the reason for the signboard. Boy, that Mugger Crocodile looks huge! No way anyone would go swimming in these waters after seeing one of them!



We are moving fast because the driver got a call from someone asking him to come to Teliya Lake as fast as possible. The speed limit is 30 kmph inside the forest, the vehicles are GPS monitored, so "as fast as possible" is very slow really. After an agonizing 20+ minutes of driving, wondering whether the tiger will still be there, we arrive at the lake to find this.



These are the three month old cubs of Collarwali. The name is actually a misnomer, she has no collar on her unlike the legendary Collarwali of Pench. This Collarwali has a set of four cubs now, and these are they. You can see all four of them here.



They are actually quite far away and these images are 60% crops of the full frame at 500mm. That is why the images are not razor sharp, but hey these are small cubs and you don't get to see them often, I'm not one to look at gift horses in the mouth! Happy to click!



They don't want to move to a more open area, they are going in and out of the bushes behind them. They know they are safe here. Their mother is resting on the grass just a bit to my left, she is almost invisible in the thick growth.



Safe? Did I say safe? We hear a loud Sambar deer alarm call and Collarwali is up in a flash! This could be a male tiger coming her way and if it is not the father of these cubs, then they are in great danger!



She immediately calls all her babies to her and keeps a very apprehensive vigil, on the look out for the rogue male.





She is not comfortable at all, she keeps shifting around trying to catch the scent.



All the cubs are still gathered quite close to her, they may or may not be aware of the danger they are in.



Now even the cubs are alert, looking towards the dense growth. There is definitely another tiger back there, but we can't see it.



But the alarm calls stop after three or four times. Maybe the other tiger went away or this was a false alarm. Given that it was a Sambar call and not a Chital, I doubt it is a false alarm. Whatever, the other tiger doesn't turn up. Within a few minutes, she is relaxed enough to allow the cubs to feed on her milk.





It is getting dark now, the final few shots were at 6400 ISO to fight the fading light. It is also late enough that the driver is making noises about leaving, so we do just that. We let her feed her cubs in peace and depart with glad hearts. Seeing cubs as young as these, especially at feeding time, is a blessing we are grateful for.

[Stryker]

The third safari - Morning, Junona Gate

It is Tuesday and the core zone is closed! We are not aware of this, we feel we should have been informed so that we could have scheduled our visit better. The guide says safaris in the buffer zone are good too, with as much possibility of sightings as the core zone. Unfortunately for us, this one is a complete washout. We don't even see Spotted Deer or Sambar or even any birds. Of course, we can hear the chirping all around but no photo op anywhere.

The jungle is the jungle, not bound to follow any rules of man! The forest itself is full of bamboo that have started to dry up completely, almost all of them ready to topple. Tadoba is 50% bamboo, so you can imagine the scene here. There are flowers on the bamboo, which means game over for the large grass. Once it flowers, it dies. The flowers only appear after 12-14 years, so these are end of life plants anyway.



I notice a dragonfly on the twig, so I zoom in fully to get this exquisite detail on the wings. Look at that small red patches on all four wings! And the fine tracery of veins! Oh, nature is amazing indeed!!




The fourth safari - Evening, Agarzari Gate

After the disappointment of the morning safari, we are resigned to the same fate for the evening one too. Agarzari is the smallest of the buffer zones, so we essentially have one path to cruise on. But we hit jackpot towards the end of the safari!

We come across a tiger named Shambhu, one of the oldest denizens of Tadoba at around 16-17 years and father to nearly 40 tigers over his long and illustrious career, walking on the path ahead of us.



I wish we were in the other vehicle that is ahead of him, I could've got absolutely mind blowing head on shots. As such, I have to be satisfied with the rear view. But hey, again gift horses etc.! I catch him at the perfect moment of scent marking a tree.



He walks ahead of us for quite a long distance, never once looking back at us.



Oh the photos those fellow are getting! I'm green with envy here!



This is best I can get from behind. He is absolutely huge, even in his dotage! He must have been a sight ten years ago in his prime!



He slowly walks towards a small patch of shallow water and settles down there. Must be tired after walking nearly a kilometer and half when we first saw him.



He is moving around, making himself comfortable for the evening.



And I get the head shot, but as any wildlife photographer will tell you, I'm not satisfied! I keep reminding myself "gift horses, gift horses"



After a while, he decides he is not comfortable to spend the night here or maybe the water is a little too cold for his liking. In any case, he gets up and moves off deeper into the jungle where we cannot follow.





Again, it is getting dark and we have to move out of the park. End of day two. We have one more safari to go.

[Stryker]

The fifth safari - Morning, Khutwanda Gate

We are back in the core zone, Khutwanda gate is nearest to our resort. A drive of about 20 minutes, compared to the more than 45 minutes drive to the buffer zone gates. So we are there first up, hoping to see tigers one last time before we bid goodbye.



A doe is lit up brilliantly in the morning sun, with two Green Bee Eaters for company.



We quickly head back to the Pandharpauni area, maybe Choti Tara is there again. Once there, we have to wait along with a few other vehicles. The deer are pretty alert and looking towards the bushes.



So we head slightly down the path, maybe a couple of hundred meters and sure enough, we see one of the cubs running around.



They are not is a good position, photographically speaking. Although we spend quite a bit of time, the dense growth means I am not going to get good photos.



They don't look like they are going to come out in the open any time soon. We can see Choti Tara herself sprawled out on the ground. She is in a place where we can see her legs, but nothing else. The cubs are moving around quite a bit.



