[fatboyslim]

@guruji: Thanks very much. Good to hear from you and the encouragement. I particularly like the first photograph. We are very happy that Dr. Ghosh would take time out to be our guide and companion

@Thad: Thanks very much, yes the last one in the photograph is of the tiger through thick foilage. The focus was a little off as the lens was hunting a little in falling light.

Actually this is what we first saw when the spotter/guide pointed towards that part of the jungle. A shining yellow strip in the midst of green bamboo groves. The picture really does not do justice to the real scene that unfolded before us.

[maddy42]

Amazing pictures. So 3 days of jungle safari was it??

Cant there be an indian tiger tour promoted which takes you to all the tiger spots of the country. This could boost revenues to the concerned departments which could be used for conservation. Or should we leave the forests untouched from grredy humans and thus make the tiger territory untouched and prisitine! Well 2 sides of a coin but both has some pros and cons.

Carry on with more on the trip

[Indian Ranger]

amazing pictures man and only speak of the time spent for capturing the majestic animal. Every picture of the Tiger is fantastic. The colors are so vibrant and real thus enhancing the quality of the image. Really worth the effort.

Thanks for sharing them.

5* from my side.

regards,
Manjunath

[ExtremeTorque]

@fatboyslim, the snaps and narration are excellent. I had been to TATR recently and it definitly was an excellent experience. what camera did you use?
BTW, i see a travelogue as a future reference guide and a place holder recounting my tours. Dont get disheartened by little or no responses.

[arcotsrinivas]

There is only one word to describe these pictures "Awesome",
thanks for sharing these great images of the royal Bengal tiger,
hoping to visit tadoba with bhpians of Hyderabad soon.

[hridayjyoti]

Hey projjalda, your narration and pics are undoubtably great. I am sorry for not being able to post my photos. I am in port blair, will only be back by next week. Doc is also travelling, so you have take the extra pain of pushing this forward. I would be checking the post quite regularly through mobile internet.

Cheers!

[fatboyslim]

Sorry guys for the late response(s)

@maddy: Hey maddy, thanks very much for your feedback. The safari was for 2 days. Day-1 evening, Day-2-both evening and morning. Well, wild life tourism has its own advantages as it provides the much needed funds for conservation.

In an impoverished such as India, it is a necessity because we have several other developmental projects which need government support. How much of that is really used is a matter of debate. Moreover, watching these animals in their pristine habitat also prods each of us towards doing our bit to conserve these wonderful animals-not only tigers. Its not about just saving the tiger, its about saving the whole ecosystem, save the ecosystem, everything else falls into place.

On my way back I saw several mines on the road to Chandrapur-pretty close to the core zone as the crow flies. Found it a bit strange. The Maha government is looking to grant special status to Nagzira and Tadoba and I hope that will help conservation in the long run.

My experience suggests that parks in Maha are lesser knows and hence less commercialized, whlie the MP government sure its milking wildlife tourism to the fullest. One needs to visit Kanha and Bhandhavgarh to realize the mess it has created.

A tiger reserve itinerary would be good but tourism is a state subject and wildlife conservation is also predominately a state subject and hence co-ordination would be a challenge. Moreover, sometimes government tiger census could be a bit different than reality. I suggest pick and choose parks and if you would like to have a central India park itinerary, Dr. Ghosh is the right person to get in touch with. Once again, don't focus on the tigers, focus on everything even the flora.

@Indian Ranger: Thanks dude. There are some more photographs of other animals as well which I will upload shortly. We saw a monitor lizard sunning on a tree.

@Extremetorque: Thanks man, I used a Nikon D90 with Nikkor 70-300 mm lens. I will post the the full travelogue along with what unfolded during the safaris as well. The return to Raipur was pretty interesting

@Hriday: You lucky man, sauntering in andamans in spetember. Have the rains stopped, are the seas muddy or clear. Doc is on Delhi drive and you are enjoying the beaches in Andamans and here I am covering for you guys. Not fair!


