[Coooolcat21]

Sir,
Superb pictures. Waiting for the rest of the story eagerly.
Regards

[sabynag]

This time, though it was short-duration trip to Kanha, I could manage to take drives into all three zones - Kanha, Mukki and Sarhi. While tiger sightings were excellent all through, it was not so good to hear that the tiger count had gone down at Kanha in the latest census. Kanha, if what the locals said is true, now has less than 70 tigers left.

[sabynag]

Sambar deer ... delicious ... for tigers :-)

[anilisanil]

Wow!!! Saby!!

That is a huge leap in photography skills!!

That flying peacock is a really a priced catch!!!

Now you did make another guy to think about a drive to Kanha.

Do you mind putting up the Log as a Day to Day, as in Day 1 Day 2 etc. It would be useful to have an idea on how lon you are staying and where and the timing of the spotting.

I plan to drive down from Pune, I guess it takes around a 20 hours drive from here.

[sabynag]

There is a story behind the improvement of my photography skills. Last year when I visited Kanha and Bandhavgarh, I didn't have any tele-lens for my newly bought camera. I borrowed a 70-300mm canon lens from my friend. Since then, I had been using this lens whenever I visited any park. But things changed last month. We were taking a safari drive at Bandipur National Park when we came across this unique sighting - A scared male leopard on a tree branch and a tigress resting right under the tree. The sighting lasted for close to an hour and it was then when I started realizing an urge for a strong lens. After coming back to Bangalore, I convinced myself that I would save back from my eating out expenses and went ahead to buy a canon 100-400mm L lens. Overnight my "photography skills" went up several notches :-)

[sabynag]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Now you did make another guy to think about a drive to Kanha.

Do you mind putting up the Log as a Day to Day, as in Day 1 Day 2 etc. It would be useful to have an idea on how lon you are staying and where and the timing of the spotting.

I plan to drive down from Pune, I guess it takes around a 20 hours drive from here.

If you are driving, you may consider to include Pench NP in your plan. It will be on your way about 4 hours before Kanha. In April/May/June, Pench will look completely different than Kanha. While Kanha is evergreen (due to sal trees), Pench is a dry forest.

Do plan to stay at least 4 nights at Kanha to enjoy its beauty thoroughly. Visit every single zone - each zone is unique in its vegetation as well as wildlife. Tigers are sighted all across with almost equal probability.

Since you will be driving, you can explore the option of splitting your stay between Kisli and Mukki gates. From Kisli gate side, Mukki zone would be a bit far to cover. So, to cover Mukki, it would be better if you stay at that side which is about 40km from Khatia (Kisli) gate through a scenic village route along the edge of the forest.

In Kisli side, my prefered lodging options are Baghira Log Hut (MP Tourism) and Kanha Earth Lodge (a luxury private lodge). In Mukki side, I prefer Chitvan Jungle Lodge (a luxury private lodge) and Kanha Safari Lodge (MP Tourism). You may check the reviews at tripadvisor.com before deciding on a place to stay - there are plenty of staying options at both sides. I generally choose a lodge based on how close it is to the wildlife and how serious/committed the lodge is about showing wildlife to its guests.