Bandhavgarh - The Land Of Tigers !!!

Bandhavgarh was sitting at the top of my travel bucket list from last year and I was waiting for the perfect season to plan this. In January, while discussing this with some friends, and I came to know about a Naturalist/Wildlife photographer Mr. Ricky, who organises trips to different national parks in India. I decided to grab this opportunity to visit Bandhavgarh in this summer.

After some research about the place, I decided to plan it from 10th  - 13th May so to get preferred Zones for Safaris ( Safari booking starts 3 months before the planned date and gets full very quickly). The travel plan, dates, cost estimates everything was ready and I shared it with my friends. Many of them were interested initially but finally we ended up with the count of 4 (My wife and I, My friend and his wife). Mr. Ricky did all the arrangements like Safari bookings, Hotel bookings, local transport etc. for us. We were all set and very much excited by seeing regular posts about tiger sightings in Bandhavgarh this season. 

The Journey

Finally the wait was over and journey day arrived. We were little worried about the temperatures there at this time as weather forecast was showing it round 43-44 degrees. During this time, the afternoons would be very hot but it was never going to affect our excitement. We packed our bags with all the necessary things to tackle these extremely hot conditions and began our journey on the night of 9th May. It was around 18 hours journey full of excitement and we already started dreaming of thrilling Safaris and Tiger sightings. We reached Katni railway station in the afternoon on 10th May and then started our journey of about 2 Hrs by road to the Resort in Bandhavgarh. After an hour of journey, we already started getting the feel of the jungle as we entered the Bandhavgarh region. Last few kilometres drive was from the buffer zone of the national park and the road was surrounded by dense forest on both the sides where we spotted a few Cheetals, Langoors and Neelgai on the way. At about 6 PM, we reached our hotel (The Sun Resort) in Tala village of Bandhavgarh. On arrival, we received very warm welcome from Mr. Indrapal and the hotel staff. The resort was very well maintained with lush greenery all around. The rooms were also very neat and clean giving a homely and comfortable feel. After having some delicious dinner and deserts, we went to bed hoping for the great Safari tomorrow morning.

The Safaris

It was one of those pleasant mornings in Bandhavgarh. We started in open gypsy from our resort at 5 AM. Hotel staff was ready at the resort gate with water bottles and packed breakfast for us. As we moved closer to the safari starting point, we saw group of Gypsies gathered at the roadside and all the people were standing and trying to see something down the road side. Our driver said that there might be a tiger sitting there. We thought he was just joking but when we reached there, we heard some people yelling "Wo Dekho Tiger Baitha Hai". Initially we saw just a glimpse of it from the bushes. In few minutes we reached a spot from where we were able to see the tiger very clearly. He was just relaxing in the bushes after having a good breakfast. It was an amazing sight. A full-grown male tiger,  around 12 years old (Biggest tiger of Bandhavgarh) called Bheem was in front of us. We were amazed to see his size.The background of lush green grass was making him look more beautiful. We could not believe our luck and we were stunned to see this royal bengal tiger just in first 15 mins of our ride even before starting actual Safari. We could have spent hours just looking at him,  but we had lot more excitement coming our way so we moved ahead after capturing this magnificent creature of nature from all possible angles.

After going through few checks at the entry gate, we entered the first Safari zone called Magadhi at about 5.45 AM. Some vehicles had already entered the forest and everyone was trying to be as fast as possible to be the first to get sight of tiger. The forest was full of Sal trees which keeps this forest Lush Green all around the year. The experience of exploring this dense forest in Open gypsy was amazing as always and all of us were mesmerised by the beauty of this jungle. Many birds humming along the way added the sweet melody to this Mahol.