Everyone: There was a time, when we used to run away if we heard a tiger was nearby. Fast forward 50 years to present: Now we run to see the tiger. The irony of it all is that we ourselves are to blame.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

Everyone: There was a time, when we used to run away if we heard a tiger was nearby. Fast forward 50 years to present: Now we run to see the tiger. The irony of it all is that we ourselves are to blame.

How true, man! Your narrative style is very interesting.

You said you were put up in an accommodation in a village. what kind of accommodation was that? Was it like a home-stay or was it just through an acquaintance of yours or the doc's? The photo from the window over the rooftops is very nice. Think staying in the village would have been a better experience than staying in a resort cut off from reality

[fatboyslim]

Hey Mallumowgli:

Yes we stayed in the village and it was home stay all arranged by the good Doctor. The village setting is nice because you can really feel the wilderness at night-its a simple case of feeling one with nature. But believe me, you are not going to spend substantial time indoors, if you are an avid nature lover. Rest at night. meals or a quick shower and afternoon siesta before the evening safari.

Cheers!
Projjal

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

How true, man! Your narrative style is very interesting.

You said you were put up in an accommodation in a village. what kind of accommodation was that? Was it like a home-stay or was it just through an acquaintance of yours or the doc's? The photo from the window over the rooftops is very nice. Think staying in the village would have been a better experience than staying in a resort cut off from reality

[gd1418]

Please, can we all get on with the rest of the narration & the photographs? Or else, again the lack of or giving a response will rear its head..

[abheekg]

Dear friends,
I must beg your pardon for being underground last week. I was driving a Landrover defender and a a gypsy from Delhi to Nagpur through a very picturesque route (will have to start a travelogue on that too.)

Now lets get going with this discussion and story.

Originally Posted by traveloholic

Amazing Pics Abheek & Gang. Keep them coming, eagerly awaiting for more. It's your luck that you

got to see 5 tigers in the first hour. Sometimes, people wait for hours together and do not get to see even a glimpse of the

Tiger. You guys are truly lucky!!!

thank you sir. its definately luck and some preparation at the ground level. and by the way I had to wait 2 years before I saw my first tiger at Tadoba.

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

Absolutely wonderful pictures there. The jungle looks so green and lush. These pictures are so

tempting that i am planning to visit Tadoba in November.
Dr.Ghosh, i will need to get in touch with you. I will send a PM when the dates are confirmed. The trip would be incomplete

without meeting you there!

Thanks again. You must come to these parts and more than once. Please feel free to call me on 09960332228 whenever you want

my help with planning your trip. Will be glad to help you.

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Nice equipment. Great teaming up. It does look like that you people gel together very well. Of

course people with same interests! Thats the BHPian way. Lets see more people coming together like this.

Tiger entry pic is great. In another pic, it seems like locking eyes with one of you.

5* for the pics, the great getting together and this wonderful effort!

This was the highlight of this meet. All of us hit out the moment we met. Never for a moment it felt as if we were meeting

for the first time. And the similar interests further made us gell well. And there was of course "mama" the supreme sutradhar !!

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Dr. Ghosh, There you go again. Remember the theme music of 'Come September' ? Well since the

month has almost gone by,,,be ready for Come October, that is when I will be coming to you. Whatever meet you name it, it

sure will be a memorable one like the earlier one. Great pics but the best ones are yet to come on this thread is my

intuition. Regards,

Your intution is just right sir. Whatever has been posted so far has been only teasers. I did not have time earlier to do justice to this thread and hence had kept the best for the end. And I am eagerly waiting to team up with you again. But this time I get to plan your entire itienerary

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Nice pics of the journey.

Is that an Army purchased Gypsy? It has the army colour.

Yes this gypsy is one of a lot of 3 gypsies that we picked up last year from the indian army auctions in Pune. There is a separate thread on the full restoration of this gypsy in the 4x4 vehicles section.