Finally both of them come to a place where I can get a full view. This is the first one.



Followed quickly by the second one.





Then they disappear into the undergrowth, leaving us wanting more. But they are not in a mood to co-operate. We track them to near the water, but they don't come out. We finally leave the place with a forest warden vehicle keeping strict vigil over the proceedings.

On the way back, we are met with a pleasant surprise! A pack of wild dogs are crossing the road ahead.



They seem to be tracking a Sambar stag, who has led them away from his family. He looks too big for these small animals, but wild dogs are ferocious and are known to never give up.





Hope the Sambar is able to get away and get back to his waiting family!


Thus ends our fantastic driving trip to Tadoba. The sheer number of tiger cubs we have seen (and heard about sightings of more) during the visit makes me think this is a veritable kindergarten for tigers! We return to the resort, freshen up, have a sumptuous lunch and begin our journey back home. As on the way here, we stay the night in Hyderabad and are back in Bengaluru the next day by 4 pm.

I can now confidently say I have driven almost the whole length of India. From Amritsar in the North to Kanyakumari in the South, I have seen India in her various colours and cultures. India by road is a very different experience, you get to see her in all her moods and variety. Every bit is fascinating in itself, every drive an adventure. The National Highways are now good enough to be close to international standards, thanks to Mr. Nitin Gadkari from the bottom of my heart for having the will and the vision to make this a reality. May he live long and give us all better roads!

My equipment for the last several years have been the indomitable Nikon D500 and the excellent Nikkor f/5.6 200-500 mm lens. As ever, I hope you people enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy taking them. Until next time then, bye and drive safe.

[Aditya]

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

[Axe77]

Incredible photos and what fantastic sightings you’ve caught. Thanks for sharing the detailed write up as well as the photolog.

Must put Tadoba on the travel bucket list.

[jasraj_jog]

Excellent photographs. We are planning for Tadoba in first week of January. Hopefully we will get to see some tigers. Fingers crossed :-)

All our safaris still now have been dry. We have not done Kabini yet. Lets hope Tadoba smiles on us

[Vinay3832]

Thank you for the write up and amazing pictures!
I was planning a trip to Tadoba next month with my family and was a bit on the fence about it, your post may be the deciding factor on convincing everyone
Thank you for mentioning the gates as well! As a first time visitor to Tadoba, it is quite a challenge to narrow down on the gates and safari bookings on your own! Any tips are welcome

[pratika]

Great sightings and photos!

> Wagobha Eco Lodge
I'm not connected in anyway to this business. But I would like to say that we traveled to this lodge 2 yrs back and came out impressed as well. Earlier this year we also traveled to their lodges in MP at Bandhavgarh, Pench, and Kanha. We really liked the one at Kanha. The manager at Kanha was also a very nice enuthusiastic person. We did full day safari at Kanha and Bandhavgarh and had a wonderful time. Food at all their lodges was very good, resort upkeep was great, and hospitality was as good as it could get in a lodge.

Just one note of caution, all the properties are located in off beat areas and not necessarily very close to the forest gate (like say hotels in Sasan Gir). We took our M340i to all these places from Bombay and had a little bit of trouble with last mile due to broken or non-existent roads.

[Vijay T]

Great photos & explanation about Tadoba tigers.

Last December we visited & could get sighting 3 out of 4 safaris.

Tadoba tigers generally never disappoint you.

Keep on posting beautiful wildlife shots.

[NPV]

Stryker strikes with another impressive travelogue with stunning wildlife pictures, thanks for sharing

Just curious, what are the problems with the safari at Kabini now that is causing people to not have any tiger sightings?

What about Nagarahole as an alternative?

[Stryker]

Thanks to all who have liked the post!

Originally Posted by Vinay3832

As a first time visitor to Tadoba, it is quite a challenge to narrow down on the gates and safari bookings on your own! Any tips are welcome

I don't think there are any specific gates that give you a better chance of sightings. It is all about tiger movement within the forest and that may happen anywhere. Sometimes closer to a particular gate than the other, which means you can get to the spot quicker. There is no other difference, I feel.

Originally Posted by NPV

Just curious, what are the problems with the safari at Kabini now that is causing people to not have any tiger sightings?

What about Nagarahole as an alternative?

I have written about this is other threads as well. First and foremost, the decision by the Forest Department to allow the local tribals into the forest to collect wild honey. The decision was taken after some "influencers" on Instagram went overboard about the so called benefits of wild honey and the tribals wanted to cash in on the unprecedented demand. Ah, the ills of social media, especially these idiot "influencers"! This means that there is on ground human presence inside the forest most of the time, which keeps the tigers and leopards away from the paths.

Secondly, most of the bold females of Kabini - the Backwater Female (injury requiring hospitalization), the Russell Line female (dead), etc - are no longer around and their offspring don't seem to be as bold as their mamas. The males have always been shy in Kabini and that seems to continue. Among the leopards, the super bold Scarface, Torn Ears, Cleopatra and of course, Blackie are either dead or have moved into the core areas where tourism is not allowed.

Bandipur on the other hand seems to be having better sightings in the last couple of years. But that is a much larger forest compared to Kabini.

[Kartik Kumar]

Lovely images Stryker! Tadoba is always great for sightings and the ambience is great too.

Good info on the reasons behind Kabini sightings being less these days. Influencers have not left any secret places in India alone, most are beset by hordes of tourists just interested in selfies there

[RaviKBobba]

Lovely pictures.
Would you mind sharing the accommodation cost & how many nights did you stay for.
Any proper rest stops available between Hyderabad to Tadoba ?