As our gypsy was passing through the jungle in hunt of big cats, Spotted deers, Sambar deers, Peacocks and Langoors were seen on both sides of the road enjoying the early morning sunlight. Our guide and driver were constantly giving us very interesting information about the variety of flora and  fauna present here and keeping a constant eye on any hint of presence of a big cat. Many times they were stopping the gypsy and listening to the Alarm calls of Sambar deers and Langoors to get an idea where the tiger could be, and then deciding the further route. Every second here was absolutely amazing experience. Sighting of the tiger was a different thing but the trace for his one glimpse was more exciting as they say "Safar khubsoorat hai Manjil se bhi". We saw lots of tiger pugmarks on the road, we followed them but eventually they ended up entering into the dense bushes making us a little disappointed. This happened few times and we were running out of patience but our guide and driver were still hopeful and trying their best to give us that experience of lifetime.  After following one such long pugmark trail we reach to a place where we saw 3 tiger cubs sitting in the middle of the road and that was the moment when we almost jumped out of our seats in excitement. Yes That was that Wow moment and we again got  stunned with the drama unfolding in front of us. One by one all the three cubs got up and started walking towards our gypsy just 4-5 feet away from the gypsy, they turned into the bushes and slowly disappeared in the heart of the jungle.There were few more Gypsies around who also witnessed this drama and all looked very pleased by this awesome sighting in the first half of the safari. It took good 10 minutes for us to come out of the Aura of what had happened in last 10 minutes in front of us. Our guide told us that these were 3 cubs of the famous tigress called Dotty and that they were just 16 -18 months old. Earlier few guests from other vehicles had seen mother Dotty and one more cub at the same place. We were extremely satisfied with this sighting and just thanking our driver and guide for giving us such a wonderful experience. It was 8.30 AM now and we were taken to a point called Center point to have our breakfast. The place was awesome and experience of having breakfast in the middle of a jungle was exciting. We had our breakfast followed by a small photo session with all the happy faces. After breakfast we continued exploring some other parts of jungle with hopes of sighting another tiger. As it was becoming sunny now there was very little chance of tiger sightings so we decided to concentrate on other animals and birds here. We came to know that there were around 37 species of Animals and around 200 species living in this jungle. We were amazed by the biodiversity of this national park. We did not realise how fast the second half of the safari passed, and we reached to the end of the safari at around 10.30 AM. So it was a great start of the Bandhavgarh trip with 4 Tiger sightings in a single safari with 3 more to go. 

We were unable to get those 20 mins out of our minds and we continued discussing about it till we reach the resort. The resort staff was again very humble in welcoming us back from safaris with some cool welcome drinks. They were very much excited to know about our experience of this first safari. We freshened up in the resort, took some rest and were ready for the next Safari with lot more expectations and excitement. 

The afternoon Safari was into the Tala zone which is most famous zone in Bandhavgarh.It is called a tiger's paradise. We started the safari at around 4 PM and as we entered the zone we were already seeing the different landscapes and flora and faunas in this zone. There were few vast grass meadows full of Sambar deers, Indian Gaurs and wild boars with Mighty Bandhavgarh fort in the background. This view was truly captivating and reflection of the fort into the big lake in the middle of the meadow was making it more special. It was again a beautiful experience roaming around in this zone and during this safari we spotted some different animal species like Indian Gaur, Wild boars and a pair of Jackals as well. The sun was about to set and we were going through a very dense forest area covered by hill on one side and our gypsy suddenly stopped by the Alarm calls from Langoors sitting on the tree tops. Our guide told us that there is a tiger walking on the top of the hill and he will be crossing the road at some point. We kept moving in the directions of the alarm calls alongside the hill and at one place we could see the Mighty tigress called Spotty climbing down the hill and approaching the road. There were 5-6 Gypsies on the road all waiting for the tiger to cross the road. Fortunately for us the spotty chose to cross the road from a place which was very close to our gypsy and we were able to witness that graceful Cat Walk. In few minutes she crossed the road and jumped from the considerably high fencing with ease to enter into the buffer zone and disappeared in the dense bushes. It was another mesmerising experience for us and was different from the previous sightings. Overall this safari was full of excitement and the tiger sighting in last 30 mins was cherry on top. Such a wonderful day was incomplete without the Facebook Check-in with some wonderful clicks and captions when you had such amazing and thrilling experience. As soon as we were out of safari zone and got some network, we told the whole world about our experience and spent some time social media. After having dinner we went to bed immediately as we wanted to be ready at 5 AM in the morning for next Safari. 