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

The Beginning: I had read several accounts of Dr.Ghosh's travels in the wild. The Tadoba threads earlier and the

Melghat thread really triggered off the desire to visit the wild with Dr. Ghosh. His passion for wildlife a was quite evident

from the threads he has written at team-bhp.


A quick comment/request on the Melghat thread elicited a message from Dr. Ghosh to connect with him on his cell phone and a

30 minutes conversation with him assured that I was in good hands with the instant bonhomie that I had experienced. We

decided to have the check list of everything that needs to be carried, the rendezvous point, the ETA at Nagpur, ETD from

Nagpur towards Tadoba and a few pointers.

TATR, here we come!

Regards,

Thank you projjal for your kind comments. I always look to team up with fellow travellers in my travels as I keep visiting these parks with a religious regularity. I am always glad to help out you guys plan your travels in these parts and i am a very non fussy person to be with too . I only want patience and discipline when we are inside the jungle and the movement inside the jungle as per my plans , apart from this there are no conditions to any of you wen you are with me on such jungle drives.

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

Hello all:

I am overwhelmed by your response or lack of it. Guess my narration is not upto the standards you normally see in Tbhp.

Enjoy the pics and this is fatboyslim signing off from this thread, Over to Hridayjyoti and Dr. Ghosh. Part 2 of same will

shortly follow.


Enjoy!
Projjal

Projjal you are mistaken. In less than 2 weeks that this post has been on air, we have had more than 3000 viewership hits and an overall 4 start rating (Thats obvious as we have not yet posted the cream of the pics) I am sure as the best pics are posted along with the best experiences, the rating and viewership is bound to go up. Dn't be surprised if this thread goes on to be one of the most popular on Tadoba surpassing "Extreme torque's" "cold stare thread".

I am back from my road trip in a land rover defender and I will devote all my time to get this tread up and running. We have so far been a bit haphazard in our postings. I will be taking Rudra da's help in sorting out this thread to get the maximum to our readers.

Originally Posted by jacs

Wow! Nice start Dr. Waiting for the breathtaking snaps. Equipment list is something very interesting

.

I was travelling with only a third of my usual equipment that I usually take on serious photography trips.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Your report is narration is very good fatboyslim, and who can resist a travelogue when there is a

tiger in it? There are many people like me enjoying the combined report without responding. One liners are frowned upon by

the mods and hence the response may be slow. Also I have a feeling most s/w guys read this during office hours and hence

the slow polling during weekends, when they will be driving out

Keep it coming, all of you - waiting for more

More than the tiger, it should be the diverse biodiversity of our jungles that we are trying to depict through these wilderness postings. Everybody writes about the tiger, lion and the other megafauna. But the smaller fauna is also important and it those creatures of whom we are trying to be advocates of conservation. Thank you for your interest in this thread.

By the way, your handle "mallumowgli" is very interesting and I am sure you have a deep love of the wildlife. I want to meet you in these jungles sometime. It will be then a proper homecoming for you (as mowgli hailed from central india ) !!

Originally Posted by Ketan

Another wonderful triplog here! I'm going to be watching this for coming few days for sure.
I dont know whether I will be going such beautiful places are not, but for now its great to read thru the experiences of you

guys and how you planned and executed the trip so beautifully.
@Prajjol, the stripes on the first page is a great picture
@Dr. I'm soon going to read other triplogs of yours (wasnt aware so far) and seems this one is taking off really well. you

already have my rating

you are most welcome ketan. Through these natural history postings I am trying to get you guys interested in these wildlife destinations also. I request you to go through my previous posts on tadoba, pench and melghat completely to not only see the beauty of these places but also understand the conservation isuues we are facing in these destinations and how you can help out.

Originally Posted by gd1418

@fatboyslim: There is no lack of response. We all are waiting for those amazing pictures of Stripes.

The fourth one where the Tiger is emerging through the greens is poster material..

You guys have been singularly lucky to have Abheek as your companion & guide..

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

ph. We are very happy that Dr. Ghosh would take time out to be our guide and companion

I was singluarly lucky to be in the company of such a super group of wildlife conservation minded enthusiasts ! Hats off to you Projjal, Tushita, Hriday, Bijoy and Mamaji.
You guys rock !
All of you had such a super encounter with the Tiger only because you went to tadoba not only to see THE Tiger but also enjoy the lesser jungle sights.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Amazing pictures. So 3 days of jungle safari was it??

Cant there be an indian tiger tour promoted which takes you to all the tiger spots of the country. This could boost revenues

to the concerned departments which could be used for conservation. Or should we leave the forests untouched from grredy

humans and thus make the tiger territory untouched and prisitine! Well 2 sides of a coin but both has some pros and cons.

Carry on with more on the trip

you are right maddy. Sustainable Wildlife tourism is definitely one way of properly conserving these natural history wonders of our country.

Originally Posted by Indian Ranger

amazing pictures man and only speak of the time spent for capturing the majestic animal. Every

picture of the Tiger is fantastic. The colors are so vibrant and real thus enhancing the quality of the image. Really worth

the effort.

Thanks for sharing them.

5* from my side.

regards,
Manjunath

I am so glad that I have elicited the response we were hoping this thread would evoke. Stay tuned for more.

Originally Posted by ExtremeTorque

@fatboyslim, the snaps and narration are excellent. I had been to TATR recently and it definitly

was an excellent experience. what camera did you use?
BTW, i see a travelogue as a future reference guide and a place holder recounting my tours. Dont get disheartened by little

or no responses.

Quite right Arun. by the way another sortie to tadoba and pench is due for your gang this winter.

Originally Posted by arcotsrinivas

There is only one word to describe these pictures "Awesome",
thanks for sharing these great images of the royal Bengal tiger,
hoping to visit tadoba with bhpians of Hyderabad soon.

Thank you . A group of wildlife enthusasts on tbhp from hyderabad including "Fazalaliadil" are planning a visit to these part soon. ?you can join them if the dates are ok with you. Get in touch with fazal saab.

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

wild life tourism has its own advantages as it provides the much needed funds for conservation.

its about saving the whole ecosystem, save the ecosystem, everything else falls into place.

On my way back I saw several mines on the road to Chandrapur-pretty close to the core zone as the crow flies. Found it a bit

strange.

My experience suggests that parks in Maha are lesser knows and hence less commercialized, whlie the MP government sure its

milking wildlife tourism to the fullest. One needs to visit Kanha and Bhandhavgarh to realize the mess it has created.

A tiger reserve itinerary would be good but tourism is a state subject and wildlife conservation is also predominately a

state subject and hence co-ordination would be a challenge. Moreover, sometimes government tiger census could be a bit

different than reality.

if you would like to have a central India park itinerary, Dr. Ghosh is the right person to get in touch with. Once again,

don't focus on the tigers, focus on everything even the flora.


Everyone: There was a time, when we used to run away if we heard a tiger was nearby. Fast forward 50 years to present: Now we

run to see the tiger. The irony of it all is that we ourselves are to blame.

here I am covering for you guys. Not fair!

Projjal you have touched some very important points here. i would like to give you a detailed answer on this and what is happening around this park tonight.

I am back to cover for the two of you now.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

How true, man! Your narrative style is very interesting.

You said you were put up in an accommodation in a village. what kind of accommodation was that? Was it like a home-stay or

was it just through an acquaintance of yours or the doc's? The photo from the window over the rooftops is very nice. Think

staying in the village would have been a better experience than staying in a resort cut off from reality

[quote=fatboyslim;2078832]Hey Mallumowgli:

Yes we stayed in the village and it was home stay all arranged by the good Doctor. The village setting is nice because you

can really feel the wilderness at night-its a simple case of feeling one with nature. But believe me, you are not going to

spend substantial time indoors, if you are an avid nature lover. Rest at night. meals or a quick shower and afternoon siesta

before the evening safari.