Next day morning safari was in Khitauli zone. This is smallest zone in the park but it was a home for 2 tigresses with their cubs. As we entered the zone, we heard the alarm calls right away near the lake and we rushed towards the lake. 2 Gypsies reached the spot before us and those people saw a tiger cub running inside the bushes. It was very dense and it was impossible to see anything beyond 50 meters inside. We were just hoping that cubs along with their mother will come out eventually to drink water at the lake and we can see them playing together on the lake side. We spent lot of time moving around those bushes and checking all the possible places from where these cubs can get out with no luck. After checking all possible places twice or thrice, we decided to wait at a place which is favourite place of most of the tigers in the summer. This was test of our patience. Waiting at the same place for around 40-45 minutes just for one alarm call was a unique experience in itself. There were around 10 Gypsies already gathered at a place and it was becoming a bit crowded and noisy. All the guides were trying to keep them quiet so that they can trace the tigers.  Finally the wait was over and surprisingly without any Alarm call, one of the cub just walked out of the jungle towards the lake. All cameras were already set for this moment and they started clicking the adorable cub. For some time it felt like we were on a war field (Camera shutter click sounds like machine gun firing). The cub was afraid to cross the road because of all the noisy environment and all the Gypsies standing on the road. Some of the guides realised this and they coordinated between themselves and vacant the part of the road from where the cub can cross. It was really a great gesture by these people and this showed how much love and respect they have for wild animals.Eventually the cub crossed the road from that vacant place and went into long grass on the side of the lake waiting for his mother and other siblings. We were running out of the time and it was end of our safari time so we could not wait further for the mother tiger and other cubs to come out.  We ended the safari again on happy note. This safari was altogether a different experience and it was just a tiger chase nothing else. Now we were all set for our last Safari of the trip and we were hoping to make it 4/4 on tiger sightings.

In the afternoon we were back to the place where we started - the Magadhi zone. This time we decided to explore the remaining area of the zone and visit another lake side  area where another female tigress "Solo" spotted in the morning safaris. We rushed to the area as it was far away from the gate and we were having only 3 hrs time. The road was going through variety of areas like dense green forest, some areas with lot of dry grass, some hilly area and then we reached at the lake side which was again surrounded by grassland. there were no alarm calls around and we were climbing on the hill and it was a steep road with lots of turns. Suddenly we saw many Gypsys gathered at one turn and all were silently looking at the road side. It was an amazing scene, a Royal tigress Solo was sitting below a tree on the road side as if she was posing for the cameras. Texture and  colour of her skin was different from the tigers we saw earlier. It was bright and shining in the sunlight. She was not at all bothered with all the crowd and noise around. After few minutes she got up and started walking on the road. Every step of that walk was so elegant and with every step she showed us why she is called the Queen of Jungle. All the Gypsys followed her on the road for good 10-15 mins walk in which she did territorial markings as well at few places to make other tigers aware of her presence. She made sure all of us got very good captures of her from all the angles and then she ended her fashion show by turning back her head to give a killer look at all the people who were waiting for this moment for long time and then she walked into the dense forest on the hill. Last 30 mins was a Solo show that we experienced and we all were still in that Aura. As we wanted to go all the way back to the gate which was far away, we decided to turn back immediately and reached the gate in time. It was another thrilling safari and we ended it with the best Tiger sighting of our trip. We were very pleased when we returned to the resort and was literally dancing out of joy. That was the best evening of the trip when we were just sitting on the lawn relaxing and sharing all the 4 safari experiences with the resort staff and fellow guests. 

Next day morning we left from the resort to catch the train back to Pune and came back home with lots of beautiful Memories and lots of excellent captures which will remain with us for the lifetime. It was very difficult to say goodbye to such a wonderful place which kept us away from all our day to day attractions for most of the time and we were not ready to come out of that atmosphere until we reach the railway station. Seeing 7 Tigers in 4 Safaris along with lots of other wildlife was a dream come true for us. It was altogether a different experience to spent 4 days in the heart of nature and we were running out of words to share this experience with our friends. After this whole experience we realised why this place is rightfully called the Land of Tigers In India - A true tiger's Den.  Undoubtedly this is a must visit place for every nature lover. 

 Keep Exploring  ..... Happy Sighting !!!