Cheers!
Projjal[ /QUOTE]

These homestays that i usually get my friends when they visit pench, tadoba, melghat are very different than commercial establishments which run in the name of homestays or guest houses in other parts of the country. These places are very basic places of stay - mostly they are village homes of locals who stay and work around the tiger reserves. I have been going over to these wildlife destinatins for a long time now and from the very beginning did not like the resorts of various names and fames that usually flourish around these parks and from the very beginning I have been trying to educate and enthuse some of the locals in pench and tadoba to gear up for entertaining tourists. This gets them some much needed extra revenue, we get our place to stay at a very less cost and you guys get to spend time in villages and get to see the real life which we in our AC offices can never imagine. I will enumerate more on this later.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Please, can we all get on with the rest of the narration & the photographs? Or else, again the lack of

or giving a response will rear its head..

Lets get going with some real stuff now.

Arrival at our village home


The two warriors outside our village home


A view of our rooms


Spartan but clean rooms


Preparations for a simple lunch overlooking the village landscape


Prerequisite of a good jungle experience (read good chances of viewing the tiger)


Whats it with this last photograph that that I say will increase our chances with the tiger ? Can you guess ?

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh
09960332228

[traveloholic]

You got me glued to this again Abheek. Every travelogue of your's is a GEM in itself. You never cease to amaze me with your experiences. Eagerly awaiting for more of those "Abheek'd Pics of Majestic Tiger".

[sarmarishi]

A silent open top Gypsy and an able guide/driver like you who knows the place inside out!

More than that the thrill of entering the jungles. Doesnt matter if you get to see anything or not! Even deers will do kind of an attitude.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by abheekg

Dear friends,
I must beg your pardon for being underground last week. I was driving a Landrover defender and a a gypsy from Delhi to Nagpur through a very picturesque route (will have to start a travelogue on that too.)

Looking forward to that part of your trip eagerly

More than the tiger, it should be the diverse biodiversity of our jungles that we are trying to depict through these wilderness postings. Everybody writes about the tiger, lion and the other megafauna. But the smaller fauna is also important and it those creatures of whom we are trying to be advocates of conservation. Thank you for your interest in this thread.

I just mentioned the tiger more as point of conversation. In fact I've been visiting forests and reserves for a long time, but had the lucky chance of spotting the big cat in the least expected of places - BR Hills Sanctuary

By the way, your handle "mallumowgli" is very interesting and I am sure you have a deep love of the wildlife. I want to meet you in these jungles sometime. It will be then a proper homecoming for you (as mowgli hailed from central india ) !!

Thanks Doc, I too would like to visit the places the 'real' mowgli roamed. (Iam only a mallu mowgli )

I have been going over to these wildlife destinatins for a long time now and from the very beginning did not like the resorts of various names and fames that usually flourish around these parks and from the very beginning I have been trying to educate and enthuse some of the locals in pench and tadoba to gear up for entertaining tourists. This gets them some much needed extra revenue, we get our place to stay at a very less cost and you guys get to spend time in villages and get to see the real life

Thats a great initiative sir. Involving the locals in a positive manner is the only way forward for conservation and to minimise the man-animal conflicts

Prerequisite of a good jungle experience (read good chances of viewing the tiger)

Whats it with this last photograph that that I say will increase our chances with the tiger ? Can you guess ?

I know I know - having you at the wheel . Just kidding - is it because you were the first people at the gate?

Looking forward to the rest of the story from you all. Now that the thread seems to have started gaining momentum, rated 5 stars. Now dont make us wait!!

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by abheekg

Whats it with this last photograph that that I say will increase our chances with the tiger ? Can you guess ?

Looks like you are the first guys to enter the park...that increases your chance of a sighting many fold.

Keep it coming.